1914
##— The Ford Motor Co. increased wages from $2.40 for a 9-hour day to $5 for an 8-hour day. Ford went on to sell 248,000 cars the same year.
##— The first everyday items made from stainless steel were available to the public. The first items of the new ‘rustless steel’ were most cutlery.
##— Traffic cones were invented by Charles P. Rudabaker.
##— In Washington, DC, the first stone of the Lincoln Memorial was put into place.
##— “Tarzan of the Apes” by Edgar Rice Burroughs was first published.
##— The Great War (WWI) started. President Woodrow Wilson declared the United States as neutral.
##— The Harrison Narcotics Act, regulating and taxing the production, importation, and distribution of opiates, was signed into law.
##— Zippers were relatively new and used mostly in boots and tobacco pouches.
##— Charlie Chaplin made his film debut and Babe Ruth made his Major League Baseball debut.
##— Mary Phelps Jacobs patented the brassiere.
##— The Greyhound Bus Co. began its first passenger trips.
##— Beginning the first of June, the use of alcohol was prohibited in the U.S. Navy. Welch’s Grape Juice was the recommended substitute.
##—
The average annual income was $577. The average cost of a new car was $500 while a new house averaged $3,500. A gallon of milk (mostly sold by the quart) carried a 32 -cent price tag while a gallon of gas was 12 cents. A loaf of bread cost six cents.
##— Life expectancy for males was 52 years and females, 56.8 years.
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