1.
Sylmar, Los Angeles
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Sylmar is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Historically, known for its profusion of olive orchards, Sylmar can trace its past to the 18th century, in 1890, olive production was begun in a systematic manner. The Sylmar climate was considered healthy, and so a sanitarium was established. There are fourteen public and eight private schools within Sylmar. The population of the Sylmar area was roughly 3,500 in 1940,10,000 in 1950,31,000 in 1962,40,000 in 1972,41,922 in 1980 and 53,392 in 1986. By 2000, a wave of immigrants and working poor had enveloped Sylmar, Pacoima, Arleta and Sun Valley, resulting in a housing shortage for lower-income people. The 2000 U. S. census counted 69,499 residents in the 12. 46-square-mile Sylmar neighborhood—or 5,579 people per square mile, in 2008, the city estimated that the population had increased to 79,614. In 2009, the Sylmar Chamber of Commerce estimated that the population was approximately 90,000 residents, in 1980 Sylmar was predominantly white, the ethnic breakdown being 58% white and 36% Latino. Twenty years later, in 2000, the neighborhood was considered moderately diverse ethnically within Los Angeles, with a relatively high percentage of Latinos. The breakdown in 2000 was Latinos,69. 8%, whites,20. 7%, blacks,4. 1%, Asians,3. 4%, and others,2. 0%. Mexico and El Salvador were the most common places of birth for the 36. 7% of the residents who were born abroad—an average figure for Los Angeles, in 2000 the median age for residents was 28, considered young for city and county neighborhoods. In 2000, renters occupied 29. 2% of the housing stock, the average household size of 3.6 people was considered high for Los Angeles. The percentage of married women was among the countys highest, there were 3,607 veterans, or 7. 7% of the population, average for the city of Los Angeles and the county. The median yearly income in 2008 dollars was $65,783. San Fernando became a city in 1874, leading to the naming of the land surrounding San Fernando as Morningside. In 1893 the area was named Sylmar, around 2000, some local residents proposed a plan to rename the northwest portion of the district as Rancho Cascades. Sylmar has been nicknamed The Top of Los Angeles, one observer recalled that the land had been a mass of ill-looking chapparal and chemisal before it was planted with olives. Experts were brought from France to supervise the work, calling themselves the Los Angeles Olive Growers Association, they built a packing plant and sold olives under the Tyler Olives label, later changing to the Sylmar Packing label
2.
De Dion-Bouton
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De Dion-Bouton was a French automobile manufacturer and railcar manufacturer operating from 1883 to 1932. The company was founded by the Marquis Jules-Albert de Dion, Georges Bouton, the company was formed after de Dion in 1881 saw a toy locomotive in a store window and asked the toymakers to build another. Engineers Bouton and Trépardoux had been eking a living on scientific toys at a shop in the Passage de Léon, Trépardoux had long dreamed of building a steam car, but neither could afford it. De Dion, already inspired by steam and with money, agreed. This became the De Dion-Bouton automobile company, the worlds largest automobile manufacturer for a time, becoming known for their quality, reliability. Before 1883 was over they had set up shop in larger premises in the Passage de Léon, Paris, tried and dropped steam engines for boats, and produced a steam car. With the boiler and engine mounted at the front, driving the front wheels by belts and steering with the rear and they built a second, La Marquise, the next year, with a more conventional steering and rear-wheel drive, capable of seating four. The Marquis de Dion entered one of these in an 1887 trial, Europes first motoring competition, the brainchild of one M. Fossier of cycling magazine Le Vélocipède. Evidently, the promotion was insufficient, for the De Dion was the entrant, but it completed the course, with de Dion at the tiller. This must be taken with care, the first official land speed record. The vehicle survives, in condition, and has been a regular entry in the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run. Following this singular success, the company offered steam tricycles with boilers between the front wheels and two-cylinder engines and they were built in small numbers, evidently a favorite of young playboys. They were later joined by a tractor, able to pull trailers. On July 22,1894, Paris–Rouen race, it averaged 18.7 km/h over the 126 km route, two more cars were made in 1885 followed by a series of lightweight two-cylinder tricars, which from 1892 had Michelin pneumatic tyres. The company manufactured steam buses and trucks until 1904, trepardoux, staunchly supporting steam, resigned in 1894 as the company turned to internal combustion vehicles. The steam car remained in more or less unchanged for ten years more. By 1889, de Dion was becoming convinced the future lay in the combustion engine. After Trépardoux resigned in 1894, the company became De Dion, Bouton et Compagnie, for 1895, Bouton created a new 137 cc one-cylinder engine with trembler coil ignition
3.
