Top 10 Fascinating Firsts In the World of Entertainment

10. First Special Effects Epic (The Lost World, 1925)

While portions of this 1925 silent film have been lost, it nevertheless stands as a monumental achievement in special effects for the time. Famed stop-motion effects artist Willis O’Brien created the dinosaurs in this film as a sort of test run for his 1933 masterpiece King Kong, and though of course the effects are beyond primitive by today’s standards, it’s hard to overstate how stunned contemporary audiences were by them.

A screening of test footage took place in 1922, arranged by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (who told nobody where the film had come from.) Footage of an attacking Allosaurus was screened for the American Society of Magicians (of which Harry Houdini was a member) resulting in a front page story in the New York Times the following day: “(The) monsters of the ancient world, or of the new world which (Doyle) has discovered in the ether, were extraordinarily lifelike. If fakes, they were masterpieces.” The Lost World was the first film to feature animation of this type, and set a model for the thousands of effects-oriented blockbusters to come.

9. First Nationwide Color TV Broadcast (Tournament of Roses Parade, NBC, 1954)

While most American homes didn’t have a color television until the mid to late-’60s, color TV broadcasting on a coast-to-coast scale began in the ’50s, and the very first nationwide color broadcast was one that continues to be broadcast annually today- NBC’s Tournament of Roses parade.

Oddly enough, on the date of the broadcast (January 1, 1954,) there was exactly one model of color television available to consumers in the United States. That would be the 15-inch Admiral C1617A, which had gone on sale in select US markets exactly two days before this inaugural broadcast. If you weren’t watching the Tournament of Roses on an Admiral, you were watching it in black and white; considering the thing cost nearly $1,200, that was probably the best option. To put that price in perspective, by the way, the average cost of a new car at the time was $1,700.

8. First Horror Film Nominated for Best Picture (The Exorcist, 1973)

The Exorcist remains among the scariest films of all time forty years after its release, and for good reason. While there are enough shocking images and disturbing themes to ring the bell of even contemporary horror fans, reviews at the time also singled out the tight script by William Peter Blatty (adapting his own novel), and a level of acting far beyond that ordinarily required for a horror movie.

Yes, The Exorcist proved that overall production values can elevate even such fearsome material to the level of art- and as such, it was not only the first horror film to be nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award, it was nominated for no less than ten awards, including all the major categories. Blatty took home a statue for his screenplay, and the film also won the award for Sound Mixing. No horror movie would win any major Oscars until 1991′s Silence of the Lambs, which literally won them all and remains the only film in that genre to win any other than 1990′s Misery (for which Kathy Bates won Best Actress).

7. First Multimedia Star (Bing Crosby)

Today’s audiences are used to seeing mega-pop stars make forays into movies, movie stars trying to be rock stars, rock stars becoming reality TV stars, and more permutations and combinations of all of those things than we care to think about. One could argue that this really began with MGM’s cross-platform marketing of Elvis Presley in the ’50s, but then one would be forgetting about Bing Crosby- the crooner that set the standard for the modern multimedia superstar, and who did it two decades before Elvis.

Bing Crosby had a popular radio show. He dominated the popular music charts for years and years, releasing over three hundred singles. In addition, by number of tickets sold, he is the third most popular film actor of all time, even winning an Academy Award for Best Actor in 1944. Oh, and his recording of the 1941 holiday classic “White Christmas” sold a hundred million copies (the best-selling single ever; they literally had to re-record the song in 1947 because the master was worn out from pressing so many singles), has charted no less than seventeen times, and has had five hundred cover versions recorded.

6. First Purchased Spec Script (The Power and the Glory by Preston Sturges, 1933)

A spec script is simply a screenplay that has been written and peddled on a freelance basis, one that nobody commissioned. Freelance screenwriters have run the gamut from working for peanuts to getting paid like kings (Shane Black famously pissed off so many people when he sold The Long Kiss Goodnight for four million dollars that he just stopped writing for years). It’s a difficult, demanding, frustrating, yet potentially lucrative profession.

And it all began in 1933. House writer Preston Sturges, after being let go from Universal Pictures, conceived his story- a Citizen Kane prototype loosely based on C.W. Post, the founder of General Foods- in 1932, and wrote a complete shooting script rather than a “treatment” or synopsis (as is and was common practice.) His fee was $17,500 and a percentage of the back end, which proved an unfortunate decision as the film was not a raging box office success. Sturges’s screenplay, however, is revered among screenwriters, and was even novelized.

5. First 3D Film (The Power of Love, 1922)

The 1952 film Bwana Devil is often cited as the first 3D film, but it was simply the one that set off the whole craze. Several experiments with the format had seen varying (mostly poor) degrees of success for decades prior; in fact, the very first commercially released 3D feature film was exhibited in 1922. True, this could be seen as a technicality, as The Power of Love was screened all of one time in the format. This sole 3D screening took place in September of 1922 at the Ambassador Hotel Theater in Los Angeles; it was subsequently exhibited flat and under a different title, and the original version unfortunately no longer exists. The anaglyph 3D system used by the film (red and blue lenses) lives on however, as it became industry standard during the 3D explosion of the ’50s.

4. First Gold Record (“Catch a Falling Star” by Perry Como, 1958)

The Recording Industry Association of America didn’t have a standard for designating records that had reached certain sales levels until 1958. If you’d guess that this has something to do with the advent of rock and roll, you’d be correct. However, the very first gold plaque- given for sales of over 500,000- was awarded not to a rock artist, but to crooner Perry Como for his single “Catch a Falling Star,” on March 14, 1958.

While the precious metal-based award had been in the works for some time, the RIAA actually waited until the inflated sales figures caused by the unexpected arrival of Elvis tapered off before creating an objective standard. After Como’s landmark award, the next recipient was Laurie London for “He’s Got the Whole World In His Hands.” Only then did Elvis pick up the first of his 53 gold plaques, for “Hard Headed Woman.”

