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A perk of being a weekend subscriber to The New York Times is the access to their online archives. (A less reliable perk: actually getting the paper.) I’ve decided to use this privilege to determine exactly when people and things were elevated to the level of ink-worthiness.
The Simpsons
December 23, 1988
It is rare that an underground cartoonist finds himself in demand for commercial work, but Matt Groening has made the leap. Mr. Groening is the creator of Life in Hell, an anarchic strip that appears in 103 publications, mostly alternative newsweeklies. Now, The Simpsons, a strange cartoon family he invented for television’s Tracey Ullman Show, will be featured in a new ad by Lintas: New York for Butterfinger candy bars, a Planters Life Savers product that makes its debut Jan. 2.
iPod
October 24, 2001
Apple Computer introduced a portable music player today and declared that the new gadget, called the iPod, was so much easier to use that it would broaden a nascent market in the way the Macintosh once helped make the personal computer accessible to a more general audience. But while industry analysts said the device appeared to be as consumer friendly as the company said it was, they also pointed to its relatively limited potential audience, around seven million owners of the latest Macintosh computers. Apple said it had not yet decided whether to introduce a version of the music player for computers with the Windows operating system, which is used by more than 90 percent of personal computer users.
Barack Obama
February 6, 1990
The Harvard Law Review, generally considered the most prestigious in the country, elected the first black president in its 104-year history today. The job is considered the highest student position at Harvard Law School. The new president of the Review is Barack Obama, a 28-year-old graduate of Columbia University who spent four years heading a community development program for poor blacks on Chicago’s South Side before enrolling in law school. His late father, Barack Obama, was a finance minister in Kenya and his mother, Ann Dunham, is an American anthropologist now doing fieldwork in Indonesia. Mr. Obama was born in Hawaii. “The fact that I’ve been elected shows a lot of progress,” Mr. Obama said today in an interview. “It’s encouraging.”
Jon Stewart
November 4, 1988
Also performing are the stand-up comedians Bob Shaw, Ray Romano and Jon Stewart. The cover charge is $10 tonight, $12 tomorrow, and $7 on Sunday, and there is a two-drink minimum. Reservations are suggested.
Microsoft
August 13, 1981
Instead of having to type detailed instructions on a keyboard, using a special language, in a few years users will be able to communicate with computers more like they do with fellow human beings. Computers might develop the ability to understand the particular nuances and style of their owners. “They will have as much stored knowledge of what you know, what you’ve said, what you’ve done than any friend would have the patience to learn,” predicts William H. Gates, president of Microsoft, a Bellevue, Wash., company that has designed software for many personal computer manufacturers, including I.B.M.
George W. Bush (?)
October 12, 1972
A half dozen years ago the Americans were known for their parties, but that is largely a thing of the past….As a result, one American official said, “we’re being downgraded a lot” by other diplomats who are tired of the cold buffet at United States functions. But happily, perhaps, George W. Bush, the American representative, has a flair for off-beat party ideas. A few weeks ago he took a number of guests up to the Bronx Zoo to see 550 kinds of birds. No other mission topped that number.
I guess this could possibly be a different GWB. More likely, it’s his father. Anyway, what other subjects should I tackle? Let me know and I’ll be back with a sequel.
(I plan to run this feature into the ground.)
Update: Lots more first mentions here.
Want complete access to The New York Times archives, which go all the way back to 1851? Become an NYT subscriber.
Comments (23)
Comment
- Follow mental_floss
got anything on early internet?
how about starbucks–I remember when the first ‘bucks opened in my town everyone thought it would flop. who would pay that much for coffee??
Paris Hilton? I recall reading something about her when she first started her underage partying, and wondering, “why on earth is she famous?” I’m still wondering.
posted by Jenny on 7-17-2007 at 12:40 pm
How about mental_floss? When did the NYT first acknowledge this work of genius?
I am also curious about “Cellular Phones”. I know that Bell Labs developed the concept in the 40’s and Motorola had the first working prototype system in the 70’s, but when did the Times first catch on to this now ubiquitous technology?
posted by n2y2 on 7-17-2007 at 1:20 pm
**Warning- quite a bit off topic**
The Google banner ad at the top of the post claims it will expose the truth behind the “canditate” Barack Obama. Mostly amused b/c:
1. poor spelling is always pointed out on the _Floss blogs
2. When I searched the word on google (to make sure it wasn’t a localization of which I’m unaware), not only did it suggest the correct spelling, but it also gave me a very long list of websites that will not influence my political opinions because I’m too distracted by their poor spelling.
posted by Jennings on 7-17-2007 at 1:25 pm
bras
posted by katie on 7-17-2007 at 1:27 pm
nintendo
low-carb diets
Mars
lite beer?