Cord (automobile)
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Cord was the brand name of an American automobile company from Connersville, Indiana, manufactured by the Auburn Automobile Company from 1929 to 1932 and again in 1936 and 1937. The Cord Corporation was founded and run by E. L. Cord as a company for his many transportation interests. Cord was noted for its technology and streamlined designs. Cord had a philosophy to build truly different, innovative cars, believing they would sell well. This did not always work well in practice, Cord innovations include front-wheel drive on the L-29 and hidden headlamps on the 810 and 812. Hidden headlamps did not become common as a feature until the 1960s. The early Oldsmobile Toronados, whose GM stylists later stated they were trying to capture the feel of the Cords design, servo shifting was accomplished through a bendix electro-vacuum pre-selector mechanism. This was the first American front-wheel drive car to be offered to the public, beating the Ruxton automobile by several months, in 1929. The brainchild of former Miller engineer Carl Van Ranst, its drive system borrowed from the Indianapolis 500-dominating racers, using the same de Dion layout and this allowed it to be much lower than competing cars. Both stock cars and special bodies built on the Cord chassis by American and European coachbuilders won prizes in contests worldwide, still, the styling was lovely, and despite the 137.5 in wheelbase and steering demanding fully four turns lock-to-lock, handling was reportedly superb. Priced around US$3,000, it was competitive with Cadillac, Marmon, Lincoln, Packard, Franklin, and Stutz and it could not outrun the Great Depression, and by 1932, it was discontinued, with just 4,400 sold. Wheelbase was 137.5 and the height of the sedan was 61, the Model 810/812 are probably the best-known of the companys products. Styled by Gordon M. Buehrig, they featured front-wheel drive and independent front suspension, powered by a 4,739 cc Lycoming V8 of the same 125 hp horsepower as the L-29, the 810 had a four-speed electrically-selected semi-automatic transmission, among other innovative features. The car caused a sensation at the New York Auto Show in November 1935, orders were taken at the show with Cord promising Christmas delivery, expecting production of 1,000 per month. Production delays pushed the delivery date to February 1936. This proved optimistic, the first production vehicles were not delivered until April, in all, Cord managed to sell only 1,174 of the new 810 in its first model year. The car is known for the flat front nose with a louvered grille design. The front was so similar in look to a coffin, the car was often called Coffin Nose, early reliability problems, including slipping out of gear and vapor lock, cooled initial enthusiasm, and the dealer base shrank rapidly
4.
