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Saturday December 5, 2020 Smile of the Day: Electric Cars
On this Day:
Lest you think that electric cars are a recent invention, Canada’s first electric car is reported to have made its debut at the Dixon Carriage Works in Toronto – Dec. 05, 1893 (some records have the date as Dec 06 1896) (per Radio Canada International).
In 1884, over 20 years before the Ford Model T, Thomas Parker built a practical production electric car in Wolverhampton using his own specially designed high-capacity rechargeable batteries, although the only documentation is a photograph from 1895. The Flocken Elektrowagen of 1888 was designed by German inventor Andreas Flocken and is regarded as the first real electric car.
Electric cars were among the preferred methods for automobile propulsion in the late 19th and early 20th century, providing a level of comfort and ease of operation that could not be achieved by the gasoline cars of the time. The electric vehicle stock peaked at approximately 30,000 vehicles at the turn of the 20th century. (per Wikipedia).
First, a Story:
Where do Volkswagens go when they get old? The Old Volks home.
Second, a Song:
OK I admit I have a soft spot for Chuck Berry.
Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. Nicknamed the “Father of Rock and Roll”, Berry refined and developed rhythm and blues into the major elements that made rock and roll distinctive with songs such as “Maybellene” (1955), “Roll Over Beethoven” (1956), “Rock and Roll Music” (1957) and “Johnny B. Goode” (1958).
Writing lyrics that focused on teen life and consumerism, and developing a music style that included guitar solos and showmanship, Berry was a major influence on subsequent rock music.
Berry was among the first musicians to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on its opening in 1986; he was cited for having “laid the groundwork for not only a rock and roll sound but a rock and roll stance.”
Berry is included in several of Rolling Stone magazine’s “greatest of all time” lists; he was ranked fifth on its 2004 and 2011 lists of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll includes three of Berry’s: “Johnny B. Goode”, “Maybellene”, and “Rock and Roll Music”. Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode” is the only rock-and-roll song included on the Voyager Golden Record (per Wikipedia).
Here is Chuck Berry performing “Riding Along In My Automobile” set to the images of some classic muscle cars.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aZ6v679JtQ)
Thought for the Day:
“When a man opens a car door for his wife, it’s either a new car or a new wife.” – Prince Philip
Further to yesterday’s Smile on Newspapers, Pete Roberts of Seattle Washington wrote that his brother, Edwin A. Roberts Jr. won a Pulitzer Prize in 1974 for Commentary on public affairs in the National Observer during 1973. Congratulations!
Cheers!
Have a great day!
Dave & Colleen
© 2020 David J. Bilinsky and Colleen E. Bilinsky
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