September 3

Today is "The Day That Never Came" in 1752 (switch to Gregorian calendar). 1803: John Dalton introduced atomic symbols. 1860: J.T. Wray gave the first public demonstration of a mercury arc lamp on the Hungerford Suspension Bridge in London. 1875: Austrian engineer Ferdinand Porsche, who designed the Volkswagen along with his sports cars, was born. 1883: Radio & electron tube pioneer Harold DeForest Arnold was born. 1905: Nobel physicist Carl Anderson, co-founder of the positron, or positive electron, the first known particle of antimatter, was born. 1916: The Adamson Act established the 8-hour work day (then "Professional" status took it away for us engineers). 1954: "The Lone Ranger" was heard on radio for the final time after 2,956 episodes over a period of 21 years. 1967: Motorists in Sweden stopped driving on the left side of the road and began driving on the right side. 1976: The U.S. spacecraft Viking 2 landed on Mars and took the first close-up, color photos of the planet's surface.