Packard
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Packard was an American luxury automobile marque built by the Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan, United States, and later by the Studebaker-Packard Corporation of South Bend, Indiana. The first Packard automobiles were produced in 1899, and the last in 1958, with one of the last concept cars built in 1956, henry Bourne Joy, a member of one of Detroits oldest and wealthiest families, bought a Packard. Impressed by its reliability, he visited the Packards and soon enlisted a group of investors—including Truman Handy Newberry, on October 2,1902, this group refinanced and renamed the New York and Ohio Automobile Company as the Packard Motor Car Company, with James Packard as president. Alger later served as vice president, Packard moved operations to Detroit soon after, and Joy became general manager. An original Packard, reputedly the first manufactured, was donated by a grateful James Packard to his alma mater, Lehigh University, another is on display at the Packard Museum in Warren, Ohio. In the beginning, all Packards had a single-cylinder engine until 1903, Packard produced its Twin Six model series of 12-cylinder cars from 1915 to 1923. The marque developed a following among wealthy purchasers both in the United States and abroad, competing with European marques like Rolls-Royce and Mercedes Benz, the 3,500, 000-square-foot Packard plant on East Grand Boulevard in Detroit was located on over 40 acres of land. Its skilled craftsmen practiced over 80 trades, the dilapidated plant still stands, despite repeated fires. The factory is in proximity to the current General Motors Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly. Architect Kahn also designed the Packard Proving Grounds at Utica, Michigan, from this beginning, through and beyond the 1930s, Packard-built vehicles were perceived as highly competitive among high-priced luxury American automobiles. The company was referred to as being one of the Three Ps of American motordom royalty, along with Pierce-Arrow of Buffalo, New York and Peerless of Cleveland. For most of its history, Packard was guided by its President and General Manager James Alvan Macauley, inducted into the Automobile Hall of Fame, Macauley made Packard the number one designer and producer of luxury automobiles in the United States. The marque was also highly competitive abroad, with markets in 61 countries, gross income for the company was $21,889,000 in 1928. Macauley was also responsible for the iconic Packard slogan, Ask the Man Who Owns One, in the 1920s, Packard exported more cars than any other in its price class, and in 1930, sold almost twice as many abroad as any other marque priced over $2000. In 1931,10 Packards were owned by Japans royal family, between 1924 and 1930, Packard was also the top-selling luxury brand. In addition to excellent luxury cars, Packard built trucks, a Packard truck carrying a three-ton load drove from New York City to San Francisco between 8 July and 24 August 1912. The same year, Packard had service depots in 104 cities, the Packard Motor Corporation Building at Philadelphia, also designed by Albert Kahn, was built in 1910-1911. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, by 1931, Packards were also being produced in Canada
5.
Duesenberg
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Duesenberg Motors Company was an American manufacturer of race cars and luxury automobiles. It was founded by brothers August and Frederick Duesenberg in 1913 in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the brothers moved their operations to Elizabeth, New Jersey in 1916 to manufacture engines for World War I. Cord added Duesenberg to his Auburn Automobile Company, with the market for expensive luxury cars severely undercut by the Depression, Duesenberg folded in 1937. In 1913, brothers Fred and Augie Duesenberg founded Duesenberg Motors Company, Inc. on University Avenue in St. Paul, Minnesota, to build engines, the brothers were self-taught engineers and built many experimental cars. Duesenberg cars were considered some of the best cars of the time, in 1914, Eddie Rickenbacker drove a Duesy to finish in 10th place at the Indianapolis 500, and Duesenberg won the race in 1924,1925, and 1927. The fledgling company sidestepped into aviation engine manufacturing when Colonel R. C. Bolling, the end of World War I stopped this project before it could ever mature. In 1921, Duesenberg provided the car for the Indy 500. In 1923, Jimmy Murphy became the first American to win the French Grand Prix when he drove a Duesenberg to victory at Le Mans. At the end of World War I, they ceased building aviation and marine engines in Elizabeth, New Jersey at the corner of Newark Avenue, was established in 1920 to begin production of passenger cars. The plant was located on a 17-acre site on West Washington street at Harding street until 1937, although the Duesenberg brothers were world-class engineers, they were neither good businessmen nor administrators, they were unable to sell all the units of their first passenger car, the Model A. This had the Duesenberg Straight-8 engine, the first mass-produced straight eight engine in the U. S, the Model A was a lighter and smaller vehicle than the competition. It was among the most powerful and the fastest cars of its time, among the celebrities who purchased this model were Tom Mix and Rudolph Valentino. The model experienced various delays going from prototype to production, deliveries to dealers did not start until December 1921. Sales lagged and the goal of building 100 Duesenbergs each month proved far too high, in 1922 no more than 150 cars were manufactured, and only 650 Model As were sold over a period of six years. The brothers continued to create excellent engines for cars, boats, on March 8,1920, these men became president and vice president of the Duesenberg Automobile and Motors Corporation of Indianapolis. Fred was chief engineer and Augie his assistant, and both were salaried as employees, van Zandt quit after a year, and business went from bad to worse in 1923. In 1924 the company went into receivership, but somehow it survived that year, in 1925, the firms name was changed to Duesenberg Motors Corporation and Fred assumed the title of president. Fred and August struggled to keep the company, but to no avail, Model X Duesenbergs are very rare
6.
