Moments in Time: Thomas Edison Lightbulb
The History Channel
On Dec. 29, 1609 or 1610, Count Gyorgy Thurzo made an investigative visit ordered by King Matthias to Csejthe Castle in Hungary and made a horrifying discovery: Countess Elizabeth Bathory overseeing the torture of young girls. Already known for her abuse and murder of servants and peasants, her title and high-ranking relatives had previously given her impunity, but her atrocities eventually led to her being cited as one of history's first vampires.
On Dec. 30, 1936, autoworkers occupied the General Motors Fisher Body Plant Number One in Flint, Michigan, in one of America's first sit-down strikes, which lasted 44 days. Their aim: to win recognition of the United Auto Workers as the only bargaining agent for GM's employees. An additional goal was for the company to stop outsourcing work to nonunion plants and to establish a fair minimum wage scale, a grievance system and a set of procedures to help protect assembly-line workers from injury.
On Dec. 31, 1879, inventor Thomas Edison delighted onlookers with the first public demonstration of his incandescent lightbulb in Menlo Park, New Jersey. The Pennsylvania Railroad Company even ran special trains to the city for the event.
On Jan. 1, 1995, the tales of giant rogue waves recounted by sailors for centuries were finally proved when a freak 85-foot-high wave was measured hitting the Draupner oil platform off the coast of Norway.
On Jan. 2, 2006, an explosion in the Sago Mine in Sago, West Virginia, trapped 13 coal miners. Tragically, all but one eventually succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning. The cave-in launched scrutiny and criticism of the media, the company that owned the mine and then-president George W. Bush's administration.
On Jan. 3, 1993, backup quarterback Frank Reich led the Buffalo Bills to a 41-38 overtime victory over the Houston Oilers in an American Football Conference playoff game immortalized to football fans as "The Comeback."
On Jan. 4, 2007, Nancy Pelosi, a Democratic representative from California, became the first woman to hold the Speaker of the House position. She would become Speaker again in 2018.
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