Division I regional track finals
Fenwick graduation 2012
Ponitz graduation 2012
Home > Blogs > Ohio politics > Archives > 2010 > July > 07
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Edison edges out Wright Brothers
Light-bulb inventor Thomas Edison edged out the Wright Brothers in voting sponsored by the Ohio Historical Society on which famous Ohioan should represent the state in the National Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol.
Out of 37,000 votes cast over three months of voting, Edison snagged 12,132 votes while Wilbur and Orville grabbed 10,895. Former U.S. Rep. William McCulloch of Piqua came in a distant third among the 10 top nominees with 3,569 votes.
The National Statuary Collection Study Committee will give the public vote great weight when deciding which famous Ohioan should go to the U.S. Capitol. The committee will make its recommendation to the full Legislature.
The new statute, which is expected to be paid for with private donations, will replace former Gov. William Allen, whose pro-slavery, anti-Abraham Lincoln views are now seen as an embarrassment to Ohio. Ohio’s other Statuary Hall representative is President James Garfield. Each state gets two statues and the representatives must be deceased.
The Ohio Historical Society conducted voting from March 20 to June 12 at three dozen historical sites around the state and also accepted mailed and e-mailed ballots.
Edison was born in Milan, Ohio but moved to Port Huron, Michigan as a young boy and did much of his inventing in New Jersey. He invented the phonograph, motion picture camera and electric light bulb and holds 1,093 U.S. patents.
The Wright Brothers are credited with inventing and building the first successful airplane. Wilbur was born in Indiana; Orville in Dayton. The brothers spent most of their lives in Dayton.
Permalink | Comments (26) | Post your comment |
Republicans blame Strickland for NCR exodus
The Republican Governors Association is pinning blame for NCR Corp.’s move to Georgia squarely on the lapel of Gov. Ted Strickland, a Democrat now up for re-election.
In a 30-second TV ad unveiled Wednesday, July 7, the RGA hammers Strickland for losing 400,000 jobs on his watch, including 1,250 NCR jobs.
“Four years ago, Ted Strickland promised to create thousands of new jobs for Ohio,” RGA spokesman Tim Murtaugh said. “Sadly, not only has he broken that promise, he has also overseen the loss of hundreds of thousands of existing jobs. He’s left Ohioans disappointed and wondering when their own jobs will disappear.”
The Strickland campaign fired back, noting that Republicans and Democrats agree that NCR Corp. Chief Executive Bill Nuti did not give Dayton or Ohio a chance to compete for the NCR jobs.
After NCR made its announcement, state Sen. Jon Husted, R-Kettering, said, “As a Monday morning quarterback, I can tell you there are probably lots of things that could have been done differently (by state and local officials), but I don’t think anything would have changed the outcome. They (NCR executives) were never interested in engaging on the issue.”
Nonetheless, jobs and the economy are a top issue for Ohio voters. Ohio’s unemployment rate dipped to 10.7 percent in May, down from 11 percent in March, which had been the highest since 1983.
Strickland is running against Republican John Kasich, a former Congressman, Lehman Brothers investment banker and FoxNews commentator.
Click here to see the RGA ad.