California
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California is the most populous state in the United States and the third most extensive by area. Located on the western coast of the U. S, California is bordered by the other U. S. states of Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona and shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California. Los Angeles is Californias most populous city, and the second largest after New York City. The Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nations second- and fifth-most populous urban regions, California also has the nations most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The Central Valley, an agricultural area, dominates the states center. What is now California was first settled by various Native American tribes before being explored by a number of European expeditions during the 16th and 17th centuries, the Spanish Empire then claimed it as part of Alta California in their New Spain colony. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821 following its war for independence. The western portion of Alta California then was organized as the State of California, the California Gold Rush starting in 1848 led to dramatic social and demographic changes, with large-scale emigration from the east and abroad with an accompanying economic boom. If it were a country, California would be the 6th largest economy in the world, fifty-eight percent of the states economy is centered on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5 percent of the states economy, the story of Calafia is recorded in a 1510 work The Adventures of Esplandián, written as a sequel to Amadis de Gaula by Spanish adventure writer Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo. The kingdom of Queen Calafia, according to Montalvo, was said to be a land inhabited by griffins and other strange beasts. This conventional wisdom that California was an island, with maps drawn to reflect this belief, shortened forms of the states name include CA, Cal. Calif. and US-CA. Settled by successive waves of arrivals during the last 10,000 years, various estimates of the native population range from 100,000 to 300,000. The Indigenous peoples of California included more than 70 distinct groups of Native Americans, ranging from large, settled populations living on the coast to groups in the interior. California groups also were diverse in their organization with bands, tribes, villages. Trade, intermarriage and military alliances fostered many social and economic relationships among the diverse groups, the first European effort to explore the coast as far north as the Russian River was a Spanish sailing expedition, led by Portuguese captain Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, in 1542. Some 37 years later English explorer Francis Drake also explored and claimed a portion of the California coast in 1579. Spanish traders made unintended visits with the Manila galleons on their trips from the Philippines beginning in 1565
7.
Los Angeles
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Los Angeles, officially the City of Los Angeles and often known by its initials L. A. is the cultural, financial, and commercial center of Southern California. With a census-estimated 2015 population of 3,971,883, it is the second-most populous city in the United States, Los Angeles is also the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populated county in the United States. The citys inhabitants are referred to as Angelenos, historically home to the Chumash and Tongva, Los Angeles was claimed by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo for Spain in 1542 along with the rest of what would become Alta California. The city was founded on September 4,1781, by Spanish governor Felipe de Neve. It became a part of Mexico in 1821 following the Mexican War of Independence, in 1848, at the end of the Mexican–American War, Los Angeles and the rest of California were purchased as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, thereby becoming part of the United States. Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality on April 4,1850, the discovery of oil in the 1890s brought rapid growth to the city. The completion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913, delivering water from Eastern California, nicknamed the City of Angels, Los Angeles is known for its Mediterranean climate, ethnic diversity, and sprawling metropolis. Los Angeles also has an economy in culture, media, fashion, science, sports, technology, education, medicine. A global city, it has been ranked 6th in the Global Cities Index, the city is home to renowned institutions covering a broad range of professional and cultural fields, and is one of the most substantial economic engines within the United States. The Los Angeles combined statistical area has a gross metropolitan product of $831 billion, making it the third-largest in the world, after the Greater Tokyo and New York metropolitan areas. The city has hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 1932 and 1984 and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics and thus become the second city after London to have hosted the Games three times. The Los Angeles area also hosted the 1994 FIFA mens World Cup final match as well as the 1999 FIFA womens World Cup final match, the mens event was watched on television by over 700 million people worldwide. The Los Angeles coastal area was first settled by the Tongva, a Gabrielino settlement in the area was called iyáangẚ, meaning poison oak place. Gaspar de Portolà and Franciscan missionary Juan Crespí, reached the present site of Los Angeles on August 2,1769, in 1771, Franciscan friar Junípero Serra directed the building of the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, the first mission in the area. The Queen of the Angels is an honorific of the Virgin Mary, two-thirds of the settlers were mestizo or mulatto with a mixture of African, indigenous and European ancestry. The settlement remained a small town for decades, but by 1820. Today, the pueblo is commemorated in the district of Los Angeles Pueblo Plaza and Olvera Street. New Spain achieved its independence from the Spanish Empire in 1821, during Mexican rule, Governor Pío Pico made Los Angeles Alta Californias regional capital
8.