For those who are wondering, the Platinum designation (for sales over a million) wasn’t created until 1976, and was first awarded to- wait for it- the Eagles‘ Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975.

3. First Televised Baseball Game (Cincinnati Reds vs. Brooklyn Dodgers, 1939)

It may seem like baseball has been broadcast on TV since the very moment TV’s became widespread in American homes. In actuality, it – well, no, that’s absolutely correct. The very first televised game was broadcast by station W2XBS, which would eventually become WNBC, and it’s safe to say it wasn’t viewed by many. It was 1939, and there were only about 400 TV sets within the broadcast area.

The timing of the broadcast, though, is paramount- the famous 1939 World’s Fair, also held in New York, featured television as a main exhibit and the game, a doubleheader between the Cincinnati Reds and Brooklyn Dodgers, was seen as a great way to showcase the infant medium. This not only led directly to interest in (and funding of) the development of television, but piqued sports club owners’ interest in the viability of televised sports- that thing you may recognize as having made obscene amounts of money for close to a century now.

2. First (And Only) X-Rated Film To Win Best Picture (Midnight Cowboy, 1969)

What many don’t realize about the X rating is that it was not created for pornography. The original MPAA ratings- G, PG, R and X- were meant to (and did) cover a broad but easily definable spectrum between films suitable for everyone and those meant only for adults. This is what the X rating was- an “adults only” rating, much as NC-17 is today. The only reasons pornographers picked up on it is because, unlike the other three ratings, the MPAA inexplicably failed to trademark it.

Thus it was, in an era when films aimed squarely at adults were still able to reliably make a lot of money, that Midnight Cowboy became the only X-rated film ever to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. The film made stars out of Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight, and is of course in no way pornographic; the sex and nudity are incredibly tame by today’s standards, and the rating was more due to “adult themes” (it has since been re-rated R for subsequent releases.) But hey- an X-rated movie won Best Picture once, so take that to the bar and win a few bets.

1. First Film Reboot (Tarzan the Ape Man, 1932)

Most people consider 2005′s Batman Begins to be the father of the rebooted franchise. Not true; it can be successfully argued that the first (very successfully) rebooted franchise was launched in 1932 with the release of Tarzan the Ape Man- a reboot of the previous series launched in 1918 with the release of Tarzan of the Apes.

In that first series, starring American actor Elmo Lincoln, two more films followed- 1918′s The Romance of Tarzan and 1921′s serial The Adventures of Tarzan. The end of the silent era likewise brought an end to the career of the film’s star, but Hollywood wasn’t done with Tarzan; Johnny Weissmuller’s 1932 version (thanks in part to Weissmuller’s famous yell that he claims to have invented himself) was much more successful, spawning no less than eleven sequels.

Of course, many more Tarzan films, live action and animated, have been made since then, and quite frankly, we’d kind of like to kick Tarzan’s ass for starting this. The next time you feel like complaining about the dozens of remakes and reboots in development at any given time, you now know who to blame.

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Top 10 Failed Assassinations That Would Have Changed History

10. Charles De Gaulle

President of France, 1962 (re-enactment in video starting 4:50)

While the controversial French President and World War Two leader of the Free French had several close calls with assassins throughout his long political career, none came as close to success as that of August, 1962. Riding in his car down the Avenue de la Liberation, De Gaulle’s vehicle was suddenly sprayed with machine gun fire as it sped through the streets of Paris at 70 miles per hour. (The attack was carried out by a maverick French Air Force officer infuriated with DeGaulle’s decision to grant Algeria its independence.)

Though the attack killed two policemen, shattered the rear window of his Citroen, and took all out all four tires, his driver managed to get away with the President and his wife unharmed. Had he not, it’s interesting to consider what direction France might have gone without the larger-than-life De Gaulle at the helm for the next seven years.

9. Gamal Nasser

President of Egypt, 1954

Most people outside the Arab world have probably never heard of Gamal Nasser, but for almost two decades he was the driving force behind Arab nationalism in the region and the impetus behind the country’s many wars with Israel. As such, had he been hit by even one of the eight bullets fired at him while he was delivering a live radio speech in October of 1954, it’s unlikely the Arab/Israeli wars of 1956 or 1967 would have happened, nor would the deadliest of all Arab-Israeli Wars, the Yom Kippur conflict of October, 1973, have occurred. (Though this last war was engineered by his successor, Anwar Sadat—Nassar having died of a heart attack three years earlier—it was in direct response to the humiliation the Egyptians suffered at the hands of Israel six years earlier.)

Of course, it’s entirely possible one of his many lieutenants would have stepped into his shoes upon his death, but none of them appeared to possess Nasser’s charisma or bellicose tendencies, making the future direction Egypt might’ve taken less certain. It’s possible it would have been less confrontational; but, of course, there’s no way of knowing.

8. Andrew Jackson

President of the United States, 1835

While most people imagine Lincoln’s assassination to have been the first attempt on a sitting American president’s life, few realize how close one of his predecessors came from being the first to die at the hands of a gunman. It happened late in Jackson’s first term when a crazed man walked up to the president as he walked out of the Capitol building’s east portico and aimed two percussion pistols at “Old Hickory.” Remarkably, both pistols misfired, leaving Jackson unharmed but his attacker bloodied and bruised after a thorough thrashing by the burly commander-in-chief, who apparently was as adept at wielding his cane as he was a musket. The man was unceremoniously hauled away by authorities (including a former congressman named Davy Crockett) and, after being deemed insane by doctors, was left to rot in an asylum for the rest of his life. Had the two shots, fired at point blank range, succeeded, the impact on the political direction the country was heading under Jackson’s heavy handed federalism would have been dramatic. Whether it would have been better or worse for the country is debatable but that it would have been different is not.

