I can proudly claim Monroe, Louisiana as the town that I call home. We have two nationally known companies that started here - Delta Air Lines, which started here and, until 1999, held its' annual shareholders meeting in the city; and Centurylink, who owns the naming rights to a few stadiums and is one of the largest telecommunications companies in the country. Centurylink actually started out in Oak Ridge, about twenty minutes' drive down one of the most scenic routes out of Monroe, but moved here and has the corporate headquarters out on US 165 North.
I would also like to mention that we are home to the second municipal railway (streetcar) system in the USA (Seattle was before us by a month)!
Any other famous companies that your town can say you started? Please leave out NYC, Los Angeles, etc - these big towns would fill up a page quickly!
Oklahoma City has, so far, given us Hobby Lobby and Sonic.
Norman is probably only known nationwide for the football team.
If people know my childhood hometown–Williamsport, PA–at all, it's as the birthplace of Little League Baseball and the home of the league's annual World Series. LLB is the kind of underhanded, money-grubbing organization about which a Roger and Me-style documentary could (and should) be made, but that's another matter.
As to my adopted home base, I assume we'll put S.F. in the same category as N.Y. and L.A.
The town I live in had mills, but some adjacent towns are more famous (for the same reason).
One town away: Lawrence MA.
Two towns away: Lowell MA.
Kokomo, Indiana (area) is where I live, but not where I am from. It is known as the city of firsts, and has a lot of inventions for a smaller town.
- America's First Car (1894)
- First Pneumatic Rubber Tire
- First Aluminum Casting
- First Carburetor
- First Stellite Cobalt-based Alloy (1906)
- First Stainless Steel (1912)
- First American Howitzer Shell (1918)
- First Aerial Bomb with Fins (1918)
- First Mechanical Corn Picker
- First Dirilyte Golden Hued Tableware
- First Canned Tomato Juice
- First Push-Button Car Radio (1938)
- First All Metal Life Boats and Rafts
- First Signal-Seeking Car Radio (1947)
- First All Transistor Car Radio (1957)
- First Ponderosa Steak House
- First McDonald's Diner (a concept that lasted only a few years)
Greater Kokomo Convention & Visitors Bureau (http://visitkokomo.org/kokomo-firsts)
Huntsville, Alabama is where the Saturn V rocket engines were developed and tested before propelling men to the moon. I haven't lived here long enough to know of much else; there's tons of aerospace and military contract firms that may or may not have performed notable things which are or are not classified information.
I've lived in Gainesville, Florida which is famous for having the University of Florida. The 34th Street Wall is a notable feature of town, after the Century Tower, thanks to FDOT.
I've also lived Nashville, Tennessee - well, that speaks for itself in terms of the country music industry.
Fort Lauderdale had the first Office Depot and Sports Authority (I don't think it's that big anymore). OD's corporate headquarters are about 25 miles north. Spirit Airlines vaguely got its start in FLL.
Other bits of suburban America where I've lived or was born aren't really notable for anything famous, save someone getting their fifteen minutes of fame. Not much in the way of manufacturing.
Papa John's started here, a block away from my office.
The gypsy moth infestation.
Petersburg, VA is known for its Civil War battle, and to roadgeeks as the north end of I-85. Colonial Heights, where I grew up and live, isn't really noteworthy for anything except being a white flight community in the days of integration.
Fort Smith has Judge Parker's Courtroom and gallows We're soon to be home of the US Marshall's Museum. The McClellan-Kerr Navigation System of the Arkansas River passes throgh here.
Fayetteville has the University of Arkansas. Lou Holtz coached here in the late 70's/early 80's.
Bentonville is home to Wal-Mart, known nationwide for putting competitors out of business and paying such paltry wages that many of their "Associates" are on Food Stamps. It's also home to Crystal Bridges Museum started by Alice (the town drunk)Walton.
Harrison, AR is home to Cavender's Seasonings :)
The town where we lived when I was born–Copperas Cove, Texas–is best-known these days as the hometown of Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin.
Fairfax County, where I live now, has George Washington's home (Mount Vernon).
Supposedly, according to a story I heard on a local radio station, singer Bruce Hornsby got his start when Huey Lewis heard him performing at a Steak & Ale restaurant in Vienna, Virginia (a town located within Fairfax County). I kind of doubt that because Hornsby is from Williamsburg and I've heard stories elsewhere saying that while Hornsby was indeed discovered in a Steak & Ale, it was in Hampton, Virginia, and it was one of the Doobie Brothers who heard him performing. The latter story is more readily found online, so I suspect that is the correct version.
