Island of Lost Toys

On This Day In History:

1948 - Land Rover

The Land Rover was introduced at the Amsterdam Auto Show. Brothers Maurice and Spencer Wilks, then the Rover Company's managing director, developed the truck as a result of a conversation about Maurice's American 4x4. Realizing the gap in the British market for such a vehicle, they quickly produced a prototype out of aluminum and steel, metals that were still rationed in England at the time. They used interior components from their Rover saloon cars.

The first Land Rover prototype was completed in 1947, but it wasn't launched until the Amsterdam show the following year.

The first Land Rover featured four-wheel drive and a 1.6 liter engine from the Rover P3 60 saloon. It was shown with a canvas top and optional doors. Doors eventually became standard, as did a system where two and four-wheel drive could be selected in the high range with permanent four-wheel drive in the low range. In 1952, the engine was enlarged to 2 liters and the wheelbase was extended to 86 inches.

Land Rover would become immensely successful in endurance races and off-road rallies, making it the standard operating vehicle for British Commonwealth wilderness territories. Heavy and easy to repair, the Land Rover earned its name for toughness and reliability.

Celebrating Birthdays Today:

Eve Arden Born in 1908	Cloris Leachman Born in 1926	Burt Young Born in 1940	Carl XVI Gustav, King of Sweden Born in 1946

What Happened on Your Special Day?

I became a fan of "today in history" information when I was very young. My father had a calendar that he had put together of "reasons to celebrate". If anybody asked "what are we celebrating?" my father could check his book and come up with a reason to celebrate for any day of the year. Charlie Chaplin's birthday, Buster Keaton's birthday, the anniversary of the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge, for every day of the year, my father's calendar had some interesting historical event that had occurred.

With this page I have tried to continue the tradition. Generally, I prefer to include birthdays and anniversaries of positive, uplifting, life affirming people and events that have had particular significance in my life. It's here because it was important to me.

I am trying to continually update with links from stories to other relevant sites. Check back regularly for a story on something interesting that happened on this day in history.

There are many, many, sites out there that have a lot of "this day in history" information. Many are not so great, full of inaccurate information and "negative vibes". However, there are a few that are really fabulous. Here are links to a few of my favorites. These sites feature "Today in History" stories for today, and some include archives that will enable you to look up information for any other date in history that is special to you:

This Day in History
The History Channel tells you what happened in Automotive, Civil War, Cold War, Crime, Entertainment, General Interest, Literary, Old West, Vietnam War, Wall Street, and World War II history for today or any day.

Life Magazine Covers
Life offers a look at covers from this day in history.

New York Times: On This Day
Lists events which occurred on each month and day of the year throughout history. Links to New York Times articles on the events when available.

Today in History
Stories and pictures from the American Memory historical collections of the U.S. Library of Congress.

The Internet Movie Database
The Internet Movie Database claims itself to be the biggest, best, most award-winning movie site on the planet. I'm not sure if it really is, but it is huge and has TONS of info on even the most obscure films, movies stars, directors, producers, etc. If it is motion picture related, you can probably find out something about it at this site.