7. Ronald Reagan

President of the United States, 1981

It’s interesting to imagine what the eighties would have looked like had one of John Hinkley’s hastily fired bullets found its mark and Reagan’s more moderate Vice-President George H.W. Bush become president eight years earlier than he eventually did. Would he have been able to rejuvenate the economy, as Reagonomics did in the mid-eighties, or rally the people to bring pressure on the Soviet Union? While much of Reagan’s agenda would probably still have made it through, it’s difficult imagining the more moderate Bush persuading the populace with the elegance of the “Great Communicator” or demanding that Gorbachev dismantle the Berlin Wall. Still, he did navigate the country through the collapse of the Soviet Union and two wars during his single term, so it’s entirely possible he would have been up to the task eight years earlier. Fortunately,modern medicine and Reagan’s hearty constitution ensured that the world would never find out what the eighties might’ve looked like without the “Gipper” at the helm.

6. Benito Mussolini

Fascist Leader of Italy, 1926

It appears that 1926 was not a good year for il Duce, who was to face—and survive—no fewer than four separate attempts on his life over the span of just seven months. (On the other hand, since none of the attempts succeeded, it may have been a very good year for him, if a very bad one for Italy.) The first attempt was made by an Irish woman who very nearly shot off his nose, while three others—all men—either missed their mark or were caught in the planning stages. In every case, they ended up deader than their intended target. Had any of them proven a little more steady on the trigger, however, the Fascists would have not only lost the driving force behind their movement, but quite possibly even their tenuous hold on power. Who—or what—would have replaced him? Another fascist who might have proven even more capable than il Duce himself? A reinvigorated monarchy? A pseudo-democratic republic? It’s anyone’s guess.

5. Franklin Roosevelt

President-Elect of the United States, 1933

It’s hard to imagine weathering the twin storms presented by the Great Depression and World War Two without Roosevelt at the helm, but that almost was the case. It (almost) happened in February of 1933 when the then president-elect was riding in an open car in Miami, Florida. A crazed Italian immigrant named Giuseppe Zangara fired five shots at him, missing him but managing to hit and kill the mayor of Chicago, Anton Cermak (who had been riding in the car with Roosevelt). Had Zangara succeeded, Vice-President John Garner would have been sworn in as the 32^nd President and the thirties could well have been very different. Better? Worse? There’s no way of knowing what kind of president Garner would have made, but it’s hard to see how the more diminutive Garner would have gotten the New Deal, Social Security, or Lend-Lease through a hostile congress.

4. Abraham Lincoln

U.S. President, 1864

Lincoln’s assassination at the hands of actor turned southern agitator John Wilkes Booth in 1865 was the stuff of legend as well as an unmitigated disaster for the South, Yet, imagine if an earlier attempt in August of 1864 had succeeded. While not generally known to most people, someone took a shot at the president while he was riding in his carriage around Washington, missing his head by inches (and putting a hole in his trademark top hat). Had their aim been just a little better, the Great Emancipator would have been succeeded by Hannibal Hamlin (who?) which may have well given the upcoming election to Lincoln’s overly cautious former commander, General George McClellan. How either Hamlin (had he won reelection) or McClellan would have prosecuted the last year of the war—much less dealt with southern reconstruction—is a source for some debate. Lincoln’s death, if combined with a lame-duck Hamlin and a conciliatory McClellan, might have encouraged the South to hold on just a while longer and resulted in an armistice rather than a victory, dramatically changing the history of America.

3. Vladimir Ilyich Lenin

Russian Revolutionary and Founder of the USSR, 1918

Shortly before he became the undisputed leader of the Soviet Union, Lenin was nearly done in by a female assassin and fellow communist named Fanya Kaplin, who got off three shots at the man just as he was about to step into his car. Though seriously injured (he was hit in the arm and jaw), he recovered and used the attempt on his life to both bolster his popularity as well as instigate a reign of terror against his opponents.

But what would’ve happened if Fanya’s aim had been better? Would the Communists have prevailed against the Mensheviks or defeated the royalist White Army without their philosophical and political leader? Certainly the future would have been much more up for grabs without Lenin in charge, though it’s difficult to tell how it could have been much worse for the Russian people. It’s at least a safe bet that Stalin—the man who would eventually succeed Lenin and turn Russia into one giant gulag—was in no position to take power at that point, making it difficult to know who might’ve finally seized the reins of power. This makes this one of those failed attempts that’s difficult to assess whether its success would have been beneficial for Russia or detrimental; in either case, it certainly would have been different.

2. Wilhelm II

German Kaiser, 1901 (video is footage of Wilhelm II and son, not actual assassination attempt)

When an anarchist took a shot at the Kaiser while the king was visiting Bremen, Germany in March of 1901—only mildly injuring the man—few realized just how costly that miss would prove to be. How so? Had the shot found its mark, it’s possible World War One never would have happened and the course of history—especially in Europe— would have been dramatically altered. Of course, one can’t put all the blame for Europe’s descent into madness in 1914 on the bellicose Wilhelm II, but it’s entirely possible that a more practical and cool-headed leader might have been able to keep events from spiraling out of control as quickly and completely as they did. Would that man have been the Kaiser’s son, Wilhelm III? Probably. The only question then would be whether the boy king (he would have been just 19 years old when he succeeded his father in 1901) would have been the man to change history thirteen years later or would he have gone down the same tragic path his father took? We will never know.

1. Adolf Hitler

Leader of Germany, 1944

The details of just how close a band of conspirators headed up by a disfigured Army Colonel named Claus von Stauffenberg came to killing Hitler in his Prussian hideout in July of 1944 is the stuff of legend (and has even been made into a recent movie starring Tom Cruise). But, consider what it would have meant to the war in Europe had it succeeded. Clearly the conspirators would’ve had the upper hand and, with the help of key anti-Nazi elements within the Army—who saw the war as a lost cause at that point—might well have succeeded in ousting the Nazis and negotiating a quick surrender to the allies, shortening the war by ten months and saving millions of lives in the process. With Germany entirely unoccupied by foreign invaders at that point, it would not only have greatly reduced the level of death and destruction that was to be seen over the next few months, but would have undoubtedly altered the political landscape of Europe and likely changed the complexion of the looming Cold War, probably in the ally’s favor. As it was, the bomb that was planted under Hitler’s briefing table was a little too far away from der Fuhrer when it went off, dooming Germany in the process.