Joliet, Illinois:
Dairy Queen. The first one was downtown.
Uno. Yes, International Games was located here and popularized the game from here. There is a street named Uno Circle.
Community colleges. The first public community college in the US was, and still is Joliet Junior College.
People:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_from_Joliet,_Illinois
These include, but are not limited to:
John Barrowman (Doctor Who, Torchwood)
John Houbolt (aerospace engineer who came up with the lunar orbit rendezvous making the moon shots possible)
Lionel Richie
George Mikan (played for the Minneapolis Lakers)
Mike Alstott (played for the the Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
Daniel Reuttiger (yes, that one of Rudy fame)
Movies & TV:
The Blues Brothers
Prison Break
The city also plays as a stand-in for Chicago in various movies and shows.
Coach Phil Jackson was born here in Deer Lodge, and we also have the country's first superfund site.
Rochester, NY:
Most famously, Kodak film and cameras. When people talk about Hollywood films, I like to say that films aren't made in Hollywood; they're made in Rochester. Hollywood's just where they take the pictures. :)
Also:
-Mail chutes.
-The first gasoline-powered automobile patent, by varying accounts.
For Shreveport, LA off the top of my head would be the Louisiana Hayride, where Elvis Presley made his first television appearance in 1954.
and Terry Bradshaw
-The world's first animal-to-human heart transplant took place at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in 1964. The year prior, they performed to first human lung transplant.
-The inventor of Pine Sol was born in Jackson, but I don't know if the product itself was developed here.
-The first DirecTV console was purchased here.
-Jackson is where WorldCom was headquartered (later moving to Clinton) before imploding due to a financial scandal.
-We have a restaurant headquartered here called McAlisters, which is starting to pop all over the country.
Quote from: Brandon on February 10, 2014, 10:57:44 AM
Joliet, Illinois:
Dairy Queen. The first one was downtown.
Uno. Yes, International Games was located here and popularized the game from here. There is a street named Uno Circle.
Community colleges. The first public community college in the US was, and still is Joliet Junior College.
People:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_from_Joliet,_Illinois
These include, but are not limited to:
John Barrowman (Doctor Who, Torchwood)
John Houbolt (aerospace engineer who came up with the lunar orbit rendezvous making the moon shots possible)
Lionel Richie
George Mikan (played for the Minneapolis Lakers)
Mike Alstott (played for the the Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
Daniel Reuttiger (yes, that one of Rudy fame)
Movies & TV:
The Blues Brothers
Prison Break
The city also plays as a stand-in for Chicago in various movies and shows.
Capt Jack Harkness lives in Joliet? Interesting.
Quote from: Scott5114 on February 10, 2014, 03:38:05 AM
Norman is probably only known nationwide for the football team.
I disagree (X gets the square). When I hear of Norman OK, I immediately think of the National Storm Prediction Center. If you live in a storm-prone area, you usually hear Norman, OK's city mentioned in the weather bulletin.
Anyhoo, out here in Grand Junction, though it may not have started here, we have the HQ of Leitner-Poma, maker of ski-lifts and gondolas, and are creating the seating cabs for the giant (world's largest??) Ferris Wheel in Las Vegas, which is under construction.
Quote from: thenetwork on February 10, 2014, 12:50:49 PM
Quote from: Scott5114 on February 10, 2014, 03:38:05 AM
Norman is probably only known nationwide for the football team.
I disagree (X gets the square). When I hear of Norman OK, I immediately think of the National Storm Prediction Center.
Norman has two claims to fame: OU and the NSPC. Oklahoma is the perfect place for the NWS to be headquartered: it has nearly every kind of weather imaginable other than hurricanes: tornadoes, deadly lightning, flooding, ice storms, blizzards, heat waves, earthquakes (not technically weather...), and it's windy here ALL the time.
My hometown of Mena, Arkansas is best known for a cocaine smuggling operation that operated out of the Mena airport in the '80s. They are making a movie about it. There's not really anybody from Mena who has been famous in the last 80 years. My current residence of Tulsa, Oklahoma is known for many things, namely oil, tornadoes, US 66, Cain's Ballroom, Native Americans, and (unfortunately) Oral Roberts University. There are lots of celebrities from here: Bill Hader, Bill Goldberg, Garth Brooks (Owasso), Roy Clark, the Hansons, the guy from the pop group Bread, Bob Wills, Jim Inhofe (puke), Paul Harvey, Gary Busey, and some I've neglected to mention.
