June 21, 2026 - The Machines That Changed Everyday Life

June 21st, 2026 — Today is National Daylight Appreciation Day, which somehow led us to farming equipment, Ferris wheels, and early computers.In this episode, we look at Cyrus McCormick’s mechanical reaper and how it changed farming… the debut of the world’s first Ferris wheel at the Chicago World’s Fair… and the Manchester Baby, the pioneering computer that successfully ran the first stored program.Plus, the birthday of Ray Davies of The Kinks, whose songwriting continues to influence musicians decades later.A lot of today’s stories ended up becoming about progress:feeding people,entertaining people,and connecting people through technology.Anyway… that’s what I ended up finding while working through June 21.