WASHINGTON (TND) — Mars, Inc. has introduced a new purple
character to its lineup of M&M’s, but not a new purple color of
the popular chocolate candy.

Aptly named "Purple," the new female character is coming
aboard to help the company "represent acceptance and
inclusivity," according to a news release.

It’s M&M’s first new character in a decade. The company said
Purple’s confidence, "keen self-awareness," and authenticity
give the character a "quirky nature."

Franklin Clarence Mars (1883 – 1934)

Franklin C. Mars started the Mars Candy
Factory in 1911 with Ethel V. Mars, his
second wife, in Tacoma, Washington.

By 1920, Mars had returned to his home
state, Minnesota, where the earliest
incarnation of the present day Mars
company was founded that year as
Mar-O-Bar Co., in Minneapolis and later
incorporated there as Mars, Incorporated.

MOSES LAKE, Wash. (AP) — A prototype, all-electric airplane
took its first flight Tuesday morning in central Washington
state.

The Seattle Times reports that if the Federal Aviation
Administration eventually certifies the small airplane to
carry passengers, it could become the first all-electric
commercial airplane.

The plane, built by startup Eviation, was built to carry nine
passengers and up two pilots. It took off from Moses Lake,
Washington, at 7:10 a.m. Tuesday, and landed eight minutes
later.

The company’s goal is to show such electric planes are viable
as commuter aircraft flying at an altitude of about 15,000 feet.

ED DONAHUE

The Tonight Show (TV Series 1953–1957)

Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen
(December 26, 1921 – October 30, 2000)

Unwilling to rest as a one-hit wonder when its first big hit, The
Monkees, went off the air in 1968, the television production
company Screen Gems wasted no time in trying to repeat its
success. On September 25, 1970, in the 8:30 p.m. time slot
immediately following The Brady Bunch, ABC premiered a
program that would give Screen Gems its second TV-to-pop-
chart smash: The Partridge Family.

The musical sitcom starred Shirley Jones and featured David
Cassidy. Jones plays a widowed mother, and Cassidy plays
the oldest of her five children, in a family who embarks on a
music career. It ran from September 25, 1970, until August 24,
1974, on the ABC network as part of a Friday-night lineup, and
had subsequent runs in syndication.

On September 21, 1942, the U.S. B-29 Superfortress made its
debut flight in Seattle, Washington. It was the largest bomber
used in the war by any nation.

The B-29 was conceived in 1939 by Gen. Hap Arnold, who was
afraid a German victory in Europe would mean the United States
would be devoid of bases on the eastern side of the Atlantic from
which to counterattack. A plane was needed that would travel
faster, farther, and higher than any then available, so Boeing set
to creating the four-engine heavy bomber.

The plane was extraordinary, able to carry loads almost equal to
its own weight at altitudes of 30,000 to 40,000 feet. It also sported
the first radar bombing system of any U.S. bomber.