Quote from: US71 on February 10, 2014, 12:24:11 PM
Capt Jack Harkness lives in Joliet? Interesting.
He was a graduate of Joliet West High School, Class of 1985.
Quote from: empirestate on February 10, 2014, 11:15:58 AM
Rochester, NY:
Most famously, Kodak film and cameras. When people talk about Hollywood films, I like to say that films aren't made in Hollywood; they're made in Rochester. Hollywood's just where they take the pictures. :)
With Kodak, Xerox, and Bausch and Lomb, Rochester was famously the optics capital of the world. For those who remember the Cold War, it was alleged to always be on the short list of Soviet targets.
QuoteAlso:
-Mail chutes.
(It's a series of tubes.)
Chicago: Sears, Roebuck & Co. (and everyone there still calls its tallest skyscraper the Sears Tower, not Willis), Pat Sajak
Los Angeles: The Hollywood film industry, Ice Cube
Seattle: Grunge music, Kenny G
Amarillo: (besides it's part of Route 66) the majority of the world's helium reserve is there (2 plants existed for decades there but the government disbanded them), the Cadillac Ranch, and the late actresses/performers Carolyn Jones and Cyd Charisse were from there
Cedar Rapids, IA: Collins Radio (made communication products for decades trusted by military and civil-commercial firms; is still around as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Rockwell), actors Ashton Kutcher and Elijah Wood, football player Kurt Warner, 'American Gothic' painter Grant Wood, Amana appliances (originally from the nearby Amana Colonies)
Dallas: (besides the obvious JFK, TV show, and football references) the creation of and early manufacture of Liquid Paper, Jack Kilby co-invented the integrated circuit and the handheld calculator, the retailers Neiman Marcus and 7-Eleven started and are still based there, the parent company of restaurant chain Chili's, Southwest Airlines
Quote from: Pete from Boston on February 10, 2014, 02:11:52 PM
Quote from: empirestate on February 10, 2014, 11:15:58 AM
Rochester, NY:
Most famously, Kodak film and cameras. When people talk about Hollywood films, I like to say that films aren't made in Hollywood; they're made in Rochester. Hollywood's just where they take the pictures. :)
With Kodak, Xerox, and Bausch and Lomb, Rochester was famously the optics capital of the world. For those who remember the Cold War, it was alleged to always be on the short list of Soviet targets.
Kodak was rumored to have a stockpile of napalm, according to local legend. Probably, they had stores of various chemicals relevant to their industry, some of which are doubtless also useful in nefarious processes.
But yes, other optical products certainly had their start in Rochester as well, such as xerography and Ray-Bans.
QuoteQuoteAlso:
-Mail chutes.
(It's a series of tubes.)
Yup. But it's a series someone had to invent, and that someone was a Mr. Cutler of Rochester. His name is all over the interiors of NYC buildings. Combining its ubiquity with its relative triviality makes it somewhat more fun to cite than many of Rochester's better-known innovations.
Quote from: Henry on February 10, 2014, 02:34:54 PM
Los Angeles: The Hollywood film industry
Well, I suppose by definition the "Hollywood" film industry had to start in California, but the industry itself did not have its start there. Many of the earliest American film studios began on the East Coast, particularly Westchester County, NY.
More accurate, I would say, is that Hollywood started from the film industry, rather than the film industry starting from Hollywood.
Valparaiso, IN: Orville Redenbacher had strong ties to the area, I think he perfected his popcorn hybrid formula when he was working near here. Also, Valparaiso University has a bit of regional fame for Bryce Drew, who upset Ole Miss in the 1998 NCAA tournament with a last-second 3-pointer (known around here as "The Shot" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Rm_eAiV4dA)). He's now our head basketball coach.
Davenport, IA: Not much in Davenport itself except for a few regional companies (people familiar with the Quad Cities will know about Whitey's Ice Cream and Happy Joe's pizza), but just across the river in Moline is where the origin and headquarters for John Deere are.
The town where I grew up (Frostburg, MD) isn't really known nationally for anything, though it used to be the site of the Washington Redskins' summer training camp. The town where I went to college (Latrobe, PA) is known for Rolling Rock beer and Mr. Rogers. The town where I live now has already been mentioned in the thread as being known for OU and the National Storm Prediction Center.
edit -- how could I have forgotten... Frostburg is known for the crazy dude who is trying to rebuild Noah's Ark (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God%27s_Ark_of_Safety).
