Fun Facts of 1893

1893 Henry D. Perky and William H. Ford were issued U.S. patent No. 502378 for a machine to produce cereals (shredded wheat).

1893 The World's Columbian Exposition (Chicago World's Fair) opened in Chicago, Illinois on May 1.  It was held to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus' arrival in the New World in 1492 (the Fair was dedicated on October 21, 1892 but did not open to the public until May 1, 1893).

1893 Coca-Cola trademark recorded.

1893 John Tyndall died Dec 4 (born Aug 2, 1820). British physicist. He is popularly remembered as the first to explain why the sky is blue (atmospheric molecules preferentially scatter the sun's blue rays).

1893 Emmett J. Culligan was born. He was the founder of the water treatment company that carries his name. (Hey, Culligan Man!)

1893 The original Waldorf Hotel opened. It had 450 rooms and almost 1,000 employees.

1893 One of the oldest golf courses in the U.S. is set up at the Town and Country Club in St. Paul, Minnesota. The course originally consisted of tomato cans sunk in a pasture.

1893 The Anti-Saloon League was founded by Howard H. Russell at Oberlin, Ohio.

1893 Good & Plenty candy was introduced by the Quaker City Confectionery Company of Philadelphia.

1893 African American inventor T.W. Stewart received a patent for a mop.

1893 R.W. Rueckheim invents Cracker Jack, a popcorn, peanut and molasses confection. It was introduced at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago.  R.W.'s brother Louis perfected the secret formula in 1896, which prevents the molasses coated popcorn from sticking together. The prize in each box was introduced in 1912.

1893 The first Ferris Wheel opened at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois. Invented by George Washington Ferris, it had 36 cars and carried 60 passengers 264 feet high.

1893 'Happy Birthday to You' was first published.

1893 Cream of Wheat was developed by wheat millers in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

1893 Raymond Loewy was born. An American design engineer, he designed the Coca Cola bottle, the 1934 Sears Coldspot refrigerator, toothbrushes, etc.

1893 Juicy fruit chewing gum introduced.

1893 At the 1893 Chicago Fair, Pabst beer won a blue ribbon, and was called 'Pabst Blue Ribbon" beer from then on.

1893 The last day of the World's Columbian Exposition (Chicago World's Fair) in Chicago, Illinois. It celebrated the 400th anniversary of Columbus' arrival in the New World in 1492.

1893 Edward Adelbert Doisy was born (died Oct 23, 1986).  American biochemist who shared (with Henrik Dam) the 1943 Nobel Prize for Medicine for the isolation and synthesis of vitamin K.

1893 Hawaii's monarchy was overthrown when businessmen and sugar planters forced Queen Liliuokalani to abdicate.