By Richard T. Cartwright, PE, CHMM, (IHMM, AHMP and APICS) Fellow
The saying, “Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it” is more than a cliché. It is a reminder that we must constantly be learning from the past. Here’s a look back at major historical events that happened today in the world of hazardous materials.
October 25, 2010
Indonesia’s most volatile volcano — Mount Merapi, located in Central
Java — began erupting. During the next 17 days, large eruption columns formed, causing numerous pyroclastic flows down the volcano’s heavily populated slopes, where 153 people died.
October 25, 1955
The microwave oven was first introduced for home use by Tappan in Mansfield, Ohio. With a $1,200 price tag, it could cook eggs in 22 seconds and bacon in 90 seconds. In 1947, Raytheon demonstrated the Radarange, which was the world’s first commercial, refrigerator-sized microwave oven that cost between $2,000 and $3,000.
October 25, 1910
William Higinbotham, American physicist, was born. He invented the first video game. Before Pong was invented, Higinbotham developed Tennis for Two as entertainment for the 1958 visitor day at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, where he worked as the head of the Instrumentation Division. It used a small analogue computer with 10 direct-connected operational amplifiers and an output featuring a side view of the curved flight of a tennis ball on an oscilloscope only 5 inches in diameter. Each player had a control knob and button.
October 25, 1873
John Willys, American industrialist, was born. When Willys first saw an early automobile in 1899, he realized its potential and became a car salesman. His sales soon outstripped his supplier’s ability to produce, so he stepped in and reorganized the faltering Overland Company in Indianapolis. He successfully increased production and expanded the Willys-Overland plant into a larger factory in Toledo, Ohio. During WW I, the factory became a major producer of trucks, airplanes, and airplane engines. In WWII, it manufactured Jeeps, a rugged off-road vehicle.
October 25, 2137, B.C.
Chinese Royal astronomers Ho and His were executed after not predicting a solar eclipse, which caused panic in the streets of China.
Historical hazardous materials management events are posted 365 days a year at this LinkedIn discussion group.