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Top 10 Things Designed To Last 1,000 Years

10.  Kalachakra World Peace Stupa

A rare and sacred Buddhist monument is taking shape at the Crystal Castle complex in Australia.  Building a stupa is an incredibly sophisticated and complex process.  According to specialists, the stupa is the earliest form of Buddhist architectural expression.  There are eight types of Tibetan stupas.
The Kalachakra World Peace Stupa is the first of its kind south of the equator (7^th in the world), and is meant to protect people against negative energy flows and restore balance in times of crisis.
Combining ancient design principles with advanced technology, the time capsule blessed by the Dalai Lama is built to last 1,000 years. The stupa should be finished before the end of 2012, and will be filled with relics, holy objects, and scriptures.
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9.  Prince William’s Tribute To Diana

In 2008, Prince William became a Royal Knight Companion of the Order Garter. The Queen made William the 1,000^th knight to join the oldest British order of chivalry.
When receiving his traditional ceremonial symbol upon being knighted, William requested that designers incorporate Princess Diana’s family logo as well.  In addition, both he and his brother Harry requested a scallop shell on their Garter Crests and Coat of Arms, as a long-lasting tribute to their mother.  The multiple-layered statue, made out of 24-carat gold, is designed to last at least 1,000 years.
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8.  Art To Last A Millennium

Buell Mullen (1901- 1986) was an internationally acclaimed artist who developed, after eight years of experimentation, a new technique of painting on metals. The unusual textures, techniques (she etched with acid) and the sculptural, three dimensional qualities of the paintings were quite innovative for those times. Besides stainless steel, Mullen worked on aluminum, gold, chromium, copper and nickel.  Shown above is a stainless steel portrait of President Dwight Eisenhower, presented to the Seventh Regiment Armory of New York City, on their 150^th birthday.
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7.  Antique Bibles

Do you know why antique bibles have survived over the centuries so well?  The answer lies in how they were made.  Nowadays, most books and bibles are designed to last for generations, between 30 and 60 years; antique bibles, however, could last a thousand years!  They hold up incredibly well because they were printed on parchment (treated animal skins), or on acid-free cotton linen sheets.  Since leather bindings typically last around 100 to 300 years, most antique bibles have been rebound in thick leather at some point.
The Codex Sinaiticus, for example, was handwritten over 1,600 years ago on 800 pages of parchment.  It is one of the four great uncial codices that contain the Christian Bible in Greek, including the oldest complete copy of the New Testament.

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6.  St. Louis Gateway Arch

The 630-feet tall Gateway Arch, also known as Gateway to the West, is the tallest monument in the United States.  The stainless steel arch rises above the skyline of St. Louis, and is a symbol of America’s westward expansion.  Architect Eero Saarinen and structural engineer Fred Severud designed the Gateway Arch in 1965, and intended it to last 1,000 years, if properly maintained.
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5.  Iznik Tiles

These vividly colored tiles, produced in Iznik (formerly Nicaea) during the 15^th and 16^th centuries, are one of the greatest artistic legacies of the Ottoman Empire.  The beautiful Iznik tiles still adorn the walls of many mosques (including the famous Blue Mosque), palaces, libraries and baths.
19 years ago, Prof. Dr. Isil Akbaygil visited some of Turkey’s historical edifices, and noticed that some of the tiles were as bright as new, while others were in an advanced state of deterioration.  Studies revealed that the bright tiles were indeed unique, though they hadn’t been made since the 17^th century, and there were no historical records of how they were produced.
As there were no records left on how to make Iznik tiles, Dr. Akbaygil dedicated her entire career to recovering the original formula, and she succeeded.  Akbaygil founded the Iznik Training and Education Foundation and brought to life this dormant Turkish art.
Original Iznik tiles are composed of up to 95% quartz, while most tiles contain 14% to 20%.  Quartz is believed to have many health benefits: it protects against radiation, and is both durable and temperature resistant.  According to specialists, these beautiful tiles are engineered to last 1,000 years.
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4.  Longplayer

Composed and developed by Jem Finer between 1995 and 1999, Longplayer is a 1000-year continuous musical piece.  The original installation has been running since December 31, 1999, and is located at Trinity Buoy Wharf in London.
If all goes as planned, Longplayer will play Finer’s music, without repetition, until the very last moment of 2999.  Check out the official website to understand how Longplayer works.  The questions raised in the Survival Strategies section are quite intriguing.
Longplayer is being streamed live online. If you encounter problems, try changing the browser.

3.  “Permanent” Paper – Nuclear Legacy

Since the mid-1940s, the human race has managed to generate so much radioactive waste that we ran out of above-ground disposal facilities. Industrial countries now have to build huge underground units where they can deposit the waste for thousands of years until the radiation levels decrease.
For a small but growing community of scientists, determining how to alert our successors to dangerous radioactive waste buried deep underground has become a challenging task.  The solution: record it all via permanent paper, which is made from chemical pulp, and has a projected longevity of 1,000 years.
The storage system for these papers requires special handling.  Documents must not be folded, stapled, glued or bound.  Each document is inserted in a permanent-paper envelope, and then archived in a permanent-cardboard register.  Documents are stored in temperature and humidity-controlled rooms.
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2.  Monolithic Dome Houses (MDH)

Building industry professionals from all over world claim that monolithic dome homes are probably the most disaster-resistant homes. More and more people are embracing this concept because MDH’s have survived wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, and much more.
When wildfires devastated Stephens County, Oklahoma, Jerri Strube’s monolithic dome didn’t catch on fire, despite flames surrounding it on all sides. A similar case happened in Yucaipa, California.  The “Vista Dhome” of the Braswells survived the Bryant Fire that destroyed almost 600 acres of hillside.
These houses are engineered to stand up whatever Mother Nature throws at them, and are designed to last 1,000 years.  As evidence of this, the Roman Pantheon is the monolithic dome’s oldest cousin, designed in much the same way, and will turn 2,000 years old in 2126

