#ThrowbackThursday – 6 June
It’s 6 June, and that means it’s time for another edition of Throwback Thursday! Today, we’re taking a look back at three prominent events that went down on this day in history:
1882 – Packing (and Patenting) Iron
Ironing is considered such a chore. Fortunately for us, the irons of today don’t weigh 15 pounds (6.8kg); otherwise ironing would feel more like a labour-intensive job AND a workout rolled into one than a household task!
On 6 June 1882, Henry W. Seely of New York City, New York patented the first electric iron. Called an “electric flat-iron”, Seely described it as follows:
“The object of my invention is to utilise electric currents derived from any suitable source of electric energy for the purpose of heating flat-irons, fluting-irons and other similar utensils. To accomplish this object, I place within the iron and close to its face a resistance, preferably of carbon, and of such size and shape that it will heat the face of the iron sufficiently and equally.”
In other words, when connected to an electrical source, the flat-iron could flatten out fabrics when heated up!
Of course, Seely’s flat-iron was a bulky contraption featuring a large handle connected to a heavy metal base containing coils. It purportedly also took a long time to heat up.
Luckily, the design of the iron has improved over the years, becoming smaller, lighter and easier to handle … and they don’t take a lifetime to heat up!
1968 – Another Kennedy Killed
Five years after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, his brother Robert F. Kennedy also met the same fate.
Having emerged victorious in the California and South Dakota presidential primaries, Senator Kennedy was ecstatic and confident that he would soon be a top contender for the Democratic nomination for the US presidency. He shared his emotions with his supporters, who were assembled in the ballroom of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California, after midnight on 5 June 1968.
Alas, as the 42-year-old politician made his way through the crowded hotel kitchen, shots rang out, and he fell to the ground, mortally wounded.
Sirhan Sirhan, a 24-year-old Palestinian who held the .22-calibre revolver that had been used to shoot at least four bullets at Kennedy – including one that was now lodged in his brain – was immediately subdued.
After receiving treatment at two hospitals and undergoing surgery, Kennedy was pronounced dead in the early hours of 6 June 1968, nearly 26 hours after the shooting.
Sirhan Sirhan was apparently opposed to Kennedy’s support of Israel, which was embroiled in the infamous War of Attrition with Jordan and Palestine, hence his assassination of the senator. He was convicted of the crime in 1969 and sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
1983 – Message Received … Finally!
Messages placed in bottles and then tossed into the sea seem like a work of fiction, a popular (albeit hardly environmentally-friendly) trope used in countless stories: a lovelorn sailor meets the woman of his dreams when she comes across his romantic note, a spy passes along secret messages waiting to be deciphered, a castaway sends out an SOS … the list goes on!
Surprisingly, messages in bottles were quite commonplace back in the day. From ship’s passengers to passing sailors, hundreds of bottled notes were thrown into the ocean, carried by the waves for weeks, if not for months or even years. To this day, bottles from yesteryear are still being discovered.
On 6 June 1983, one such bottle was found on Moreton Island off the coast of Australia. The note it contained was dated 9 June 1910, and it was ascertained that it had been penned and bottled by a passenger aboard the “SS Arawatta”, an Australian steamship. The bottle was chucked overboard into the waters between Cairns and Brisbane before it was discovered on Moreton Island nearly 73 years later.
A charming discovery, to be sure. But if you ever do come across bottles bobbing on the waves or lying on the shore of your favourite beach, chances are they might be empty, and the best thing you can do is bin ‘em!