Jacksonville, TX:
There is that 'east terminus of a certain US highway' thing I guess ;-) , but also country singers Lee Ann Womack (I was a grade ahead of her in school) and Neal McCoy, actress Margo Martindale (The Millers, Justified, Lonesome Dove), the careers of Broadway performer Tommy Tune and actress Sandy Duncan began at the now-late Lon Morris College there, also the first successful union voters at a Walmart were there (which led to chain-wide use of pre-cut/pre-wrapped meat from distribution centers which meant no more use for meatcutters in that (and every) Walmart)
West Monroe, Louisiana has Duck Commander, subject of the popular TV show Duck Dynasty.
We also have had NASA astronaut James Halsell (pilot, STS-65, -74; commander, STS-83, -94, -101), who grew up just down the road from my mother.
Columbus:
- Kindergarten
- The NFL (the Panhandles are credited with playing the first game with another pro team in the league, and the first headquarters were here.)
- Modern water treatment
- Air conditioned department stores (and escalators in department stores)
Lynn, MA (where I lived from 1961 to 1990) was the headquarters of General Electric's Aircraft Engine Division. Until about 1984, when the division was downsized, nearly every jet engine GE produced was manufactured at their West Lynn plant.
Wakefield, MA (where I currently live) is the home of Paul K. Guillow, Inc., a long time maker of balsa wood airplane and glider kits.
Salinas, CA: known for gang violence, lettuce & strawberry fields forever, and John Steinbeck.
New Britain, CT: The Stanley Works, a.k.a. the tool people. We also have the New Britain Rock Cats, the AA-level Eastern League affiliate of the Minnesota Twins.
Appleton, WI
-First hydro-electric powered house (1882)
-First commercially successful electric streetcar service
-First purpose-built enclosed mall shopping center (now demolished Valley Fair - opened 1954-08-11)
Mike
My current hometown of Belmont, WI has as its claim to fame as being the first state capitol of Wisconsin, for all of about 6 months way back in the 1840s. One major decision to come out of those 6 months was to pick Madison as the permanent state capitol, and the rest is history.
Nearby Platteville, WI is home to the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, which from 1984 to 2001 was the home to the training camp for the Chicago Bears. That accounts for the fact that, despite being in the middle of Packers country, there are so many dang Bears fans in the area. UWP was also the first head coaching job for Bo Ryan, now the head coach at UW-Madison, the Badgers. Ryan was the coach at UWP from 1984-1999 and won 4 Division III National Titles.
Just outside Platteville on the side of a mound is the world's largest "M", a symbol of the original Mining School, which is now UWP. The "M" measures 241 feet tall by 214 feet wide.
DeKalb, IL: Barbed wire was invented here, that's all I know lol
Oak Lawn, IL: the band Disturbed was formed here and a member of REO Speedwagon lived here
Malt-O-Meal (headquartered in Minneapolis, but manufactured in Northfield).
Quote from: empirestate on February 10, 2014, 11:15:58 AM
Rochester, NY:
Most famously, Kodak film and cameras. When people talk about Hollywood films, I like to say that films aren't made in Hollywood; they're made in Rochester. Hollywood's just where they take the pictures. :)
Hots. You forgot hots.
Beauharnois, QC, home of (possibly) the largest Quebec flag (https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.3151215,-73.9019345,674m/data=!3m1!1e3).
And the Beauharnois hydro plant nearby, which is a National Historic Site.
I can't think of anything else.
Hudson, NY was the first chartered city in the USA after independence. Hudson was chartered in 1785. It almost became the state capital, but Albany won out to become the permanent capital by a single vote.
Until 1850, Hudson was a whaling port. Hudson is also one of the very few places in America to be honored on its sesquicentennial with a commemorative silver half dollar issued in 1935. For coin collectors, it is one of the rarer issues.
Stamford, CT supposedly gave the world the electric shaver. I have not seen this claim substantiated, however.
Other than that, there are several things that can be associated with Stamford, CT but all of them had their beginnings elsewhere... of note, Stamford is currently home to:
- WWFE, the wrestling organization
- Filming of Jerry Springer, Maury Povich, and Steve Wilkos shows
- Pitney Bowes, the postage scale company
- the North American headquarters of two international banks: UBS and the Royal Bank of Scotland.
Likewise, when it comes to people, a lot more famous individuals lived in Stamford than were born there. Most noteworthy, Jackie Robinson lived in Stamford after he retired from baseball... and we actually had Bobby Valentine as our director of public safety under our previous mayor (I swear I'm not making this up) (http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Pavia-names-Bobby-Valentine-Stamford-s-public-954664.php).
