September 13, 2007 -- First Person Trivia

On this date in history... September 13, 1899, Henry Hale Bliss became the first person in the United States to do this. 42,642 people in the U.S. did it last year.

TRIVIA QUESTION:

What is Henry Bliss famous for doing first in 1899?


TRIVIA ANSWER:

He was the first person killed in a motor vehicle accident in the United States.

Henry Hale Bliss in 1873

He was disembarking from a streetcar at West 74th Street and Central Park West in New York City, when an electric-powered taxicab (Automobile No. 43) struck him and crushed his head and chest. He died from his injuries the next morning.

The driver of the taxicab was arrested and charged with manslaughter but was acquitted on the grounds that it was unintentional.

A plaque was dedicated at the site on September 13, 1999, to commemorate this event, it reads:

"Here at West 74th Street and Central Park West, Henry H. Bliss dismounted from a streetcar and was struck and knocked unconscious by an automobile on the evening of September 13, 1899. When Mr. Bliss, a New York real estate man, died the next morning from his injuries, he became the first recorded motor vehicle fatality in the Western Hemisphere. This sign was erected to remember Mr. Bliss on the centennial of his untimely death and to promote safety on our streets and highways."

The plaque's use of "Western Hemisphere" is inexact and should actually read The Americas or the New World. Bridget Driscoll was killed by a car at Hyde Park Corner in London in 1896, and Mary Ward was killed by a steam-powered car in Ireland in 1869.

>>>>>>>> NET CHECK IN's <<<<<<<<

Congratulations to all who got the answer to tonight's Trivia Question and a hearty thank you to everyone for playing along. Here is the list of stations that checked in to tonight's net along with their answers:


* WB6A - Pat - Went to the zoo
* WB6ATV - Ron - Jump off a mountain with a parachute
* KE6CZH - Robert - Para sailing
* KG6DBL - Bill - No Answer
* W6DTS - Ted - No Answer
* K6FCC - Khalil - Bungee Jumping
* KB6IS - Madeline - No Answer
* KD6JEV - John - No Answer
* N6KAS - Andy - No Answer
* KG6KTC - Leon - Balloon Flight
* NY6L - Jay - Bicycle Ride
* K6LMN - Roger - Bicycle Ride
* KE6MSS - Thomas - Hit by a train
* N6NGU - Lee - Hot Air Balloon
* W6NVY - Gary - No Answer
* KG6NWJ - Barry - Passenger in a biplane
* KD6OBM - Jason - Ran a marathon
* KF6PIH - Scott - Kidney Stone Removed
* K6QVZ - Joe - No Answer
* KG6RDA - Sidney - Swim the English Channel
* AD6UP - Louie - Hit by a Car
* KF6YBM - Henry - Hot Air Balloon
* KF6ZQM - Harry - Checked in by RDA
* N6ZZK - Theo - Formed the First Conga Line!

Thanks to all who checked. See you next week!

de N6CIZ