17 th January

46 AD St. Anthony the Abbot, died.

1706 Benjamin Franklin was born.

1871 Andrew Hallidie patented the cable car.

Benjamin Franklin, was born on this day in 1706 in Boston, Massachusetts. This American patriot is remembered as a writer, an inventor, a leader, a diplomat, and a publisher. He wrote in his publication, Poor Richard s Almanac, that: “A word to the wise is enough and many words won’t fill a bushel.”

Today is the feast day of St. Anthony the Abbot, the patron saint of animals. From horses and geese to cats and dogs, animals are formally blessed in churches on this day, in many parts of the world.

Life is often described as a battle: man against nature, man against beast, man against man. One story that began on this day, in 1871, can be viewed in this light. Andrew Hallidie patented the cable car. In 1869, this 33-year-old wire manufacturer watched a horse-drawn streetcar struggle up a steep hill in the rain. Determined to improve public transport in San Francisco, he finally installed the cable-car system two years later. The public laughed it off as “Hallidie’s Folly” San Francisco has buses, subways, and cars now, but every time someone suggests discontinuing the cable cars, San Franciscans insist on keeping them.