Detail from Savadore Dalí's Persistence of Memory
Further Reading: TIME
Books, research material, and web resources from Odd Salon TIME
Feb 6, 1837: The Great Chess Automaton finally shown to be hoax
On this day in 1837 in Philadelphia, a mechanical marvel was revealed to conceal a hidden master.
February 4, 1912: Franz Reichelt’s homemade parachute suit fails spectacularly
On February 4, 1912, the “Flying Tailor” was killed after testing his parachute suit by leaping off the top of the Eiffel Tower.
January 28, 1928: The new volcanic island of Anak Krakatau emerges from the sea
On January 28, 1928: Forty-five years after the catastrophic eruption of Krakatoa that destroyed nearly two-thirds of the volcanic island and killed over 36,000 people, a new volcano rose from the sea to take its place. Locals called it Anak Krakatau – “Child of Krakatoa.”
“I have found it.”- John Wilson Marshall, the man that first found gold on the banks of the American River, next to infamous Mill that bears John Sutter’s Name. Both men would die penniless, via Wiki Commons
Jan 24, 1848: James Marshall finds gold in the American River kicking off the California Gold Rush
On January 24, 1848: “I have found it!” John Wilson Marshall, a carpenter, called out after finding flakes of gold at a small lumber mill he was helping to build on the banks of the American River in what was still considered a back water outpost in the mountains of Mexican Alta California. It was call heard across the world and started one of the greatest migration of people in history, founded a state, and started a war.
Le Pape Formose et Étienne VII, by Jean-Paul Laurens, 1870 via Wikipedia
January 897, Rome: the exhumed corpse of Pope Formosus is put on trial, found guilty
In January 897 Pope Stephen VII charged controversial Pope Formosus with crimes against the papacy and called for Formusus to stand trial. However, Formosus had been dead for 7 months before the formal accusation. In a horribly misguided bid to gain favor from Formosa’s enemies, Pope Stephen VII moved to disinter Pope Formosus and have the corpse undergo a gruesome ecclesiastic trial, now known as the Cadaver Synod, or in Latin: Synod Horrenda.
Jan 18, 1803: Giovanni Aldini attempts to reanimate the dead
Giovanni Aldini galvanizes the corpse of an executed criminal. “…the experiments I did on the hanged criminal did not aim at reanimating the cadaver, but only to acquire a practical knowledge as to whether galvanism can be used as an auxiliary, and up to which it can override other means of reanimating a man under such circumstances….” Giovanni Aldini, 1804
Jan 15, 1919: Boston Great Molasses Flood kills 21, injures 150
It was an uncharacteristically balmy day on January 15th, 1919. Policeman Frank McManus was patrolling the city’s industrial North End when he glanced up Commercial St. After taking a split second to truly register what he was seeing, he frantically called it in. An immense wave of darkness up to 20 ft. tall was pouring down upon the city at a terrifying 35 miles per hour. A cheap, untested structure that leaked from day one, the second-rate molasses tank had burst. 2.3 million gallons of syrupy ruination was barrelling down in what would become known as one of the most freakishly grotesque disasters of the 20th century.
1863: Commuters waving their hats in the air as they pass Portland Road station during a trial trip on the London Metropolitan Underground railway. Cassell's 'Old and London New'. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Jan 10, 1863: The London Underground opens with gas-lit, steam-powered trains between Paddington & Farrington
On this day in 1863, the London Underground opened with gas-lit, steam-powered trains between Paddington & Farrington; a novel solution and much anticipated remedy to the commuter congestion suffocating business in the city.
Jan 4, 1903: Topsy the Elephant Publicly Executed
On January 4, 1903 Topsy the elephant was executed through a combination of strangulation, poison, and a liberal application of the new technology of electric current. A terrifying film made the event infamous, leading to confusion over whether this was part of the epic battle between Thomas Edison and Nicola Tesla known as the "War of the Currents" .
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