Each day the world brims with newly written history of the human struggle for freedom. Many historians will examine and evaluate these events through the eyes and ears of tyrants, but here at This Day in Anarchy, we intend to seek out and share the stories that inform and empower our readers, not indoctrinate them.
R.F.I.D.
This day in 1998 was a great day for Big Brother as the first RFID implant into a human was conducted by British professor of cybernetics Kevin Warwick in the United Kingdom as an experiment. Warwick was his own guinea pig, injecting the RFID tag into his own arm. The application by governments of RFID implants in humans remains a controversy among privacy advocates, but this has not impeded the RFID industry one but. Today, the global RFID market is worth US$8.89 billion, up from US$7.77 billion in 2013. The market value for this industry is expected to rise to US$18.68 billion in the next ten years.
The Potato Chip
The invention of the potato chip was actually an accident, according to its inventor, Chef George "Crum" Speck and his sister. It was on this day in Saratoga Springs, NY. in 1853 when Speck's sister had accidentally chipped off a slice of potato and it fell into a sizzling pan of fat. Speck fished out the slice from the fat and tasted it, after which he exclaimed, "We'll have plenty of these!" Speck dubbed his culinary invention, the Saratoga chip.
Why are we reporting on potato chips?
Because dammit, the free market produced this!
Abbie Hoffman
Activist Abbie Hoffman, author of "Steal This Book" was known for his public stunts aimed at bringing about awareness to certain societal issues. On of his most notorious stunts was on this day in 1967, when he led a group of people to the gallery of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). His group threw fistfuls of real and fake dollar bills down to the stock traders below. Some of the traders some of whom booed at this display while others began to scramble to grab the cash fluttering to the trading floor. It was estimated by Hoffman that roughly between $30 and $300 had been flung at the stock traders. According to Hoffman the point of the stunt was to point out that, metaphorically, the stock traders frantically scrambled for cash every day. The outlandish story of the publicity stunt was picked up by local media outlets and by evening, the event was reported around the world. As a result of Hoffman's stunt, the NYSE spent $20,000 to enclose the gallery with bulletproof glass.
This wraps up our Aug 24th post on This Day in Anarchy!
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