1971 San Fernando earthquake
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The 1971 San Fernando earthquake occurred in the early morning of February 9 in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains in southern California. The unanticipated thrust earthquake had a moment magnitude between 6.5 and 6.7 and had a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI, the event was one in a series that affected the Los Angeles area in the late 20th century. Uplift and other effects affected private homes and businesses, the event affected a number of health care facilities in Sylmar, San Fernando, and other densely populated areas north of central Los Angeles. The Olive View Medical Center and Veterans Hospital both experienced very heavy damage, and buildings collapsed at both sites, causing the majority of deaths that occurred, the success in this area spurred the initiation of Californias Strong Motion Instrumentation Program. Transportation around the Los Angeles area was afflicted with roadway failures. Another aspect of the event were the hundreds of types of landslides that were documented in the San Gabriel mountains. The San Bernardino, Santa Ynez, and Santa Monica Mountains are also part of the anomalous east–west trending Transverse Ranges, the domain of the ranges stretches from the Channel Islands offshore, to the Little San Bernardino Mountains,300 miles to the east. Paleomagnetic evidence has shown that the western Transverse Ranges were formed as the Pacific Plate moved northward relative to the North American Plate. As the plate shifted to the north, a portion of the terrane that was parallel with the coast was rotated in a clockwise manner. The Transverse Ranges form the perimeter of a series of basins that begins with the Santa Barbara Channel on the west end. Moving eastward, there is the Ventura Basin, the San Fernando Valley, the San Fernando earthquake occurred on February 9 at 6,00,41 am Pacific Standard Time with a strong ground motion duration of about 12 seconds. The origin of faulting was located five miles north of the San Fernando Valley, considerable damage was seen in localized portions of the valley and also in the foothills of the San Gabriel mountains above the fault block. The fault that was responsible for the movement was not one that had considered a threat. Prominent surface faulting trending N72°W was observed along the San Fernando Fault Zone from a point south of Sylmar, stretching nearly continuously for 6 miles east to the Little Tujunga Canyon. As categorized during the intensive studies immediately following the earthquake, they were labeled the Mission Wells segment, Sylmar segment, Tujunga segment, Foothills area, and the Veterans fault. In repeated measurements of the different fault breaks, the results remained consistent, while lateral, transverse, and vertical motions were all observed, the largest individual component of movement was 5 ft 3 in of left lateral slip near the middle of the Sylmar segment. The largest cumulative amount of slip of 6 feet 7 inches occurred along the Sylmar, temporary seismometers that were set up in response to the mainshock were up and running from as soon as several hours to several days after the main event and provided additional data until March 1. The catalog of items was mostly complete and included 200 shocks of magnitude 3.0 or greater, during the first hour of activity, the larger aftershocks were overshadowing the smaller events
9.
