On this day Ralph E. Hay asked 6 of his friends and associates to meet with him in his Canton Ohio auto dealership where he sold Hupmobiles. The one thing that all of these men had in common was their love of football. Four of the men at the Hay’s dealership that day were already professional football team owners. They were members of the Ohio League which included the Akron Pros, Cleveland Indians, the Dayton Triangles and Hay’s Canton Bulldogs. and they were used to seeing each other during the fall. But this was a little unusual, the teams were still practicing and getting ready for the fall season.

Hay had bought his team called the Canton Bulldogs a couple of years earlier. He thought it would be a good idea to promote his automobile dealership, plus he just loved the game. But today’s meeting would mean a giant leap forward for the game. These men were here to form a new football league that could take their new league to a higher level.

At the meeting they decided to call the new league the American Professional Football Association and the creation of the American Professional Football Conference. They also nominated Ralph Hay’s coach and star player, Jim Thorpe to be the league’s first president.

Jim Thorpe who had been getting his Bulldogs ready for the first game, was honored that they would nominate him. But for the owners, it was purely a good business decision. Jim Thorpe was a star athlete and recognized around the world for Olympic accomplishments a few years back. The business men assembled at Hay’s dealership thought having Thorpe as the president of the new football league could only improve their legitimacy and attendance.

One month later, the men met once again and electing Jim Thorpe to be president of the new league, and they changed the league’s name to the American Professional Football Association. Two years later the league’s name would once again be changed to the National Football League – the NFL we all enjoy watching every Sunday.

Anyone that has a driver’s license has probably used a key to start their car. For those that don’t know what happens when they turn that key, in its most basic concept, allows a jolt of electricity to run from the battery to a motor that actually turns or cranks the engine. Sparks are then ignited in the piston chambers that cause a mixture of air and vaporized gasoline to explode. Once all of the cylinders start revolving, the starter motor quickly disengages from the engine and it continues on its own.

Sure, everyone knows that you say. But if you ever see any of those old movies where the guy has to stand in front of the car and turn a crank to get the engine started can appreciate what it was link before the self-starter was invented.

On this day 39 year old Charles F. Kettering, a man born in Loudonville, Ohio in 1876, got his patent for his electric starter. Kettering’s electric starter had been first installed on the 1912 Cadillac. By the early 1920s Kettering’s self-starting motor would be installed on just about every car made. That refinement in automobile ownership made the automobile more attractive, especially women. It was the beginning of the automobile culture that continues to this day.

Kettering and his company, DELCO (Dayton ELectronics COrporation), went on to create a number of improvements to the automobile including shock absorbers, the automatic transmission, quick-drying automotive paint, and safety glass.

Although he was most famous for his contributions to the auto industry, Charles Kettering also known for developing several medical innovations such as an incubator for premature infants, venereal disease treatments and a number of magnetic diagnostic devices. During his time at DELCO and later at General Motors (GM), Mr. Kettering accumulated a great fortune. In 1945 he and Alfred Sloan, another GM vice president, established the Sloan-Kettering Institute for cancer research.

In 1958 at the age of 82, Charles Kettering died of a stroke at his home in Kettering, Ohio, a suburb of Dayton, named for the inventor.

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