On January 17, 1953, a prototype Chevrolet Corvette sports
car made its debut at General Motors’ Motorama auto show
at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City.
The Corvette, named for a fast type of naval warship, would
eventually become an iconic American muscle car and
remains in production today.
On January 9, 2007, Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the
iPhone—a touchscreen mobile phone with an iPod, camera
and Web-browsing capabilities, among other features—at
the Macworld convention in San Francisco.
Jobs called the iPhone a “revolutionary and magical product
that is literally five years ahead of any other mobile phone.”
When it went on sale in the United States six months later, on
June 29, amidst huge hype, thousands of customers lined up
at Apple stores across the country to be among the first to
purchase an iPhone.
The iPhone helped turned Apple, which Jobs (1955-2011) co-
founded with his friend Stephen Wozniak in California in 1976,
into one of the planet’s most valuable corporations.
On January 7, 1927, the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team
traveled 48 miles west from Chicago to play their first game
in Hinckley, Illinois.
The Globetrotters were the creation of Abe Saperstein of
Chicago, who took over coaching duties for a team of
African American players originally known as the Savoy
Big Five (after the famous Chicago ballroom where they
played their early games).
At a time when only whites were allowed to play on
professional basketball teams, Saperstein decided to
promote his new team’s racial makeup by naming them
after Harlem, the famous African American neighborhood
of New York City.
The earliest known team photo of the Globetrotters,
from the 1930–1931 season. Standing from left: Abe
Saperstein, Walter “Toots” Wright, Byron “Fat” Long,
Inman Jackson, and William “Kid” Oliver. Seated: Al
“Runt” Pullins.
ROSS SIMPSON
