July 23, 1903

The Ford Motor Company sells its first car, a Model A, to Dr. Ernst Pfenning of Chicago. Ford produced 1750 of these Model A's from 1903 through 1904 when it was replaced by the Model C. The car came as a two-seater runabout or four-seater tonneau model with an option to add a top. It's two cylinder engine, mounted in the center of the car, produced 8 hp and drove a 3 speed planetary transmission. The car weighed 1,240 lb and could reach a top speed of 45 mph. It had a 72 in wheelbase and sold for a base price of $750.


[note: copyright holder has released this picture to the public domain]

July 24, 1969

The Apollo 11 astronauts returned from their mission and were immediately put in quarantine. The splashdown point was 13°19′N, 169°9′W, 2,660 km east of Wake Island, or 380 km south of Johnston Atoll, and 24 km from the recovery ship, USS Hornet. After recovery by helicopter approximately one hour after splashdown, the astronauts were placed in a trailer that had been designed as a quarantine facility due to fears that the moon might contain undiscovered pathogens. President Nixon was aboard the recovery vessel to personally welcome the astronauts back to Earth.

July 24,1911 : Machu Picchu discovered

On July 24, 1911, American archeologist Hiram Bingham gets his first
look at Machu Picchu, an ancient Inca settlement in Peru that is now
one of the world's top tourist destinations.


Tucked away in the rocky countryside northwest of Cuzco, Machu Picchu
is believed to have been a summer retreat for Inca leaders, whose
civilization was virtually wiped out by Spanish invaders in the 16th
century. For hundreds of years afterwards, its existence was a secret
known only to the peasants living in the region. That all changed in
the summer of 1911, when Bingham arrived with a small team of
explorers to search for the famous "lost" cities of the Incas.


Traveling on foot and by mule, Bingham and his team made their way
from Cuzco into the Urubamba Valley, where a local farmer told them of
some ruins located at the top of a nearby mountain. The farmer called
the mountain Machu Picchu, which meant "Old Peak" in the native
Quechua language. The next day--July 24--after a tough climb to the
mountain's ridge in cold and drizzly weather, Bingham met a small
group of peasants who showed him the rest of the way. Led by an
11-year-old boy, Bingham got his first glimpse of the intricate
network of stone terraces marking the entrance to Machu Picchu.


The excited Bingham spread the word about his discovery in a
best-selling book, sending hordes of eager tourists flocking to Peru
to follow in his footsteps up the Inca trail. The site itself
stretches an impressive five miles, with over 3,000 stone steps
linking its many different levels. Today, more than 300,000 people
tramp through Machu Picchu every year, braving crowds and landslides
to see the sun set over the towering stone monuments of the "Sacred
City" and marvel at the mysterious splendor of one of the world's most
famous man-made wonders.

July 25, 1755

Acadia is home to the first permanent French settlement in North America, which was established at Port-Royal in 1604 in present day Nova Scotia. Living on the frontier between French and British territories, the Acadians found themselves on the frontlines in each conflict between the powers. Acadia was passed repeatedly from one side to the other, and the Acadians learned to survive through an attitude of studied neutrality, refusing to take up arms for either side, and thus came to be referred to as the "French neutrals."

In the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, France ceded that portion of Acadia which is now Nova Scotia (minus Cape Breton Island) to the British for the last time. In 1754, the British government, no longer accepting the neutrality previously granted to the Acadians, demanded that they take an absolute oath of allegiance to the British monarch, which would require taking up arms. The Acadians did not want to take up arms against family members who were in French territory, and believed that the oath would compromise their Roman Catholic faith, and refused.

In 1755, during a period of further hostilities with France, Governor Charles Lawrence gave the Acadians one last opportunity to swear allegiance to the British Crown. The Acadians again refused, believing that this demand was no different than ones made over the past few decades. Because of this refusal, Lawrence decides on July 25 that the Acadians are to be deported. He arranges to have his council pass a resolution ordering the expulsion and Lawrence publishes the order on August 11. Before 1755 was over, an estimated 6,000 Acadians - approximately three-quarters of their total population - were rounded up as prisoners and forced onto ships bound for the British American colonies, Europe, and British prisons. By 1763, over 10,000 Acadians had been deported from the Maritimes.

Over the next several decades, many Acadians moved to down the North American east coast, landing temporarily in New England, the Carolinas and other ports, with a large number eventually settling in Louisiana, then controlled by Spain where the Catholic Acadians were welcomed as settlers. "Acadians" evolved into "Cajuns" in the local dialect.

July 25, 1965 : Dylan appears at Newport Folk Fest

On this day in 1965, singer-songwriter Bob Dylan rocks the world of
folk music when he performs at the Newport Folk Festival in Rhode
Island and abandons his acoustic guitar for an electric one. By going
electric, Dylan eventually moved rock and folk music closer together.
He also infused rock and roll, known then for its mostly lightweight
lyrics, with a more intellectual, poetic sensibility.


Dylan was born Robert Allen Zimmerman on May 24, 1941, in Duluth,
Minnesota. Growing up, Dylan, who taught himself to play guitar,
formed his own bands and was influenced by such musicians as Elvis
Presley and Little Richard. As a student at the University of
Minnesota, he performed folk and country music at cafes and began
calling himself Bob Dylan after the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas
(1914-1953). In 1960, Dylan dropped out of school and moved to New
York City, where he met his idol, folk musician Woody Guthrie
(1912-1967), and became involved in the Greenwich Village coffeehouse
folk scene and its social protest music. His first album, featuring
his distinct, gravelly-voiced vocals, was released in 1962. Dylan's
next album, the following year, included "Blowin' in the Wind" (which
became a major hit for the folk group Peter, Paul & Mary) and "A Hard
Rain's A-Gonna Fall," two of the best-known folk songs of the era.
With his third album, in 1964, "The Times They Are A-Changin'," Dylan
established himself as the pre-eminent folk singer-songwriter of his
generation.


In 1965, Dylan released "Bringing It All Back Home," a half-acoustic,
half-electric recording in which he was backed by a nine-piece band, a
departure from his previous pared-down performances. That summer, he
made his historic live performance with an electric guitar at the folk
festival in Newport, where he played such songs as "Maggie's Farm" and
"Mr. Tambourine Man." Some fans reportedly booed Dylan at the time,
although it's long been a topic of debate as to whether the crowd was
unhappy with Dylan or the poor sound system. Regardless, after
Newport, Dylan's popularity continued to soar as his musical style
continued to evolve and he became known for his innovative, poetic and
sometimes cryptic lyrics.


Dylan, who has a reputation for being reclusive and mysterious, was
inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988. Today, he is a
music icon whose successful career has endured for over 40 years.