President Franklin Roosevelt (left) and Basil O’Connor
count dimes at the White House desk in 1944, after the
President founded March of Dimes to fight polio.
(March of Dimes)
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, an adult victim of polio, founded the
National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, which he later
renamed the March of Dimes Foundation, on January 3, 1938.
William Clark Gable
(February 1, 1901 – November 16, 1960)
John Lennon, a former member of the Beatles, the rock group
that transformed popular music in the 1960s, was shot and
killed by an obsessed fan in New York City.
The 40-year-old artist was entering his luxury Manhattan
apartment building when Mark David Chapman shot him
four times at close range with a .38-caliber revolver. Lennon,
bleeding profusely, died on the way to the hospital.
Chapman had received an autograph from Lennon earlier in
the day and voluntarily remained at the scene of the shooting
until he was arrested by police.
For a week, hundreds of bereaved fans kept a vigil outside the
Dakota–Lennon’s apartment building–and demonstrations of
mourning were held around the world.
On October 19, 1985, the first Blockbuster video-rental store
opened in Dallas, Texas. At a time when most video stores
were small-scale operations featuring a limited selection of
titles, Blockbuster opened with some 8,000 tapes displayed
on shelves around the store and a computerized check-out
process.
The first store was a success and Blockbuster expanded
rapidly, eventually becoming one of the world’s largest
providers of in-home movies and game entertainment,
before eventually filing for bankruptcy in 2010.
Blockbuster was founded by David Cook (below), who had
previously owned a business that provided computer
software services to the oil and gas industry in Texas.
Giovanni Agnelli
(13 August 1866 – 16 December 1945)
Agnelli was an Italian businessman, who
founded Fiat car manufacturing in 1899.
During its more than century-long history,
Fiat has also manufactured railway engines
and carriages, military vehicles, farm tractors,
and aircraft.
In 2013, Fiat (together with Chrysler) was the
second largest European automaker by volumes
produced, and the seventh in the world ahead of
Honda, PSA Peugeot Citroën, Suzuki, Renault,
and Daimler AG.
Front view of the Lingotto headquarters of Fiat
in Turin (2013).
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.
This factory produced and sold fresh
candy wholesale, but ultimately the
venture failed.
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.