posted by katie on 7-17-2007 at 1:29 pm
Weird – Microsoft was first mentioned on the day I was born!
posted by Ross on 7-17-2007 at 1:50 pm
Microwaves ovens?
posted by DW on 7-17-2007 at 1:59 pm
Hillary Clinton
Reality TV
Michael Jordan
Global warming
Metrosexual
Meryl Streep
posted by Ryan on 7-17-2007 at 5:45 pm
Teehee. Ol’ Jonny boy back in ‘88 must’ve been a treat.
posted by Aemi on 7-17-2007 at 6:38 pm
AIDS (or GRID maybe?)
playstation
XM radio
Starbucks (Good Idea Jenny. That one sounds very interesting to me.)
posted by Barb on 7-18-2007 at 7:57 am
Hmm… how about some tech terms:
Atari
DVR
Wikipedia
Text message
posted by Jason! on 7-18-2007 at 9:55 am
CDs
Grunge Music
McDonald’s
Wal-Mart
Digital Cameras
COPS (the show)
posted by Mike on 7-18-2007 at 11:45 am
This is not a suggestion, but I was wholly unaware until now that Butterfingers didn’t exist until 1989. Amazing!
posted by Drew on 7-18-2007 at 12:06 pm
@ Drew
Butterfinger was invented in 1923 (according to the Wikipedia.) 1989 was significant because that’s when Bart Simpson started hawking it.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfinger
An, no, I didn’t know it was that old either, but I knew I ate them as a kid, and I’m sure as hell older than that…
posted by Ed Hands on 7-18-2007 at 12:27 pm
How far back to do the archives go? Given that the NYT is more than 150 years old, I’d think people would suggest things that happened before 1970.
What about the first mention of the subway, or the telephone, or the automobile? Commercial flight?
posted by Laura on 7-18-2007 at 3:30 pm
Ooh — a misplaced modifier changes everything.
But now, thanks to Ed, I can say that until now I was wholly unaware that Butterfingers were as old as they are. These wonders, they will never cease!
posted by Drew on 7-18-2007 at 7:55 pm
@ Drew
Sadly, that was probably the most useful I was all day…
posted by Ed Hands on 7-19-2007 at 7:38 am
harry anslinger
ken kesey (LSD legal)
harrison tax stamp
cocaine
opium
hemp (ditchweed-the viable crop)
kids wearing helmets to ride bikes (retarded)
the day insurance companies took over our freedoms.
bush “we will not occupy iraq”
color tv
las vegas founded
hmo formation
lobbyists make appearance
deregulation of communications
first pay-tv service (ON t.v.?)
stereo sound
first on-line university (the beginning of the end of education)
california public schools #1!
boy not to make local sports team because he is not good enough
energy drink
opium,cocaine legal, alcohol not. then, the other way around.
precedent in drug laws (see anslinger,racism,inconsistency)
1st american prison (demographics)
1st drive-by shooting
1st use of crack
1st transsexual (chick with a dick)
mayor of D.C. smokes crack
christian leaders busted for any number of illicit activities
1st christian mega-church/wall-mart of religion
corporate sponsorship of church
power of censorship as exercised by mega-retailers refusing to stock media
gloria allred’s first notorious case
reginald denny beaten
o.j. absolved (first abortion of justice that i’ve seen…)
red wine good for you, red wine bad for you, red wine good for you again…
mercedes-benz makes body panels from hemp-based plastic
america going down in flames……
posted by tristan hamady on 9-12-2007 at 10:35 am
The Mosaic web browser was first mentioned by the New York Times in December 8, 1993 by John Markoff (it was a genuine scoop).
The PR department at the University of Illinois succeeded in hiding the fact it was created by a group of students lead by Marc Andreessen and presented it as if it had been developed the heavily funded NCSA (the National Center for Supercomputing Applications.)
posted by Jack on 10-3-2007 at 10:59 pm
the singularity
osama bin laden
hizbullah
hamas
virus (network variety)
global warming
global cooling
email
amahdinejad
AQ Khan
posted by Daniel Lynch on 10-9-2007 at 1:04 pm
TV
Democrat
Republican
How old is this publication?
posted by Bajsa on 10-9-2007 at 4:55 pm
How about “ebay”? When I first heard about an “online garage sale” I thought it was ridiculous. Wish I’d bought the stock.
Also:
The Internet or Arpanet
MP3
CD
DVD
Google
Yahoo
YouTube
MySpace
GPS
ATMs
laptop
download (-ing, -s)
modem
blog
database
spreadsheet
video game
printer
monitor
synthesizer (musical instrument)
laser
…could go on and on. Great idea for a blog post!
posted by corey on 10-9-2007 at 6:58 pm
MTV
Alan Greenspan
Ted Kaczinski
Fred Rogers
posted by Jonny on 10-24-2007 at 10:57 pm