Today in History: Burning Money and Destroying Beetles?

The first portable flamethrower

Many battles throughout history introduce new weapons into the world. For example, on this day in 1915, the First World War saw the Battle of Hooge, where a flammenwerfer, German for flamethrower, was first truly introduced into the world. The flamethrower, along with other weapons such as machine guns, hand grenades, and trench mortars, allowed for the Germans to reclaim their positions after being captured by British infantry eleven days before. Originally, these flamethrowers were stationary, however, later converted into smaller, portable versions. The flamethrower continued to advance even after World War I, including its deadly role in World War II.

the back of this
US $1 bill can be seen with
"In God We Trust" above the
written "One"

If you grab an American dollar bill, you can find the phrase "In God We Trust" on it. Dwight D. Eisenhower once again in my Today in History post, as on this day in 1956, he signs a law to officially declare that "In God We Trust" will be the official motto of the United States. Only two years before, he also pushed to add "under God" in the pledge of allegiance. Eisenhower encouraged religion, however did not forcefully pressure beliefs onto anyone. Though this motto did come to effect in 1956, it did not become printed onto paper money until 1957.

This day in 1966 was the first televised broadcast of a World Cup soccer match! Hosting Germany, England fights in over time to win 4-2. This was England's first World Cup title, though controversy arouse when film suggested that England's Geoff Hurst's second of three goals did not cross the goal line.

This baby blue Volkswagen Beetle
was the last of the classic model

The Volkswagen Beetle is a cute, iconic car that was produced before World War II. The classic vehicle was also used in movies like Herby Fully Loaded and Love Bug. This iconic classic became discontinued on this day in 2003, though a "New Beetle" model was introduced. The final classic Beetle was a baby blue, now in a Wolfsburg, Germany museum where Volkswagen is headquartered. This Beetle model was banned in America in 1977 due to failing its safety standard, though was still widely popular in Germany and other parts of the world.