Fort Collins: Accurate time. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWVB)
Quote from: Dr Frankenstein on February 10, 2014, 11:31:02 PM
Quote from: empirestate on February 10, 2014, 11:15:58 AM
Rochester, NY:
Most famously, Kodak film and cameras. When people talk about Hollywood films, I like to say that films aren't made in Hollywood; they're made in Rochester. Hollywood's just where they take the pictures. :)
Hots. You forgot hots.
And you forgot garbage plates. :-P
However, as far as I know those aren't of much interest outside of town (and I have rarely heard hots spoken of, even within the area); certainly not nationwide as per the OP.
One town over, though, and of course you have Buffalo wings. Those are known
of nationwide, though not everybody knows
how they're made.
Monroe, MI: Home of La-Z-Boy!
Los Gatos, CA, where I grew up:
-FMC Technologies started out as the Bean Spray Pump Company in 1883.
-Netflix.
Quote from: Duke87 on February 10, 2014, 11:52:09 PM
Stamford, CT supposedly gave the world the electric shaver. I have not seen this claim substantiated, however.
I don't know about that...but this guy was a well known Stamford resident for many years. Which must be worth millions of electric shaver brownie points.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F1fbN7as&hash=f3e972c1f85732c1a5092077d3befd033e5567dd)
A town near me used to be known back in the 60s as the The World Goose Calling Championship. As I recall, there was one key individual that really did the work and when he died it just ended.
Also, thanks to AARoads, that town also has a leading contended for most acute angle on an intersection.
Quote from: 6a on February 10, 2014, 05:48:41 PM
Columbus:
- Kindergarten
Watertown, WI (http://www.watertownhistory.org/articles/kindergardenfirst.htm) seems to disagree.
Hillsborough: The only thing Hillsborough has are the Duke Estates and the Belle Meade AGA supply depots during WWII. Now, I'm not sure if any of these are nationally known facts, but, well, that's all I could find for Hillsborough.
When I lived in Orlando, Disney World.
Chapel Hill NC: Michael Jordan, Dean Smith and UNC Basketball
There is a chain of sporting goods stores called Sport Chalet that got their start in my hometown of La Canada Flintridge, California. And the grocery store chain called Trader Joes started in nearby Pasadena.
Pasadena, of course, is also famous for the Tournament of Roses Parade, the Rose Bowl game and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Quote from: DaBigE on February 11, 2014, 01:40:04 PM
Quote from: 6a on February 10, 2014, 05:48:41 PM
Columbus:
- Kindergarten
Watertown, WI (http://www.watertownhistory.org/articles/kindergardenfirst.htm) seems to disagree.
Seems to be widely called the first one, but long before that was a kindergarten in Columbus (http://www.froebelfoundation.org/frankenberg.html).
At any rate, the first middle/junior high school (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indianola_Junior_High_School) was definitely here.
Everett, WA: Home of the Boeing Everett Factory, the world's largest building in the world by volume and birthplace of every 747, 767, and 777, and most 787s.
and here I thought the first kindergarten would have been in Germany.
Quote from: us175 on February 10, 2014, 03:36:53 PM
Jacksonville, TX:
There is that 'east terminus of a certain US highway' thing I guess ;-) , but also country singers Lee Ann Womack (I was a grade ahead of her in school) and Neal McCoy, actress Margo Martindale (The Millers, Justified, Lonesome Dove), the careers of Broadway performer Tommy Tune and actress Sandy Duncan began at the now-late Lon Morris College there, also the first successful union voters at a Walmart were there (which led to chain-wide use of pre-cut/pre-wrapped meat from distribution centers which meant no more use for meatcutters in that (and every) Walmart)
Oops, forgot:
-- Josh McCown, Chicago Bears quarterback
-- Luke McCown, New Orleans Saints backup quarterback
My home town, New Orleans, is of course a world renowned cultural destination: birthplace of jazz, Creole cuisine, the French Quarter, the Superdome, Perley-Thomas streetcars, the crescent bend in the Mississippi River, ad nauseum.
My current residence, Baton Rouge, is home to LSU and companies including Raising Cane's, Lamar Advertising, Albemarle, and formerly Shaw Group. Also, the nation's second largest petroleum refinery is located here.
Where I grew up and would identify as my "hometown": Montclair, NJ - nothing notable there, but just one town over in West Orange, Thomas Edison came up with just about all of the inventions credited to him.
