Breaking News

Local Columns

Y2K+25: Computers didn’t stop the world 25 years ago

For all of us a certain age – you know who you are – it has been 25 years ago since a world meltdown was predicted because of changing of computer clocks from 1999 to 2000. Y2K, geek shorthand for Year 2000, caused issues because early computers used only the the last two digits of the year in order to date files. This was done early on because memory was such a valuable commodity and dates such as 1999 took up more memory to store than simply using 99. As time kept ticking toward the end of the century people started getting seriously concerned that the computers of the world ...

Solstice has marked the passage of time for eons

It’s official. Winter is here. Well, it will be at 4:19 this afternoon. The first day of winter is more than a simple day on the calendar, it is a celestial event that people have been studying for thousands of years. The winter solstice has been marked by civilizations for eons. Everyone knows that the earth orbits the earth once a year. Because the earth is tilted on its axis 23.5 degrees we have seasons. When the top of the axis tilts away from earth we get winter in the northern hemisphere, and we get less daylight. Today the tilt, in relation to the sun, is on the side ...

Parents and sportsmanship

I would not argue with anybody who said it is hard to be a parent in our highly-competitive, contemporary society. I know; I was one parent who felt he could have done a better job, both in my children’s education and extracurricular activities. Still, I did the best I could with the limited parental knowledge I had. My only salvation was that I love all my children (and now my grandchildren) with all my heart. But, looking back, I could have done a much better job. Regarding athletics, I always attempted to direct my children to behave in a “good sportsmanship” manner. And by ...

Fire proof! The Safe Cabinet Company

You’ve driven by an old official-looking building on Greene Street dozens of times without noticing it. People used to call it “the bank” because it once resembled one. It was the office/research center/auditorium of the former Remington Rand (originally Safe Cabinet Company) plant. ...

A frightened nation reacted to Pearl Harbor attack

The nation entered World War II 83 years ago today when Japan attacked our forces at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The nation quickly reacted and the whole country was soon doing its part for the war effort. Marietta was no exception, with businesses quickly doing what they could to help win the ...

When there was no Black Friday

What kind of Black Friday deals did Marietta retailers offer 100 years ago? None. Black Friday, the name and the deals, didn’t start until the late 1980’s. Today’s Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving, the unofficial kick-off for Christmas shopping. The name refers to the concept ...