July 23

1715: The first lighthouse in America, Boston Lighthouse, was authorized for construction at Little Brewster Island, MA. 1877: The first telephone and telegraph line in Hawaii was completed. 1880: The first commercial hydroelectric power planet began operation in Grand Rapids, MI. 1875: Isaac Singer, inventor of the continuous-stitch sewing machine, died. 1886: : Walter Schottky, of diode fame, was born. 1903: Ford Motor Company sold its first Model A automobile. 1906: "America the Beautiful" was copyrighted by Katharine Lee Bates. 1916: Sir William Ramsay, who discovered chemist who discovered the inert gases - neon, krypton and xenon, and co-discovered argon, radon, calcium and barium, died. 1962: The "Telstar" communications satellite sent the first live TV broadcast to Europe. 1968: The PLO hijacked its first Israeli El Al airplane. 1972: ERTS 1 (Earth Resources Technology Satellite), later called LANDSAT, was launched to start its multi-spectral scans of Earth. 1981: Harvey Fletcher, who first demonstrated stereophonic sound, died. 1995: Inventure Place, home of the National Inventors Hall of Fame in Akron, OH, opened to the public.