Quote from: dfilpus on February 11, 2014, 04:05:04 PM
Chapel Hill NC: Michael Jordan, Dean Smith and UNC Basketball
You would make a list for Chapel Hill and omit Ben Folds?!
My former hometown and current home town are famous for a first.....
the very first official NFL game was played in Dayton at Triangle Park ....featuring the hometown Triangles defeating the Columbus Panhandles 14-0 in October of 1920.
Hometown (as in childhood home): Nothing that I can think of on its own. However, Garden City is referenced in the book "In Cold Blood" since it's 6 miles east of Holcomb, where the Clutter murders took place, and as the county seat, where the murderers were tried.
Former residence (still work there): Fort Scott is the boyhood home of Gordon Parks and was where Adam LaRoche (Washington Nationals first baseman) attended high school. The LaRoche family moved back in the late 90s. His mother is from here.
Current residence: Outside of the Pitt State football team (and you have to be well versed in Division II football to know about them), I can't think of much Pittsburg is known for nationwide. Brian Williams, now the main anchor for NBC Nightly News, worked his first professional gig at KOAM. And if you're a baseball fan, Bill Russell, former Dodgers shortstop was born here.
Parts of the Disney movie "Tuck Everlasting" were filmed right outside of my hometown of Jarrettsville, MD at Kilgore Falls and the King and Queen Seat in Rocks State Park (the zip code is the same; that counts, right? lol)
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.xerraireart.com%2Fimages6%2Fte.jpg&hash=464672239c1e40bf867e4470482470c6704011c3)
My town Indio, CA has the Riverside county fair and National Date Festival, a rare county fair in the middle of winter when the weather is really good. The fair starts this Friday (Valentine's Day) and don't forget to take a date (LOL). Indio is globally known as a main growing area for dates in the western hemisphere and you can find a few date groves in the Coachella Valley. We also have the Coachella Music Fest, an annual music and arts festival with huge attendance and the BNP Paribas Open tennis match every March in nearby Indian Wells.
Oh wait, the topic title (What started here): In 1915, a local physician Dr. June McCarroll suggested to the California state government on the importance of road divider lines. She suggested a yellow line in the middle of roads to divide traffic and her idea stuck ever since. Read more on the article I came upon on Wikipedia (with credible sources): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_McCarroll
Quote from: ctsignguy on February 11, 2014, 10:07:48 PM
...Triangles defeating the Columbus Panhandles 14-0 in October of 1920.
They have a fight
triangle wins
triangle man.
My town, Southington, CT, is known for developing the first cement to harden underwater, the first carriage bolt cutting machine, and the break-neck rat trap. Also well known for the apple fritter and the Apple Harvest Festival It's also home to half of America's oldest amusement parks, Lake Compounce, and ESPN has expanded over the border from Bristol. Among famous natives: Baseball players Rob Dibble, Chris Denorfia and Carl Pavano, Lisa Robin Kelly. Several ESPN personalities also call the town home.
Oh, hey, I forgot. The first-ever chiropractic adjustment happened in Davenport. There's a historical marker on 2nd Street west of Main commemorating it.
Hometown: North Kingstown, RI - birthplace of Gilbert Stuart, who painted a very well known portrait (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_one-dollar_bill) that you may have a replica of in your pocket as we speak.
Current residence: Braintree, MA - birthplace of former Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams, and statesman John Hancock. The City of Quincy takes credit for them, but was not yet established at the time of their births. Braintree was also the site of the murders that led to the trial and eventual execution of anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti in the early 20th century.
Quote from: Mike D boy on February 12, 2014, 12:22:36 AM
Oh wait, the topic title (What started here): In 1915, a local physician Dr. June McCarroll suggested to the California state government on the importance of road divider lines. She suggested a yellow line in the middle of roads to divide traffic and her idea stuck ever since. Read more on the article I came upon on Wikipedia (with credible sources): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_McCarroll
That's really interesting. I have heard the white line on the shoulder comes from a particular curve on Noe-Bixby Rd here. People were running off the curve, someone came up with the idea to mark the shoulder and presto. I've not seen anything to prove that, though.
