TIME TO TRAVEL

November 18 in history:

The U.S. was divided into time zones on November 18th, 1883 by the railroad industry.  The move was needed so that trains could have standard arrival and departure times, instead of relying on local times based on the position of the sun.

The railroad tune “On the Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe” from the movie The Harvey Girls was the first song to win an Oscar for lyricist Johnny Mercer, born on this date in 1909.  Mercer also won Academy Awards for two songs written with Henry Mancini, “Days of Wine and Roses” and “Moon River.”

A steamboat trip on a river is the setting for the first official Mickey Mouse cartoon, “Steamboat Willie,” released on November 18th, 1928.  It’s also considered the first successful movie cartoon with sound.

THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM

October 13 in history:

On October 13th, 1884, Greenwich Mean Time was established, setting noon at the Greenwich observatory in England as the standard for time zones throughout the world.  However, scientists say that doesn’t mean the sun is always directly overhead at 12 noon every day at Greenwich.

Many witnesses say the sun did unusual things over the town of Fatima, Portugal on October 13th, 1917, in what has been described as “The Miracle of the Sun.”  As many as 100,000 people gathered in Fatima, expecting visions of the Virgin Mary.  Watchers claimed the sun changed colors, spun around, and moved back and forth across the sky, seeming to speed toward the earth.

The rescue of 33 men trapped in a Chilean mine was considered a miracle by many.  The miners at Copiapo had been underground for nearly 70 days when a rescue capsule was used to bring them back to the surface, one at a time.  The successful rescue mission ended late in the day on October 13th, 2010.

The man who created the TV show “Mission: Impossible,” producer Bruce Geller, was born on this date in 1930.  It’s also the birthday of TV producer Chris Carter (born 1957), best known for a series about two agents who investigated the seemingly impossible, or unexplainable:  “The X-Files.”