1.  M-Disc, The Archival Disc With A Thousand-Year Lifespan

Millenniata is an American start-up company that claims to have created a permanent file backup disc.  There are several storage media types that you can choose from, but their M-DISCs and M-WRITER Drive technology are the only ones designed to permanently archive data in a user-friendly, reliable and reasonably priced manner.
M-Disc is definitely unique in comparison with other optical disc formats. The inorganic, rock-like, data layer is the feature that sets it apart from DVDs and CDs.
The Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD) conducted a series of stress test to determine the disc’s durability.  M-disc was the only storage media out of five competing products that didn’t suffer any kind of degradation.  NAWCWD published these conclusions in a study called “Accelerated Life Cycle Comparison of Millenniata Archival DVD.” Millenniata believes their disc will last at least 1,000 years.

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Top 10 Things That Haven’t Changed In 100 Years

10.  The Train

We often fail to appreciate just how timeless an invention the locomotive was, nor are many people aware of how much it still operates as it did in olden days. Of course, steam has been replaced by safer, cleaner, and more economical diesel engines, but the fact remains that trains are still doing the same thing they’ve been doing since the mid-nineteenth century, and doing it in much the same way. Even the steel rails they ride on today are indistinguishable from those of a century ago. The one big change has been in payload; a century ago, trains mainly transported people; today, 90 percent of their load is ore or produce. Yet they keep on chuggin’ along.

9.  Landline Telephones

Obviously the advent of the cell phone is radically changing the way people contact each other, but the old landline is still alive and well, and hard to match in terms of clarity and reliability (when’s the last time you lost a signal on your land-line or accidentally dropped it into the pool?) The interesting thing is that it still functions precisely the way it did a century ago; the only significant change being the ability to dial the number directly rather than having to go through a switchboard operator. Also, telephone and electrical lines are still attached to wooden poles, just as they have been since the advent of the telegraph during the Civil War, demonstrating that sometimes the old ways of doing things are still the best.

8.  The Rifle

Once the shell cartridge and barrel rifling was perfected in the late nineteenth century, the modern rifle was essentially complete, with few changes, other than increasing the rate of fire, being necessary. As such, the modern, bolt-action rifle and chamber-firing revolver are essentially unchanged from their predecessors, and operate exactly the same way they did for great granddad. In fact, other than the advent of the semi and fully-automatic mechanisms, and vast improvements in sighting (i.e. scopes), a hunter from 1912 would have no trouble using a modern rifle (beyond bemoaning their lower quality construction.)

7.  The Iron

Let’s face it—there simply isn’t a way to make ironing wrinkly clothes any easier. Yes, you’ve got electric plug-in irons today rather than stove heated ones, and you have that neat little button on top that shoots out sprits of steam but, beyond that, ironing is still the same tedious art form it has always been. In some ways, it’s even more of a challenge today, with that always-too-short cord getting in the way or failing to reach far enough. Even the professional dry cleaners haven’t changed their methodology all that much; the chemicals they use nowadays may be different but the process—and the results—are still the same.

6.  Books

Many have predicted the demise of books since the advent of the computer, and Kindle and other downloadable reading devices are in the process of changing the publishing industry, but the fact is that nothing beats the good old paperback in terms of portability. Also, you can’t get your favorite author to sign an e-book, nor can you underline important points or scribble stuff in the margins with a Kindle.
And what happens if the power grid goes out or someone steals your reader? You lose your entire library! That’s why the printed book will never entirely die—it’s just too necessary! And the beauty of it is that books haven’t changed much in terms of how they are produced since Gutenberg printed a few dozen bibles way back when.

5.  The Automobile

This is a controversial selection since few can argue that the modern automobile is a far cry from the Model T of 1912, but how different is it really? Certainly the basic function of the combustion engine has not changed, nor has the way one operates an automobile. Ford’s rickety cars had transmissions, clutches, brakes, headlights, left-handed steering, and everything else we still see today. Obviously the technology has improved dramatically, and great grandpa never had the luxury of having a radio, a heater, or cup holders, but the basic modus operandi of the automobile itself remains largely indistinguishable from 1912 and probably won’t become truly different until they learn to fly—or at least hover.

4.  The Sailboat

Yes, canvas has been replaced with stronger and lighter nylon, and wooden hulls and masts have been supplanted by fiberglass or aluminum, but the basic idea remains the same: harness the wind to move large vessels across the water with minimal effort and cost. Even their sleek lines haven’t changed all that much, nor has their means of operation. Really, there is just no way to improve on a good idea, making the sailboat one of the most timeless inventions in human history.

3.  Musical Instruments

Despite the introduction of different materials and electronics to music (i.e. the keyboard and the electric guitar) musical instruments have changed little over the last century, which is why the piano, guitar, mandolin,violin, drums, trumpet, saxophone—you name it—are still made and performed much the way they did in 1912 (or 1812, for that matter). While music itself has changed dramatically (though not always for the better), the raw noise that comes out of these instruments, and the way they are played, remains timeless. Even the way the best hand-made instruments are manufactured is a throwback to an earlier era, when there was no substitute for skill and patience, and people took pride in crafting a quality musical instrument.

2.  The Incandescent Light Bulb

Ever since Edison produced his first practical light bulb way back in 1880, not much has changed with the overall construction. It looks the same, functions the same and, allowing for inflation, costs much the same as it did in 1912. Less energy-efficient than the newer fluorescent and LED lights, however, the incandescent may not be around much longer, and is, in fact, slated to be phased out of production in the United States in 2014.  Which is too bad because, since the older bulbs often used heavier filaments, they were more robust and therefore long-lasting, making them superior in some ways than their modern counterparts.