Los Angeles Unified School District
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Los Angeles Unified School District is the largest public school system in the U. S. state of California and the 2nd largest public school district in the United States. Only the New York City Department of Education has a student population. During the 2016–2017 school year, LAUSD served around 734,641 students, during the same school year, it had 26,556 teachers and 33,635 other employees. It is the second largest employer in Los Angeles County, after the county government, the total school district operating budget for 2016–2017 is $7.59 billion. The school district consists of Los Angeles and all or portions of several adjoining Southern California cities, LAUSD has its own police force, the Los Angeles School Police Department, which was established in 1948 to provide police services for LAUSD schools. The LAUSD enrolls a third of the preschoolers in Los Angeles County, the LAUSD school construction program rivals the Big Dig in terms of expenditures, and LAUSD cafeterias serve about 500,000 meals a day, rivaling the output of local McDonalds restaurants. In 2007, LAUSDs dropout rate was 26 percent for grades 9 through 12, but more recently, there are signs that the district is showing improvement, both in terms of dropout and graduation rates. An ambitious renovation program intended to ease the overcrowded conditions has been completed. As part of its project, LAUSD opened two high schools in 2005 and four high schools in 2006. Los Angeles Unified School District is governed by a seven-member Board of Education, which appoints a superintendent, members of the board are elected directly by voters from separate districts that encompass communities that the LAUSD serves. The districts former superintendent is Ramon Cortines, from 2001 until his retirement in October 2006, the district was led by former Governor of Colorado and Democratic Party chairman Roy Romer. The seven current members of Board of Education include George McKenna, Monica Garcia, Scott Schmerelson, Board President Steve Zimmer, Dr. Ref Rodriguez, Mónica Ratliff, and Richard Vladovic. Every LAUSD household or residential area is zoned to a school, a middle school. Each local school district is run by a superintendent and is headquartered within the district. The latter provided 9–12 educational services, while the former did so for K-8, on July 1,1961 the Los Angeles City School District and the Los Angeles City High School District merged, forming the Los Angeles Unified School District. Additionally, approximately seventy-eight students suffered injuries which ranged from minor to life-threatening, the annexation left the Topanga School District and the Las Virgenes Union School District as separate remnants of the high school district. The high school changed its name to the West County Union High School District. LAUSD annexed the Topanga district on July 1,1962, since the Las Virgenes Union School District had the same boundary as the remaining West County Union High School District, on July 1,1962 West County ceased to exist
10.
Los Angeles Public Library
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The Los Angeles Public Library system serves the residents of the City of Los Angeles. With more than six million volumes, it serves the largest population of any publicly funded system in the United States. The system is overseen by a Board of Library Commissioners with five members appointed by the mayor of Los Angeles in staggered terms in accordance with the city charter, Library cards are free to California residents. Circulating books, periodicals, computer access and audiovisual materials are available to patrons, Library materials are loaned for 3 weeks. Fines are charged only if materials are returned late, there is a loan limit of 10 books,10 magazines, and 4 DVDs or videos at one time up to maximum of 30 items on the patron’s record. Items checked out from Los Angeles Public Library may be returned to any of its 72 branches or to the Central Library, most items may be renewed a maximum of two times. Entertainment DVDs and videos may be renewed one time, the Los Angeles Public Library has many community support organizations which work with the library to raise funds and sponsor programs to enhance library service throughout the community. The Librarys Rare Books Department is located in its downtown Los Angeles location, there is also an extensive selection of databases covering a wide variety of topics, many of which are available to remote users who hold an LAPL library card. Examples include full-text databases of periodicals, business directories, and language learning tools, the library also offers an online program that allows adult patrons who have not completed high school to earn their high school diploma. Aggressive expansion and growth of the began in the 1920s. Under Library Board of Commissioners Chairman Orra E. Monnette, the system was improved with a network of branch libraries with new buildings. Thelma Jackman founded the Business & Economics section of the library prior to 1970. The historic Central Library Goodhue building was constructed in 1926 and is a Downtown Los Angeles landmark, the Richard Riordan Central Library complex is the third largest public library in the United States in terms of book and periodical holdings. The new wing of Central Library, completed in 1993, was named in honor of former mayor Tom Bradley, the complex was subsequently renamed in 2001 for former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, as the Richard Riordan Central Library. The Los Angeles Public Library received the National Medal for Museum and Library Service, City Librarian John F. Szabo and community member Sergio Sanchez accepted the award on behalf of the library from First Lady Michelle Obama during a White House Ceremony on May 20,2015. Architect Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue designed the original Los Angeles Central Library with influences of ancient Egyptian and Mediterranean Revival architecture, the central tower is topped with a tiled mosaic pyramid with suns on the sides with a hand holding a torch representing the Light of Learning at the apex. Other elements include sphinxes, snakes, and celestial mosaics and it has sculptural elements by the preeminent American architectural sculptor Lee Lawrie, similar to the Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln, Nebraska, also designed by Goodhue. The building is a designated Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument, and is on the National Register of Historic Places and it included an enormous, eight-story atrium wing dedicated to former mayor Tom Bradley
11.
