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Carl Edwards competes during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series auto race on Sunday, June 22, 2014, in Sonoma, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
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A spokesman for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said Friday that the Hollywood comedy "The Interview," with Seth Rogen and James Franco that shows the autocrat's fake assassination, is indicative of American society's "desperation." Kim appears as a character in the movie, played by actor Randall Park. (CTMG, Inc.)
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A spokesman for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said Friday that the Hollywood comedy "The Interview," with Seth Rogen and James Franco that shows the autocrat's fake assassination, is indicative of American society's "desperation." (CTMG, Inc.)
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Tiger Woods struggling this week at Congressional in his return from back surgery might finally get the general public to feel sorry for the man who used to be the greatest golfer in the world. (associated press)
Electric_Guitar
14. ELECTRIC GUITAR Various experiments at electrically amplifying the vibrations of a string instrument date back to the early part of the twentieth century. Patents from the 1910s show telephone transmitters adapted and placed inside violins and banjos to amplify the sound. Hobbyists in the 1920s used carbon button microphones attached to the bridge, however these detected vibration from the bridge on top of the instrument, resulting in a weak signal. With numerous people experimenting with electrical instruments in the 1920s and early 1930s, there are many claimants to have been the first to invent an Electric guitars were originally designed by guitar makers and instrument manufacturers. Some of the earliest electric guitars adapted hollow bodied acoustic instruments and used tungsten pickups. The first electrically amplified guitar was designed in 1931 by George Beauchamp, General Manager at National Guitar Corporation with Paul Barth who was Vice President. The maple body prototype for the one piece cast aluminum "Frying Pan" was built by Harry Watson, factory superintendent of National Guitar Corporation. Commercial production began in late summer of 1932 by the Ro-Pat-In Corporation (Electro-Patent-Instrument Company Los Angeles), a partnership of Beauchamp, Adolph Rickenbacker (originally Rickenbacher), and Paul Barth. By 1934 the company was renamed Rickenbacker Electro Stringed Instrument Company. The need for the amplified guitar became apparent during the big band era as orchestras increased in size, particularly when guitars had to compete with large brass sections. The first electric guitars used in jazz were hollow archtop acoustic guitar bodies with electromagnetic transducers. By 1932 an electrically amplified guitar was commercially available. Early electric guitar manufacturers include: Rickenbacker (first called Ro-Pat-In) in 1932, Dobro in 1933, National, AudioVox and Volu-tone in 1934, Vega, Epiphone, and Gibson.
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7. DIGITAL CAMERA Steven Sasson as an engineer at Eastman Kodak invented and built the first electronic camera using a charge-coupled device image sensor in 1975. Earlier ones used a camera tube; later ones digitized the signal. Early uses were mainly military and scientific; followed by medical and news applications. In the mid to late 1990s digital cameras became common among consumers. By the mid-2000s digital cameras had largely replaced film cameras, and higher-end cell phones had an integrated digital camera. By the beginning of the 2010s smartphones had an integrated digital camera.
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The Safeway National Capital Barbeque Battle kicks off its 22nd annual contest at 11 a.m. Saturday in the District.
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Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice addresses an audience on the campus of Norwich University, Thursday, June 19, 2014, in Northfield, Vt. (Associated Press) **FILE**
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American director Michael Bay gestures on the red carpet as he arrives for the World Premiere of the movie "Transformers 4: Age of Extinction" in Hong Kong Thursday, June 19, 2014. The latest installment in the blockbuster series of "Transformers" films is making its world premier not in the usual entertainment hubs of Los Angeles or New York but in the wealthy Chinese metropolis of Hong Kong, the latest sign of Hollywood's increasing focus on China's booming film market. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
