William Coffin Coleman (May 21, 1870 – November 2, 1957) was a businessman, the American founder of the Coleman Company, a maker of camping equipment, and a politician. He served as the Mayor of Wichita, Kansas, from 1923 to 1924.
Henry Brown was an inventor who saw a need for a convenient and secure way to store money, valuables and important papers. At that time, people commonly kept those type of items in wooden or cardboard boxes in their homes or entrusted them to local banks. Both of these options presented dilemmas. While banks generally provided safety against theft, they did not prevent bank employees from reading through personal papers. At the same time, keeping the items at home could help to keep prying eyes away, but there was little to prevent burglars from quickly and easily grabbing valuables and making off with them.
Brown decided to create a safer container and developed a forged-metal container which could be sealed with a lock and key. He patented his receptacle for storing and preserving papers on November 2, 1886 and it developed into what is now known as a strongbox.
Nelly is an American rap musician and entrepreneur from Missouri who is known for chart topping singles such as Dilemma, Country Grammar and Hot In Here and for founding his own clothing line, non-profit charities and appearances in film and television roles. He was born as Cornell Haynes Jr. on November 2, 1974 in Austin, Texas but has adopted the stage name of Nelly. His father was in the U.S. military but his parents divorced when he was 7 years old and he moved from St. Louis to University City, Missouri. He had a troubled childhood, rife with financial difficulties and getting into fights. In high school he played baseball and showed promise of going pro. He also showed interest in music from a young age, and formed a high school band by the name of The St. Lunatics. The band achieved some measure of success with their hit single “Gimme What Ya Got”. However, they failed to procure a record deal so Nelly decided to take his career solo.
He signed a contract with Universal Music Group in 1999 and launched his debut album titled “Country Grammar” in 2000. The album was a hit and debuted at No. 3 in the Billboard 200 Chart and reached number 1 on the Album Chart. It went platinum nine times over in the U.S. and featured other well known artists such as Lil Wayne, and his former high school band, The St. Lunatics. The first single on it, titled “Country Grammar” reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and No. 1 on the rap chart. Other songs on the album were also received well.
The next year, Nelly released an album with his band St. Lunatics, titled “Free City”. This album also went platinum in the U.S. and Nelly soon released his second solo album titled “Nellyville”. This was another huge hit, going platinum 6 times in the U.S. and being nominated for “Album of the Year” at the 2003 Grammy Awards.
On this day in:
1671 King's Brewery opens, Quebec City's first brewery.
1734 Daniel Boone was born. American pioneer and frontiersman.
1755 Marie Antoinette, Queen consort of Louis XVI of France, was born (guillotined Oct 16, 1793). She would sometimes wear potato blossoms as a hair decoration. Attributed quote: "If they have no bread, let them eat cake."
1867 The first issue of 'Harpers Bazaar' magazine was published.
1889 North Dakota and South Dakota became the 39th and 40th states.
(North Dakota Food Trivia -- South Dakota Food Trivia)
1903 The first issue of the British newspaper 'The Daily Mirror' was published. It was launched as a newspaper for women, run by women.
1912 The XIT Ranch in Texas sold its last head of cattle. At its peak the ranch had more than 160,000 head of cattle on its nearly 3 million acres, with 1,500 miles of fencing. [XIT Ranch History]
1947 Dave Pegg of the music group 'Jethro Tull' was born.
1947 Canada ends wartime price controls on sugar and molasses, ending more than 5 years of food rationing.
1950 George Bernard Shaw, Irish playwright, died. You will find many food related quotes from his works on the Food Reference Website. ("Statistics show that of those who contract the habit of eating, very few survive.")
1978 The largest squid ever caught was taken in Thimble Tickle Bay, Newfoundland. It was 55 feet long and weighed two tons.
1995 The Soup Nazi first appears on the ‘Seinfeld’ TV show.
2007 The animated 'Bee Movie' opened in U.S. theatres. The story of a bee who discovers that humans actually eat honey and decides to sue them.
2010 San Francisco passed a law that allows toys to be given away with kids restaurant meals only if the meal contains less than 600 calories.