Category Archives: History

Only 357,598 Americans Paid Income Tax In 1914

Income Taxes And Who Pays Them Past and Present

A relatively minuscule number of Americans paid taxes after the federal income tax on individuals began in 1913. The entire income tax burden in 1914 was paid by 0.27% of the population. Basically the very wealthy and upper middle class carried the income tax load for America.

With a population of 98.7 million people in 1914, only 357,598 citizens paid an income tax. If you earned less than $2,500 per year, you paid no income tax. Continue reading

Jackie Kennedy Onassis And JFK Jr. Ride Bikes In Central Park

A Famous Pair Ride Bicycles (Almost Unnoticed) In Central Park – 1969

Maybe most people in Central Park on this Fall day did not pay any special attention to the woman riding a bicycle behind a young boy. But Ron Galella did.

The original news caption reads: Continue reading

This May Be The Oldest Manhole Cover In New York

A Man Made Object In Central Park Almost As Old As The Park Itself

The 161- Year-Old Central Park Relic Hidden In Plain Sight

When you need to go to the restroom in Central Park there are few choices. Last year when a friend needed to use the bathroom we headed towards the closest one.

The tennis courts were empty as it was getting near dusk. But the bathrooms near the tennis courts were open, about 100 feet from the northern part of the Central Park reservoir.

I was waiting outside the building containing the women’s bathrooms looking down at the ground.

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Doomed New Yorker Cartoonist Ralph Barton On Living In New York – 1929

Ralph Barton Talks About New York After Living In Paris In The 1920s

Ralph Barton & Germaine Tallieferre

Ralph Barton & his 4th wife Germaine Talleferre photo: Daily News

“New York has ceased to be a city in which people live. It is necessary if one has to have quiet and peace to work to live in the suburbs. Steamships have made Europe a suburb of New York. I like to eat well, drink well and read grown up books, and these are not to be had in America.”

“New York is a crazy city and America is a madhouse. That is why I came back. I feel I belong here. Americans are crazy and I find I am crazy too. Americans are too rich. We have too much money. I have too much money. That is why I’m crazy. An artist ought to be prohibited from earning as much money as I do. Yet if someone suggested cutting my earnings, I’d scream so that you could hear me for three blocks.” – Ralph Barton upon returning to New York in 1929 after being in Paris for two years.

Barton committed suicide, Continue reading

Old New York In Photos #135 – Curling In Central Park

Curling, “The Roarin’ Game” At Central Park 1894

Curling in Central Park 1894 photo – Joseph Byron later published by Detroit Publishing  

It may not be the most popular sport but curling may get the most television airtime during the 2022 Winter Olympics. Continue reading

Strange Photo Of The Day – Goldfish Love

Goldfish Love

It must have been a slow news day when this item went out over the news wire.

Woman kissing goldfish 1944A Fishy Kiss
Des Moines, Iowa – Finny, the goldfish, bestows on his mistress, Mrs. George Wolfe, Des Moines, Iowa, his usual good morning kiss. Then he gets his breakfast. photo: Acme 2/24/1944

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New York City Celebrates New Year’s Eve – 1908

New Year’s Eve In New York City 1908

New York City New Years Eve Times Square 1907 Leslies Magazine Dec 26 drawn by Sigurd SchauThis December 26, 1907 cover of Leslie’s Illustrated Weekly magazine shows what the scene would be like on New Year’s Eve 1908.

How “the merry crowds in New York welcome the new year” has not changed all that much in 114 years.

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Philip Ippolito Dies, As A Teen, Made Emergency Plane Landing On George Washington Bridge In 1965

Philip Ippolito, Made Miracle Landing On George Washington Bridge In 1965, Is Dead

Ippolito airplane George Washington Bridge

Philip Ippolito airplane being Inspected on George Washington Bridge December 26, 1965 Photo; AP Wirephoto

From SNCA reader Jason Smith comes word that Philip Ippolito who on December 26, 1965 at  age 19, made an emergency landing on the George Washington Bridge, died on December 19, 2021, at age 75.

Ippolito died of a heart attack in his home in Suffolk County, NY. He lived with a long time girlfriend and had no children.  Survivors include his older sister Rose and a younger sister, Janice. A brother Robbie died in 2019.

Philip Ippolito and Joseph Brennan in hospital Dec 26, 1965

Ippolito and Brennan in hospital photo Jim Hughes for NY Daily News

In 1965 Ippolito was a flying novice, having logged only 85 hours of flight time. With his plane in distress, Ippolito made the risky decision to land on the bridge. Along with his passenger Joseph Brennan, the two suffered only minor injuries. Ippolito decided against touching down in the Hudson River because Brennan could not swim. The FAA later tried unsuccessfully to revoke Ippolito’s pilots license.

You can read the amazing full story which we covered in 2015 by clicking here. Continue reading