Ohio River Report #395- Today is Friday, November 7, 2014, there are 54 days left in the year. 🌟 On this day in 1776, Congress chooses Richard Bache to succeed his father-in-law, Benjamin Franklin, as postmaster general. Franklin had sailed for France on behalf of the Continental Congress the previous month. Benjamin Franklin invested nearly 40 years in the establishment of a reliable system of private communications in the American colonies. He was appointed postmaster of Philadelphia in 1737 and then as joint postmaster general of the colonies, a position he held from 1753 to 1774, when he was fired for opening and publishing MassachusettsRoyal Governor Thomas Hutchinsons correspondence. While postmaster, Franklin streamlined postal delivery with properly surveyed and marked routes from Maine to Florida (this route later became Route 1), instituted overnight postal travel between the critical cities of New York and Philadelphia and created a standardized rate chart based upon weight and distance. 🌟 The Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapses due to high winds on this day in 1940. Fortunately, only a dog was killed. The Tacoma Narrows Bridge was built in Washington during the 1930s and opened to traffic on July 1, 1940. It spanned the Puget Sound from Gig Harbor to Tacoma, which is 40 miles south of Seattle. The channel is about a mile wide where the bridge crossed the sound. Sleek and slender, it was the third longest suspension bridge in the world at the time, covering 5,959 feet. Leon Moisseiff designed the bridge to be the most flexible ever constructed. Engineers of the time believed that the design, even though it exceeded ratios of length, depth and width that had previously been standard, was completely safe. Following the collapse, it was revealed that the engineers had not properly considered the aerodynamic forces that were in play at the location during a period of strong winds. At the time of construction, such forces were not commonly taken into consideration by engineers and designers. 🌟 On this day in 1980, the actor Steve McQueen, one of Hollywood’s leading men of the 1960s and 1970s and the star of such action thrillers as Bullitt and The Towering Inferno,dies at the age of 50 in Mexico, where he was undergoing an experimental treatment for cancer. In 1979, McQueen had been diagnosed with mesothelioma, a type of cancer often related to asbestos exposure. It was later believed that the ruggedly handsome actor, who had an affinity for fast cars and motorcycles, might have been exposed to asbestos by wearing racing suits. The time is 6:09 AM our temperature right now is 40° heading to a high of 43°. Winds are registering in at 11-17 mph from the NW. Humidity is 90% with visibility of 4 miles and a barometer reading of 29.90. The flu report for Ohio and West Virginia remains sporadic. Brrrrrrr! Happy Friday! -with Roy Clouston
Posted on: Fri, 07 Nov 2014 11:18:55 +0000
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