On this day...
On this day in 1933 - The United States and the Soviet Union established diplomatic relations for the first time.
Quote:
“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." - T. S. Eliot
Fact:
Mary Anderson (1866–1953) was a real estate developer, rancher, viticulturist and inventor of the windshield wiper blade. Anderson was born in Greene County, Alabama in 1866.
During a visit to New York City in the winter of 1903, while riding in a trolley car on a frosty day, she observed that the motorman drove with the front window open because of difficulty keeping the windshield clear of falling sleet. When she returned to Alabama she hired a designer for a hand-operated device to keep a windshield clear and had a local company produce a working model. She applied for, and in 1903 was granted, a 17-year patent for a windshield wiper.
In 1905 she tried to sell the rights through a noted Canadian firm, but they rejected her application, saying "we do not consider it to be of such commercial value as would warrant our undertaking its sale." After the patent expired in 1920 and the automobile manufacturing business grew exponentially, windshield wipers using Anderson's basic design became standard equipment.