Quote from: Mike D boy on February 12, 2014, 12:22:36 AM
Oh wait, the topic title (What started here): In 1915, a local physician Dr. June McCarroll suggested to the California state government on the importance of road divider lines. She suggested a yellow line in the middle of roads to divide traffic and her idea stuck ever since. Read more on the article I came upon on Wikipedia (with credible sources): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_McCarroll
But she was not the first. Edward N. Hines (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_N._Hines) of the Wayne County Road Commission, Michigan was the first. he first had them painted in 1911 on River Road, downriver in Trenton. Kenneth Ingalls Sawyer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_surface_marking) also predated her with a line down the middle of M-15 (later US-41/M-28, now County Road 492) in 1917 in Marquette County, Michigan. Ms. McCarroll did not paint hers until late 1917.
Quote from: bugo on February 10, 2014, 01:04:29 PM
(unfortunately) Oral Roberts University.
Is the Oral Roberts Tower of Power (a/k/a the Prayer Tower) still there?
My hometown is Silver Spring, Maryland. Like most pre- and post-World War II sprawl in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., it is unincorporated (and part of eastern Montgomery County). Were it incorporated, it would be one of the largest municipalities in the state.
The one thing that Silver Spring is justifiably famous for is Rachel Carson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Carson). No, she wasn't born in Silver Spring (she was from Pennsylvania), but she did write the book Silent Spring (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Spring) at her home (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Carson_House_%28Colesville,_Maryland%29) in the Colesville section of Silver Spring (now a National Historic Landmark).
Battle Creek, MI, is known as Cereal City because that is where breakfast cereal was invented and both Kellogg and Post were founded. Many of Kellogg's advertisements before the 1970s (either print or TV/audio) prominently featured the city's name.
My hometown of Kalamazoo was where Upjohn (now largely a part of Pfizer), A.M. Todd (one of the largest flavoring producers), Gibson Guitar, and Checker Motors were founded. Lately it has become a craft beer haven (although that could be said for much of the state), as Bell's (the state's largest craft brewer) got its start there while several breweries have opened in the last few years.
Quote from: empirestate on February 10, 2014, 02:53:12 PM
Well, I suppose by definition the "Hollywood" film industry had to start in California, but the industry itself did not have its start there. Many of the earliest American film studios began on the East Coast, particularly Westchester County, NY.
Where I grew up, the story was that the industry got big in Fort Lee, NJ, before heading west. In the papers there there is a yearly (or so) story about someone bulldozing a garage or something that belonged to Universal Studios in order to put up a bank or CVS.
Quote from: DTComposer on February 11, 2014, 02:05:22 AM
Los Gatos, CA, where I grew up:
-FMC Technologies started out as the Bean Spray Pump Company in 1883.
-Netflix.
South San Francisco, CA my former Hometown started Genentech and jump started the modern Biotech Industry.
Cupertino, CA Apple inc
Mountain View, CA Google inc
San Francisco, CA Twitter, Levis, Bank Of America, (PLOS Biology Peer Review Journal)
Here are Companies that started in my area.
I think the only thing Stoneham MA is famous for is figure-skater Nancy Kerrigan, although I understand that decades ago Stoneham had more gas stations per mile than any other town in the US.
This place:
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2251 (http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2251)
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.co.price.wi.us%2Fgovernment%2Fforestrydepartment%2Fimages%2FParks%2FConcrete%2FFarmer%2520Plowing%2520with%2520oxen%2520smaller.jpg&hash=b9e54c01538881fe56b2bd4ef7b0ac213435f0e7)
Had a summer job that involved cutting the grass around all those statues.
My hometown of Negaunee, Michigan, was home to the modern iron mining industry in the US. Iron ore was discovered there in 1844 when a surveyor's magnetic compass would just spin, necessitating the use of a solar compass.
Also of note, Negaunee is home to the only naturbahn luge track (http://www.freep.com/article/20140223/NEWS06/302230020) in the U.S. What is interesting is that it crosses part of County Road (http://hunts-upguide.com/negaunee_lucy_hill_naturbahn_luge.html), which is Old M-35 between Palmer and downtown Negaunee.
One town over, Ishpeming, is the birthplace of Dr. Glenn T. Seaborg (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_T._Seaborg), a big name in nuclear chemistry. Notably, he help to discover ten elements and has element 106, seaborgium, named for him.
Ishpeming is also the hometown of John D. Voelker (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_D._Voelker), a former county prosecutor and later Michigan Supreme Court Justice. Under his pen name, Robert Traver, he wrote Anatomy of a Murder, a book that was turned into a movie that was filmed in the area in 1959 in Otto Preminger.
