1/ The history of communication can NOT be told without #Pittsburgh
1786 ~ we have the 1st US newspaper west of the Allegheny Mountains
2/ November 2, 1920:
KDKA FM Radio began broadcasting making it the world's 1st commercial radio station.
Bonus points: It was precisely the moment when many US women were able to vote for the 1st time
3/ April 1, 1954 ~ WQED TV (home of Mr. Rogers) went on the air, making it the first publicly funded television station in the U.S.
Not bad, #Pittsburgh!
4/ June 30, 1970, AT&T kicked off its Picturephone service in #Pittsburgh
Mayor Pete Flaherty began the call w/“Here’s looking at you,” to John Harper, Alcoa’s Chair (Hope Pete was miming Bogart)
5/ September 19, 1982 ~ Yet another communication 1st Scott Fahlman created the world's first emoticon, ancestor of today's emojis, at CMU.
6/ This just in: “Pittsburgh was one of 4 terminals in the nation's 1st commercial microwave relay network (Western Union, 1946-1948).
Our terminal was installed on the roof of the Chamber of Commerce Building. Thx @iVernacular!
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1/ Today’s entry gushed out of the intertubes - when all I wanted was to quickly fact check some deets about Pgh’s Dunking Stool
It’s one helluva dot connecting expedition that tumbles from the 1700s to the 1940s (that’s when I had to stop, there could be more)
2/ February, 1775 this twit called Dunmore, Governor of Virginia, orders a ducking (dunking) stool to be built for the court at Ft Pitt to handle talkative/troublesome women, aka “scolds”
By November court’s moved - stool’s whereabouts unknown
3/ 1829 Brilliant scold extraordinaire, Anne Royall, gets ticked off by her dour Presbyterian neighbors’ relentless chastising for her wicked tongue
Worst offender is a prominent married Presby elder who impregnated Anne’s maid
1/ Evelyn Cunningham (1916-2010) was an editor and reporter for The Pittsburgh Courier. She joined the staff in 1940 & reported largely on the civil rights movement and lynchings in the South.
2/ Cunningham bravely tried to interview "Bull" Connor, racist police commissioner of Birmingham, AL. He called her a racial slur & walked away
Evelyn:"I didn't anticipate he would give me the interview, but as a reporter, I had to give it a shot."
3/ Cunningham bluntly wrote about topics that weren’t discussed in her era, from domestic abuse to sex ed.
To pay the bills she also wrote stuff like how to host a dinner party even if you can’t cook
1/Miss Martha J Graham was one of #Pittsburgh’s 1st female principals. She rose thru the ranks at local schools for over 50 yrs & was beloved by 3 generations of students.
While poring thru articles about her something curious kept popping up, more on that later.
2/ Among Martha’s students were Mellons, Magees & Rauhs
Keep in mind these were public schools & ⬆️ came from powerful families.
3/ In the late 1880s Martha took in a tenant, Miss Jennie Ralston, who also was a teacher.
They remained together in #Pittsburgh for the rest of their lives, moving to various addresses, reforming & innovating education, & hobnobbing at high profile events