Irene Dunne
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Irene Dunne was an American film actress and singer of the 1930s, 1940s and early 1950s. Dunne was nominated five times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, for her performances in Cimarron, Theodora Goes Wild, The Awful Truth, Love Affair, in 1985, Dunne was given Kennedy Center Honors for her services to the arts. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, to Joseph John Dunn, an inspector for the United States government, and Adelaide Henry. Irene Dunne would later write, No triumph of either my stage or screen career has ever rivalled the excitement of trips down the Mississippi on the boats with my father. She was fourteen when her father died on April 6,1913 and she saved all of his letters and often remembered and lived by what he told her the night before he died, Happiness is never an accident. It is the prize we get when we choose wisely from lifes great stores, following her fathers death, Irene, her mother, and her younger brother Charles moved to her mothers hometown of Madison, Indiana. Dunnes mother taught her to play the piano as a small girl. According to Dunne, Music was as natural as breathing in our house, Dunne was raised as a devout Roman Catholic. Nicknamed Dunnie, she took piano and voice lessons, sang in local churches, Dunne earned a diploma to teach art, but took a chance on a contest and won a prestigious scholarship to the Chicago Musical College, where she graduated in 1926. With a soprano voice, she had hopes of becoming an opera singer, Irene, after adding an e to her surname, turned to musical theater. She toured several cities in 1921–22 playing the lead role in the popular play Irene. The following year, Dunne played a season of opera in Atlanta. Though in her own words Dunne created no great furor, by 1929 she had a successful Broadway career playing leading roles, grateful to be at center stage rather than in the chorus line. On July 16,1927, Dunne married Francis Griffin, a New York dentist, despite differing opinions and battles that raged furiously, Dunne eventually agreed to marry him and leave the theater. She was discovered by Hollywood while starring with the company of Show Boat in 1929. She signed a contract with RKO and appeared in her first movie in 1930, Leathernecking, already in her thirties when she made her first film, she would be in competition with younger actresses for roles, and found it advantageous to evade questions that would reveal her age. Her publicists encouraged the belief that she was born in 1901 or 1904, Dunne moved to Hollywood with her mother and brother and maintained a long-distance marriage with her husband in New York until he joined her in California in 1936. That year, she re-created her role as Magnolia in what is considered the film version of the famous musical Show Boat
12.
Du Pont Motors
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Du Pont Motors was founded by E. Paul du Pont to produce marine engines for the Allied nations in World War I. After the war, the Du Pont Motor Company produced extremely high-end automobiles, the cars were manufactured in Wilmington, Delaware. E. Paul du Ponts resources allowed him to hire quality automotive, the companys first product, the Model A, was introduced at the 1919 International Salon at the Commodore Hotel in New York City. The Model G was introduced in 1928 with a 5.3 liter side-valve straight eight engine of 125 hp, between 1919 and 1931, Du Pont produced only some 537 automobiles, most of which no longer exist. They were compared to such cars as Packard, Cadillac and even Duesenberg. Customers included Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Will Rogers and Jack Dempsey, the company went bankrupt in 1932 and merged into the Indian Motorcycle Company when E. Paul du Pont purchased the Indian Company. Du Pont family Indian List of defunct United States automobile manufacturers History of the automobile
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