103 Years Ago Today – February 6, 1913

Here are 5 news stories from around the world 103 years ago. 

What was happening in the world one hundred and three years ago?

Hi this is Matt and here are 5 New York Times headlines from February 6th, 1913.

Number 5 – Get ready for this: the brain of a dog was placed into a man’s head. W.A. Smith was suffering from an abscess on the brain. In a last ditch move to save his life, surgeons in Michigan opened up his skull and removed the diseased section of his brain and replaced it with part of a dog’s.

Number 4 – Wondering what made to the top of the sports section in 1913. Fencing, of course. The report that the Naval Academy’s fencing team was able to beat Harvard, winning the first five bouts with a final victory score of six bouts to three. If you expected to find football news, just remember that the American Professional Football Association was created in 1920 – 7 years later.

Number 3 – Don’t like garbage cans outside on trash day in your neighborhood? Well, people in 1913 thought the same and some company, presumably unsuccessfully tried to sell you a solution. Kewanee Boiler Company advertised a Water Heating Garbage Burner. And you were an outcast for not buying one and having your garbage can on the sidewalk.

Number 2 – Six residents in Yonkers officially objected to being overpaid, yes you heard that right. They had repaired some damages on public grounds and filed reports. After receiving a $100 each, the men wrote a letter to Mayor Lennon claiming that the compensation was too much. They had worked eight hours and stated that $25 would have been sufficient. The matter was not taken lightly and The Supreme Court was asked to adjust the fee.

Number 1 — A Western Union operator, James Gailaher lost his hearing and encountered eyesight impairment after a fall on the ice. As a way to communicate, his friends and relatives began tapping on his temples using Morse Code. According to the man’s son, he was fully able to read messages sent to his brain via the nerve tappings.

Source: GeoBeats 6^th February, 2013

Read the short version of the stories and fill in the words from the original text.

A man had serious medical problems in his … (1). As the doctors found no other solution, they … (2) the diseased part with a dog’s.

Instead of football, the most important item in the sport news was about … (3). The Football … was created only later.

Thanks to a new invention, people could burn their … (5) at home instead of putting it into the … (6) and leave it on the … (7) to be collected. The new method, however, was not very popular and finally proved … (8).

Six workers, who repaired … (9) on public grounds … (10) to the fee they received, because they found it too high. Finally, the payment was … (11) by the court.

A man fell on ice and lost his … (12) and much of his … (13) so his friends and relatives were able to communicate with him by … (14) on his head.

Key:

1. brain

2. replaced

3. fencing

4. Association

5. garbage

6. garbage can

7. sidewalk

8. unsuccessful

9. damages

10. objected

11. adjusted

12. hearing

13. eyesight

14. tapping