1.  The Flush Toilet

Perfected in the late-nineteenth century, this hallmark of civilization has remained largely unchanged since its inception (or, one might surmise, its perfection) in roughly 1880. The basic mechanism inside the tank may be made out of plastic instead of rust-prone metal, but one of the great innovators of the modern toilet, Thomas Crapper, would still recognize the thing and appreciate it for the remarkable piece of engineering it remains to this day. One of the few truly indispensable devices they got right the first time, the immortal porcelain throne has stood the test of time very well, thank you.

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Top 10 Paintings Rediscovered in 2011

10. Norman Rockwell – The Little Model

Norman Rockwell (1894-1978) was a 20th-century American painter and illustrator.  For many years Rockwell created cover illustrations for The Saturday Evening Post.  He is noted for using a visual reflection of America and has become one of the most popular artists of the 20th century.  In 1963, Rockwell published his last painting for the Post.  It marked the end of a publishing relationship that included 321 cover works.  During his career, Rockwell was commissioned to paint the portraits for U.S. Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon.  He produced over 4,000 original artworks in his lifetime.  Most of his paintings are either in public collections, or have been destroyed in fire or other misfortunes.
The Discovery
On June 4, 2011, the popular television program Antiques Roadshow was in Eugene, Oregon when they discovered a genuine Norman Rockwell painting.  After researching the artwork, the show confirmed that it was an original oil-on-canvas painting by Norman Rockwell titled The Little Model.  In 1919, the painting was used for the cover of a Collier’s Weekly magazine.  The artwork depicts a girl with a dog, posing in front of a fashion poster.  The owner of the painting told the show that it had been in his family for at least 90 years after Rockwell gave it to his great-grandmother.
At the end of the program, appraisers determined that the Rockwell painting was worth an estimated $500,000, which made it one of the most valuable treasures in Antique Roadshow (US) history.

9.  Jules Breton – A Fisherman’s Daughter

Jules Breton (1827-1906) was a 19th-century French Realist painter.  During his lifetime, Breton was one of the most popular artists in France, England, and the United States.  He is famous for painting female figures, usually portrayed in a beautiful landscape and posed against the setting sun.  Breton often produced copies of his artwork and exhibited them in salons

During the First World War, German troops stormed the Douai Beaux Art Museum in Northern France and stole a large number of paintings.  One of the artworks was a Jules Breton painting titled A Fisherman’s Daughter.  The story of the lost painting has intrigued the art world for nearly a century.  In 2010, French officials and Interpol were alerted that the painting, valued today at about $150,000, had been imported by an art dealer in New York.  The police recovered the painting, but it was heavily restored and needed to be authenticated by art officials.
Art experts from France and the United States were called in to research the painting and investigate its history.  After a close examination, the true story of A Fisherman’s Daughter emerged; it was indeed the same painting stolen from the Douai museum in 1918.  In 1919, the Belgian government organized the return of the French stolen art.  However, the Breton painting was missing.  No one knows for sure what happened to it after that, except for the fact that the painting was professionally restored and turned up in New York.  In October of 2011, U.S. officials returned the masterpiece to France at a ceremony in Washington attended by the French ambassador, officially ending the nearly century-long art mystery.

8.  Otto Dix – Four New Artworks

Otto Dix (1891-1969) was a German painter who created realistic depictions of the German society and the brutality of war.  When the First World War erupted, Dix enthusiastically volunteered for the German Army and served in battle until 1918.  Just like many World War I soldiers, Dix was profoundly affected by war, and would later describe a recurring nightmare in which he crawled through destroyed houses.  When the Nazis came to power in Germany, they regarded Dix as a degenerate artist and had him fired from his job as an art teacher at the Dresden Academy.
Many of his paintings were taken by the Third Reich, displayed in a degenerate art show, and destroyed.  During World War II, Dix lived in Germany and in 1944 he was placed into the Volkssturm.  The Volkssturm was a German national militia created by Adolf Hitler on October 18, 1944.  It was made up of males between the ages of 16 to 60 years who were not already serving in some military.  The men were put into the German Home Guard.  Dix was captured by French troops at the end of the war and released in February 1946.
The Discovery
In 2011, it was announced that four works by German expressionist Otto Dix were discovered by accident in Bavaria among the belongings of the painter’s wife.  They were found in an old portfolio by Peter Barth and Herbert Remmert, the owners of Remmert Gallery in Dusseldorf, who were searching the estate of Hans and Martha Koch.  Martha Koch was married to Otto Dix in 1923.  The paintings date from 1922-1925.  The artworks include two watercolors, a painting study of a portrait of art dealer Alfred Flechtheim, and a large scale work depicting “a street scene with prostitutes.”  The four lost paintings are valued at $287,960 each.  Remmert is planning to show the newly discovered work along with other paintings in an exhibition to mark Dix’s 120th birthday later this year.

7.  Jasper Francis Cropsey – Autumn in America and Prospect Point Niagara Falls in Winter

Jasper Cropsey (1823-1900) was an American landscape artist of the Hudson River School, a mid-19th century American art movement embodied by a group of landscape painters.  The paintings for which the movement is named depict the Hudson River Valley and the surrounding area, including the Catskill, Adirondack, and the White Mountains.  In 1900, Jasper Cropsey died in anonymity, but his artwork was rediscovered by galleries and collectors in the 1960s.  Today, Cropsey’s paintings are found in most major American museums.
The Discovery
In March of 2011, a Cortlandt Manor couple brought two paintings signed by Jasper F. Cropsey to an Antiques Appraisal Day event sponsored by the Larchmont Historical Society (LHS) and Clarke Auction Gallery in New York.  After an initial investigation of the artwork, it was quickly recommended that the gallery contact the Newington-Cropsey Foundation, a Hastings-on-Hudson-based organization that is the foremost authority on the work of Cropsey to further authenticate the pieces.  It was hard to get the foundation to look at the art, but after three weeks of deliberation, the organization confirmed that the two paintings were done by Jasper Francis Cropsey.
The rediscovered paintings were given the titles Autumn in America and Prospect Point Niagara Falls in Winter.  The Clarke Gallery originally estimated they would sell for between $40,000 and $60,000 each.  However, in May 2011, the paintings sold for a combined total of $840,000.  The winter hunting scene at Niagara Falls sold for $552,000 and a circa-1860 autumn view of Mount Washington in New Hampshire sold for $288,000.

