1927 | Everyday Life
Everyday Life
World chess champion José Raoul Capablanca loses the world title he has held since 1921. Moscow-born French master Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Alekhine, 34, defeats him in a match that ends September 16 at Buenos Aires, will hold the title until 1935, regain it in 1937, and retain it until his death in 1946.
Girl Scouts founder Juliette Gordon Low dies at her native Savannah January 18 at age 66, having seen her organization grow to have troops in every state with an enrollment of more than 140,000 girls.
Frances Heenan "Peaches" Browning, 16, sues millionaire New York real estate operator Edward W. "Daddy" Browning, 52, for divorce in a White Plains, N.Y., courthouse after less than a year of marriage. The January trial produces testimony that titillates newspaper readers.
Couturière Jeanne Lanvin introduces a new perfume under the name Arpége (see 1925).
Boyish fashions for women dominate Paris fashion shows in May, reducing bustlines and emphasizing slim hips with oversized belts. By next year the typical woman's dress will be made from just seven yards, down from 19 before the war.
Florentine leather worker Salvatore Ferragamo founds a company that will gain worldwide fame for its shoes and accessories.
The Cyclone roller coaster opens June 26 at Coney Island, N.Y., with a 100-second ride that takes screaming passengers up and down nine hills (one of them 85 feet high) and over connecting tilted curves at 60 miles per hour for the price of a 25¢ ticket.
Miele vacuum cleaners are introduced by the 28-year-old German company (see washing machines, 1901; electric dishwashers, 1929).
Oxydol is introduced by Procter & Gamble, whose laundry soap is advertised as a "washday miracle."
Super Suds is introduced by Colgate and Co., whose laundry and dishwashing soap product is composed of quick-melting hollow beads rather than flakes or powder (see Rinso, 1918; Tide, 1946).
Formica is introduced by a U.S. company started in 1914 by Herbert Faber and Daniel O'Connor to manufacture insulation for the electrical industry. Instead of using mica they have developed a less expensive material that employs layers of paper in a resin with a decorative paper layer on one side, mashing the laminate on a flatbed press that will be used for countertops.
The aerosol spray can has its beginnings in a spray can patented November 23 by Norwegian inventor Erik Rotheim, whose device uses a valve and propellant system to dispense liquids (see 1945).