History Book: Three significant beginnings

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Monday, August 19th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Nick Eicher.

JENNY ROUGH: HOST: And I’m Jenny Rough. Up next, the WORLD History Book. Today, a communications advance makes live sports broadcasts possible—even when held halfway round the globe.

And, how a picnic opened a crack in the Iron Curtain.

EICHER: But first, the beginning of a 90-year-old racing tradition with crates, wagon wheels, and the dreams of boys. Here’s WORLD Radio Executive Producer Paul Butler.

PAUL BUTLER: In 1933 Ohio photojournalist Myron Scott needs a subject for the Sunday Picture Page … that’s when he sees kids racing homemade carts down a hill. After snapping some photos, he convinces the newspaper to sponsor a similar race for readers.

Two weeks later, thousands of people show up to watch as more than 300 boys compete for a cash prize racing homemade go-karts made of soap boxes, old crates, and roller skate wheels. They’re nicknamed “gravity racers” or “soapbox cars.” Audio here from the Prelinger Archives.

ARCHIVE FILM FOOTAGE: The energy that is forever behind both the competitive sports of youth and the desire to build and create new things is the energy that develops industrious, dependable citizens of tomorrow.

The event is so popular it leads to the first official All-American Soap Box Derby the next year. Chevrolet sponsors the race, offering a four year university scholarship for the first place champion.

ARCHIVE FILM FOOTAGE: Today, Akron is a city filled to overflowing with a big welcome for the thousands who have come from every state in the union to witness the big event …

11-year old Robert Turner nabs the title with his racer made from wood and stroller wheels. Chevrolet and the Work Progress Association build a large race track in 1936. During its golden age, the Derby Downs hosts parades, World Championships, and seats over 100,000 spectators.

The “greatest amateur racing event” is still held to this day. Though soap boxes and roller skate wheels are long gone.

Next, August 19th, 60 years ago. NASA’s Syncom 3 satellite launches into orbit fitted with TV transmitters. Not long after, the Summer Olympics are beamed LIVE into homes around the globe for the first time… Audio courtesy of Periscope Film.

ARCHIVE FILM FOOTAGE: When the Olympic Games were held in Japan, television audiences in the U.S., Canada and Europe, saw the events at the same time as the people in the Tokyo stadium. The star in this exciting communications drama was Syncom 3.

Before Syncom 3, internationally televised events weren’t broadcast as they happened. Instead, they were taped and couriered overseas to local television stations.

NASA’s earlier satellites—Syncom 1 and 2—demonstrated that space-based communication was possible. The Tokyo Olympics was the perfect test for what Syncom 3 could do.

ARCHIVE FILM FOOTAGE: President Johnson applauded the event. He said, ‘I now look forward to seeing satellite systems extend throughout the world. It can be a great contribution toward international understanding, a vital stepping stone toward lasting peace.’

The Synchronous Orbit Communications Satellite was the first to be truly geostationary, meaning its orbit followed the exact rotation of earth, keeping it in the same position in the sky, making satellite broadcasting possible.

ARCHIVE FILM FOOTAGE: Now, Syncom 3 has furnished the last link for telecasts around the world. These accumulated experiences will lead the way to clearer communications on earth, and eventually perhaps, from earth to the planets.

And finally, the story of European visionary Otto von Habsburg and his plan to nudge the Iron Curtain aside…

Habsburg was born the last crown prince of Austria-Hungary in 1912. As a leader of the Austrian Resistance he flees to America to escape the Nazi’s in 1938.

VON HAPSBURG: It is an absolute necessity for us in Central Europe to study the biggest federal democracy in the world which can perhaps save the security and peace of Central Europe after this war.

He eventually returns to Europe which has been carved up after World War II. He dreams of a reunified and integrated continent. In 1979 he’s a member of the European Parliament looking for ways to challenge the Soviet Union’s stranglehold when he has an idea.

AUDIO: [1989 SPEECH CLIP]

On August 19th, 1989, Habsburg opens the fence between neutral Austria and communist Hungary for three hours. He hosts a picnic between the two nations. He distributes pamphlets in German and Hungarian promoting the event. Audio from the European Commission.

DOCUMENTARY CLIP: But the advertisements reached some East Germans residing in Hungary. These advertisements stated that we were opening a gate that had been closed for 40 years.

Austrians and Hungarians gather to hear music, eat goulash, and share drinks. The event is billed: the Pan-European Picnic. Then some unexpected visitors arrive.

East German refugees begin flooding across the border to neutral Austria. As they stop by the picnic, Habsburg offers them money in their journey to freedom. The Hungarian border guards watch calmly, choosing to let them pass.

DOCUMENTARY CLIP: They broke through the border and entered the free world.

More than 600 East German citizens cross over to Western soil—leaving their cars on the other side. Eventually communist guards reinforce the border and the exodus ends. But the picnic becomes a catalyst that many believe results in the eventual fall of the Berlin Wall later in the year. Audio here from November 10th, 1989 courtesy of ABC News:

PETER JENNINGS: Occasionally the shout: “The wall must go.” Thousands and thousands of West Germans come to make the point that the wall has suddenly become irrelevant.

That’s this week’s WORLD History Book. I’m Paul Butler with writing and reporting by Emma Perley.

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.