Omaha is the hometown of Union Pacific and Warren Buffett. I suppose they can have a claim on Mutual of Omaha and the Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom. At Offutt AFB, they have the Martin Bomber building, where they built the Enola Gay, the plane which flew the mission over Hiroshima which dropped the atomic bomb.
Wyandotte, Michigan is where Lucille Ball (I Love Lucy, among others) lived when she was very young (sadly, the house she lived in has now been demolished) and is also the site of the Eureka Iron Company, the very first steel mill in America to adapt the Bessemer process.
As for the city we're a suburb of, Detroit-well, any Motown fans on here should figure that out.
I'm not sure if it was started here, but the Subway headquarters is located in my hometown. Bic used to be here, but they have moved I believe.
Sacramento, CA:
* Aerojet which has ties to military and NASA
* McClatchy Newspapers
* Shakey's Pizza
* Tower Records
* The founder of Charles Schwab was born in Sacramento
People: http://markholtz.info/sacpeople
Terre Haute was where the first Coca-Cola bottle was made.
Quote from: US 41 on March 02, 2014, 07:21:47 PM
Terre Haute was where the first Coca-Cola bottle was made.
It's rather interesting you mention this and not Clabber Girl. :p
SPH-L710
We don't really have anything interesting come out of Spearfish. We do have the world record for fastest temperature change and one of only two creeks that freezes from the bottom up, however.
Quote from: ZLoth on March 02, 2014, 06:49:03 PM
Sacramento, CA:
* Aerojet which has ties to military and NASA
* McClatchy Newspapers
* Shakey's Pizza
* Tower Records
* The founder of Charles Schwab was born in Sacramento
People: http://markholtz.info/sacpeople
Wow I never thought of this.. I knew Sacramento best for its gold trade and agriculture trade after water distribution and state politics.
My town:
* named after an arroyo that was in turn named after a saint who could reportedly fly (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Saints)
* developed an mp3 player that was quite underwhelming (http://beta.slashdot.org/story/21026) at the time ("Less space than a Nomad. Lame.")
Quote from: rawmustard on March 04, 2014, 08:55:15 PM
Quote from: US 41 on March 02, 2014, 07:21:47 PM
Terre Haute was where the first Coca-Cola bottle was made.
It's rather interesting you mention this and not Clabber Girl. :p
SPH-L710
I never think of Clabber Girl. They have a cool museum in downtown. They also built a new building on Margaret Ave. near the SR 46 / I-70 interchange. The Hulman family (whom owns Clabber Girl) is famous for many things including owning the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Quote from: US 41 on March 17, 2014, 02:17:26 PM
Quote from: rawmustard on March 04, 2014, 08:55:15 PM
Quote from: US 41 on March 02, 2014, 07:21:47 PM
Terre Haute was where the first Coca-Cola bottle was made.
It's rather interesting you mention this and not Clabber Girl. :p
SPH-L710
I never think of Clabber Girl. They have a cool museum in downtown. They also built a new building on Margaret Ave. near the SR 46 / I-70 interchange. The Hulman family (whom owns Clabber Girl) is famous for many things including owning the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
When I think of Terre Haute, I think of Mogger's. A lot.
Jackson is the headquarters for an up-and-coming chain restaurant called Newks. They're just in the southeast right now, but they're expanding into Texas and Maryland.
Grand Rapids, Michigan, my birthplace, is known for manufacturing office furniture (most notably Steelcase), Christian publishing (most notably Zondervan), craft beer (most notably Founders), retail (Meijer, SpartanNash, Gordon Food Service, MC Sports)...and Amway. :paranoid: As for firsts:
- First hydroelectric generator in the US, 1880
- First city to add fluoride to its water, 1945
- First art sculpture funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, Alexander Calder's La Grande Vitesse (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Grande_Vitesse), 1969
- First 20 screen movie theater in the Western Hemisphere, Studio 28, expanded to 20 screens in 1988. (Its name comes from being on 28th St.) It closed in 2008 and is undergoing demolition right now :no:
- A bunch of firsts in LEED-certified buildings that I don't care about
Houghton, Michigan, where I started college:
- First professional hockey team in the world, the Portage Lakers, 1903. Ironically, there's no longer any pro hockey in Houghton.
- The Keweenaw Peninsula was home to the first precious metal mining rush in the Western Hemisphere, when commercial copper mining began in 1844.
Sault Ste. Marie, where I am now, is most known for the Soo Locks (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soo_Locks) at the eastern end of Lake Superior. But it was also the first European settlement in present-day Michigan, and one of the first west of the Appalachians, founded in 1668.