PRESENTED BY
🌟 Editor's Note
Good morning — it’s Sunday, January 4. We're looking at the debut of roller skates, the first New York Stock Exchange building, the first Billboard music hit parade, GM's first EV car, and much more—packed with amazing revelations impeccably sourced.
Don't miss this year’s first Strange Times story about Fake Princess (Yes, Really)
Love Flashback? Please support me and help keep history fascinating every day.
Invite your friend to join you on this daily journey — good karma. 💌
Got something to say? Hit reply — I read every email.
— Fatih Taskiran, Editor
✨ PRESENTED BY NOOM
Real Results, Real Change - Try Noom!
Say goodbye to quick fixes and hello to lasting results. Noom’s science-based program helps you change your habits for good. With personalized coaching and expert guidance, you’ll build sustainable habits that stick. Ready for real, lasting weight loss? Start your free 14-day trial today!
Please support our sponsors 🙏
🚀 Time Machine
-1847
Samuel Colt sells his first revolver pistols to the U.S. government.
-1863
James Plimpton patented four-wheeled roller skates in New York City.
-1865
The New York Stock Exchange opens its first permanent headquarters at 10-12 Broad St, near Wall Street.
-1896
Six years after Wilford Woodruff's Manifesto reformed life in Utah, the territory was admitted into the Union as the 45th state.
-1936
Billboard magazine published its first music hit parade.
-1959
Soviet Luna 1 (Mechta) becomes the first spacecraft to escape Earth's gravity.
-1961
The longest strike in history ended with the Danish barber boys' 34-year strike.
-1965
Patsy T. Mink was sworn in as first Asian American woman and woman of color in US Congress.
-1996
General Motors debuts its first electric car, the EV1, at the LA Auto Show.
-2007
Nancy Pelosi becomes the first female Speaker of the House in the 110th Congress.
-2021
Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines are given to the public, with 82-year-old Brian Pinker in the UK getting the first jab.
📸 Snapshot
Muhammad Ali saved a suicidal man from jumping out of a ninth-floor building in Los Angeles, 1981
🗨️ Final Words
“Let no one weep for me, or celebrate my funeral with mourning; for I still live, as I pass to and fro through the mouths of men.“
🤯 Strange Times
Paper Monarch: The Princess Who Crowned Herself
England, 1817: a barefoot young woman shows up near Bristol, speaks an unknown “language,” and—through pantomime and a conveniently helpful “translator”—becomes Princess Caraboo of Javasu, survivor of pirates and exile. Newspapers swoon, society opens its doors, a portrait is made; for a few glittering weeks, an island that doesn’t exist feels perfectly real.
Then reality knocks: a former landlady recognizes her as Mary Baker, a resourceful local with a gift for accents and a talent for theater. The spell breaks, the papers backpedal, and Caraboo exits stage left—proof that if you give a good story a crown, most people won’t ask for a passport.