6.  Claude Monet – Bords de la Seine a Argenteuil

Claude Monet (1840-1926) was a French artist and founder of the French impressionist painting movement.  The term Impressionism is derived from the title of his painting Impression, Sunrise.  From December 1871 to 1878, Monet lived at Argenteuil, a village on the right bank of the Seine River near Paris.  Monet painted some of his best known works during this time of his life.  In 1926, Monet died of lung cancer at the age of 86.  He is buried in the Giverny church cemetery in north-western France.  The highest price ever paid for a Monet painting was for Le bassin aux nymphéas (from the water lilies series), which sold in 2008 at Christie’s in London for £36,500,000 pounds.
The Discovery
A lurking question in the world of art is, at what point does a painting become internationally recognized as authentic?  For example, in 2011, a respected Italian conservator named Antonio Forcellino published a book titled The Lost Michelangelos which speculated that two separate paintings by the famous artist were rediscovered in 2010 and 2011.  The paintings are named Pieta bread and Crucifixion with the Madonna, St John and Two Mourning Angels.  However, few art historians have accepted the paintings as true Michelangelos, which has diminished their value.
Bords de la Seine a Argenteuil (Banks of the Seine at Argenteuil) is an oil painting by Claude Monet.  The painting was purchased by Englishman David Joel in 1992 for £40,000 and depicts the River Seine at Argenteuil in France.  Since Joel purchased the artwork, he has been on a mission to establish its authenticity.  In 2011, The Art Access Research Centre scanned the picture using high resolution, infrared, and X-Ray photography.  The resulting image was examined by Iris Schaefer, the head of Conservation at the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum in Cologne, who had previously uncovered a fake Monet and she declared Joel’s painting genuine.
In 2011, the chemical analysis of the paint and its signature were studied by Dr Nicholas Eastaugh (Courtauld Institute of Art) and were found to conform precisely to Monet’s palette and the mediums he used in the early 1880s.  Since the new evidence has emerged, dozens of experts have written to confirm that without a doubt the painting is by Claude Monet.  However, the Wildenstein Institute continues to ignore the research and regards the painting as a fake.  The provenance of the work has been tracked to 1881 when it was given by Monet to Dr Charles Porak in lieu of medical fees.  With the new evidence and support of the art community, David Joel should have no problem selling the painting as a genuine Monet.  The artwork has been appraised at £1.5 million.

5.  Francisco Goya -The Hidden General

Francisco Goya (1746-1828) was a Spanish romantic painter who is highly regarded as one of the last Old Masters.  In 1786, Goya was given a salaried position as painter to Charles III.  After the death of Charles III in 1788 and revolution in France in 1789, Goya reached his peak of popularity with the Spanish royalty.  He was a court painter to the Spanish Crown during the Peninsular War and France’s invasion of Spain.  French forces invaded Spain in 1808 and Goya’s involvement with the court of the “Intruder king,” Joseph I, the brother of Napoleon Bonaparte, is not known.  Goya did paint works for French patrons and sympathizers, but kept neutral during the fighting.  After the restoration of the Spanish king, Ferdinand VII, in 1813, Goya denied any involvement with the French. 
The Discovery
In 2009, a technique was invented that allows people to X-ray paintings.  The process involves a device that emits a ray and causes atoms to produce a “fluorescent” X-ray and a color map of anything hidden under the paint.  In 2009, the technique was successfully used on a Van Gogh painting to reveal a portrait of a peasant woman behind the work Patch of Grass.  Since that time, a mobile version of the X-ray “scanner” has been developed, allowing museums to examine paintings that are too delicate to be moved or touched.
In 2011, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam used the X-ray device to test their most famous artworks, and discovered an unfinished painting behind Francisco Goya’s Portrait of Don Ramon Satue (1823).  The unfinished artwork is thought to depict a French general, and may even portray Napoleon Bonaparte’s brother, Joseph.  The Rijksmuseum says the Spanish master may have covered up the portrait for political reasons.  Joseph Bonaparte was briefly King of Spain from 1808-1813.
In 1813, when the Napoleonic army was driven out and Ferdinand VII restored to the throne, it has been suggested that Goya would have wanted to distance himself from the French regime and possibly paint over portraits of French command.  According to the Rijksmuseum, the Goya painting is a “formal portrait of a man wearing a uniform.”  The detail on his face was never completed, but “the decorations on the uniform are those of the highest ranks of a chivalric order instituted by Joseph Bonaparte when his brother, the emperor Napoleon, anointed him King of Spain.”  Only 15 generals, plus Joseph, were entitled to wear the uniform and medal.

4.  Diego Velázquez – Portrait of a Gentleman

Diego Velázquez (1599 – 1660) was a Spanish painter and artist in the court of King Philip IV of Spain.  He is best known for his portraits of the Spanish royal family, notable European figures, and commoners, including his masterpiece, Las Meninas.  Velázquez is often named as a key influence in the art of Édouard Manet, which is important because Manet is cited as the bridge between realism and impressionism.  In 1957, Pablo Picasso recreated Las Meninas in 58 variations.  The Anglo-Irish painter Francis Bacon found Velázquez’s portrait of Pope Innocent X to be one of the greatest paintings ever made.
The Discovery
In 2010, descendants of 19th century British artist Matthew Shepperson decided to sell some of his art at Bonhams auction house in London.  In the process of pricing the paintings, it was noticed that one of the pieces was similar to the work of Diego Velázquez.  Following more than a year of tests, X-rays, and research, the portrait was confirmed to be done by Velázquez.  The appraisal instantly boosted the paintings value to 10,000 times that of a Shepperson work.  The portrait shows an unidentified man in his fifties or sixties, who could possibly be Juan Mateos, the Master of the Hunt for Velázquez’s patron, King Philip IV of Spain.  It measures 47 x 39 cm (18.5 x 15.4 in) and represents one of only 110 to 120 known Velázquez canvases.
In 2011, Andrew Mckenzie, director of the old master paintings at Bonhams, said the portrait was of “outstanding quality” and had “extraordinary presence.”  In December, the newly discovered Diego Velázquez was sold at Bonhams to an American dealer for £3 million, or $4.7 million.

3.  Gustav Klimt – Lakeshore with Birches

Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) was an Austrian painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement.  He was a reserved man.  “I have never painted a self-portrait.  I am less interested in myself as a subject than I am in other people, above all women.  There is nothing special about me.  I am a painter who paints day after day from morning to night, whoever wants to know something about me ought to look carefully at my pictures.”  His painting method was deliberate and painstaking, which usually required lengthy sittings by his subjects.
The Discovery
In 2011, Sotheby’s London announced the sale of a recently rediscovered masterpiece by Gustav Klimt named Lakeshore with Birches.  The painting was labeled rediscovered because it was in the same family for over 100 years.  When the descendants of Lakeshore with Birches sought authentication in 2011, it became clear that it was a Klimt painting unknown to scholars.  The artwork was not included in his catalogue of existing paintings.  In addition, an infrared scan uncovered a preparatory sketch on the canvas, which is characteristic of the artist.
It has been determined that a photograph taken in 1902 shows the painting hanging alongside other works by Gustav Klimt.  Before Lakeshore with Birches was put up for sale in 2012 it was given an estimate and reserve price of £6 million to £8 million ($9.5 to $13 million dollars).  Despite the marvelous scene, the painting did not meet the reserve.  Art critics responded: “The price was conceivable had the landscape been one of the lake views painted by Klimt from 1905 until World War I.”  After the painting didn’t sell at auction, it was quickly purchased privately for £5.6 million pounds.

2.  Caravaggio – St Augustine

Caravaggio (1571-1610) was an Italian artist active in Rome, Naples, Malta, and Sicily between 1593 and 1610.  His work had a strong influence on the Baroque school of painting.  Caravaggio was notorious for brawling and led a tumultuous life.  The transcripts of his police records and trial proceedings fill several pages.  After his death, Caravaggio was forgotten by history.  It wasn’t until the 20th century that the importance of his work was identified.  Only about 80 paintings by Caravaggio survive, though lost artwork is discovered from time to time.
The Discovery
In June 2011 it was announced that a previously unknown Caravaggio painting of Saint Augustine, dating to about 1600, had been discovered in a private collection in Britain.  The painting was originally thought to be the work of an anonymous hand.  However, documentary evidence quickly attributed the painting to Caravaggio.  The painting fits Caravaggio’s oeuvre around 1600, when his style was sculptural and monumental, with powerful movement and emotional expression.
The painting was covered in old varnishes and repaints when discovered.  However, the potential of the artwork was spotted by Clovis Whitfield, a British art historian and dealer.  The painting had never been published throughout history and is thought to have been commissioned by Vincenzo Giustiniani, a patron of Caravaggio that lived in Rome.  In 2012, The Caravaggio of St Augustine was displayed for the first time in Ottawa, Canada, at the exhibit Caravaggio & His Followers in Rome.  Unfortunately, I could not find a monetary estimate for the recently discovered St. Augustine.

1.  Leonardo da Vinci – Salvator Mundi

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, and scientist.  He is widely considered to be one of the greatest painters of all time and perhaps the most diversely talented person ever to have lived.  Among his works, the Mona Lisa is the most famous and The Last Supper is the most reproduced religious painting of all time.  According to art historians, 16 confirmed Leonardo da Vinci paintings exist, with one being authenticated in 2011.  The last Leonardo da Vinci painting to have been rediscovered was the Benois Madonna, which was found by architect Leon Benois in 1909.
Salvator Mundi is a painting of Jesus Christ as Salvator Mundi, which has recently been attributed to Leonardo da Vinci.  Salvator Mundi, or Savior of the World, is a famous image that depicts Christ with his right hand raised in a blessing and his left hand holding an orb, known as a globus cruciger.  The orb symbolizes the Earth.  The pictorial theme has been attributed to a large number of artists, including the Italian painter Titian.
The Discovery
In 2011, a New York art dealer took Salvator Mundi to Robert Simon, who is a Leonardo da Vinci expert, in hopes of having it examined.  Simon was initially resistant, but became intrigued when he noticed that the painting had been hidden under a layer of crude over-paint.
The truth slowly revealed itself as researcher Dianne Dwyer Modestini painstakingly removed the layers of varnish and over-paint on the artwork.  It was discovered that the painting had a “pentimento” or alteration that showed signs of a previous work.  It was found that the creation of Christ’s curls in the art is unmistakably similar to other Leonardo da Vinci paintings.  This evidence, along with the comparative art history of the piece, allowed it to be authenticated by historians.
Salvator Mundi is an oil-painting that measures 66 x 45 centimeters (26 x 17.7 in).  Leonardo da Vinci painted the subject in France for Louis XII between 1506 and 1513. The recently authenticated work was once owned by King Charles I and recorded in his art collection in 1649 before being auctioned in 1763.  In 1900, the painting was purchased by Sir Frederick Cook.  Cook’s descendants sold it at auction in 1958 for £45.  The painting was then acquired by a U.S. consortium of art dealers in 2005 and authenticated in 2011.  Salvator Mundi was displayed in the London’s National Gallery from November 9, 2011 to February 5, 2012 as part of a Leonardo da Vinci exhibit.  After looking at the eyes of the painting, it becomes clear that Leonarado da Vinci was at hand.

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