When people first think of the Twin Towers, the first thing that comes to mind is the tragedy of 9/11. But before that infamous day, the Twin Towers were among the tallest buildings in the world. And at one point, the World Trade Center was even considered the world’s tallest TV station.

The North Tower, completed first in December 1970, stood at an impressive 1,368 feet. Meanwhile, its twin South Tower, completed in July 1971, stood at 1,362 feet.

Not long after being completed in 1971, the Word Trade Center was soon dwarfed by the Sears Tower in Chicago. Standing at an eye-watering 1,451 feet, the Sears Tower became even taller than the World Trade Center. 

But with a simple addition, the Word Trade Center was soon able to reclaim the title of “World’s Tallest Building.”

The North Tower: The Tallest TV Station in the World

Until its destruction on 9/11, the North Tower had the distinction of being the tallest building in the world at 1,728 feet. But how did the North Tower gain several hundred feet on its twin tower? The answer to that is simple: an antenna. 

Building the twin towers was very expensive. Along with the huge insurance policy that cost billions of dollars, the building’s upkeep, insurance, and rent were costly for its owners. To help offset the cost, they got the idea of turning the North Tower into the country’s largest television station.

In 1979, the owners decided to mount a television antenna on the North Tower. Often working in cranes and baskets almost two thousand feet above the streets of Manhattan, the crews were known as “cloud piercers.” This is because they were so high up they would often be standing far above the cloud covers. 

When completed, the tower provided television coverage for all of New York state. 

The Man Behind the Famous Photo of the World’s Tallest TV Station

Peter Kaplan was a famous photographer who was both a photographer and stuntman. Growing up in New York, Peter was fond of taking pictures from high places, even from a young age. But once he grew up, he took that love of photography to new heights – literally. 

After becoming famous for climbing the Statue of Liberty and snapping several, now world-renowned, photos, Peter Kaplan cemented his fame as both a photographer and daredevil. Clambering up places like the Empire State Building, St. Louis Arch, and Golden Gate Bridge, Peter made it his lifelong passion for showing the world what it looked like from its highest places. 

For the photo showing the antenna on the North Tower, Peter went up not once, not twice, but 12 separate times to get all the shots he needed. Talk about dedication!

Other Artists Who Have Scaled the World Trade Center

The “cloud piercers” and photographer Peter Kaplan weren’t the only ones to bravely make their way high up the World Trade Center.

August 7, 1974: High-wire walker Philippe Petit traversed a 131-foot-long cable between the Twin Towers and walked back and forth several time, 1,350 feet in the air. Even more impressive, he performed the act without a net.

July 22, 1975: Atop the North Tower, Owen Quinn performed the first ever (although unauthorized) parachute jump at the World Trade Center from the top of the North Tower. Follow Owen, four other people have parachuted off the Twin Towers between 1980 and 1999.

May 26, 1977: Toymaker and mountain climber George Willig scaled the entirety of the South Tower’s facade. The act was so impressive that he earned the nickname “the human fly.”

Looking Back at the World’s Tallest TV Station

The story behind the World Trade Center antenna photo is amazing. Not only was the guy that took it dangling almost 2,000 feet in the air, but he also had to do it a dozen times to get the shot he finally wanted. Not only that, but the photographer was well known for taking great shots of places most people would never dream of going. 

Because of how good his work was, Peter Kaplan’s photos have been preserved in places like the Smithsonian, New York Museum of Modern Art, as well as postage stamps in 13 different countries. 

The post The World’s Tallest TV Station first appeared on History In Memes.

Bernie Sanders has become a household name since he launched his bid for the Democratic nomination in the 2016 Presidential Election. But what about young Bernie Sanders?

Known for his progressive politics, hoarse Brooklyn accent and penchant for being memed, the senator from Vermont is not your typical politician. His Doc Brown hair, hunched shoulders and stern mug don’t exactly scream “poster boy of a progressive youth movement.”

But Bernie’s been around a minute. 

In fact, Bernie was an active participant in the fight for equity and equality that defined the Civil Rights movement in the United States. But that participation didn’t always go over well with the law.

And it got 21-year-old Bernie Sanders arrested in 1963.

What Was a Young Bernie Sanders Protesting When He Got Arrested?

In 1963, Bernie Sanders was a student at the University of Chicago. During this time, the superintendent of Chicago’s public schools was planning to set up mobile “classrooms” in Black neighborhoods. The plan was in response to the influx of African American students entering public schools during desegregation. 

This was clearly a thinly veiled attempt to maintain segregation (white students wouldn’t be using these aluminum trailers). Superintendent Benjamin C. Willis received backlash from protesters. The protesters vehemently condemned these “Willis Wagons,” as they called them. In response, they staged numerous demonstrations to draw attention to Willis and then Mayor Richard J. Daly’s discriminatory policies. 

But Sanders, as the President of the Congress of Racial Equality at the university, was also protesting his University’s segregationist policies at university-owned apartments in Hyde Park.

In January 1962, Sanders told the Maroon, a student run newspaper: “We feel it is an intolerable situation when Negro and white students of the University cannot live together in university owned apartments.”

Sanders and his fellow students wanted the University of Chicago, an institution with its fair share of progressive history, to be held accountable for its role in segregation.

Why Did Bernie Get Arrested? 

According to the Chicago Tribune, Willis’ response to overcrowding was not to transfer students to predominantly white schools where there was space and resources available. Instead, he said he wanted to install “poorly built 20-by-36-foot aluminum trailers in vacant lots.”

This policy, along with many others, led to numerous acts of resistance and protest in the city of Chicago. One of the most publicized of these protests occurred in August 1963. Demonstrators attempted to halt the installation of the Willis Wagons in a vacant lot next to the railroad tracks at 73rd Street and Lowe Avenue. 

It was at this protest that Bernie Sanders was arrested, charged with resisting arrest, found guilty and given a $25 fine.

Were the Willis Wagons Ever Used? 

Unfortunately, yes. 

Willis installed 625 aluminum trailers across Chicago, with at least one reported instance of a trailer being used to implement segregation within the school itself. Black students were made to attend class in a wagon, while the white students were free to attend class inside the actual school building. 

But, this blatant exercise of segregation would not be tolerated by Chicagoans. On October 22, 1963, about half of Chicago Public School students skipped school in protest. Known as “Freedom Day,” roughly 225,000 students boycotted the city’s racist policies and 10,000 people protested at the steps of City Hall. 

Protestors made desegregation in Chicago a national issue. However, it ultimately did not end Mayor Daly’s policies or kick Willis to the curb. Willis Wagons continued to be filled with disenfranchised students of color and further discriminatory practices are still felt to this day.  

It would take another 25 years for the Chicago public school system to experience reforms. 

He may be an old white guy from Brooklyn, but 21-year-old Bernie Sanders played an important, if relatively small, part in the fight for racial equality in Chicago public schools.

The post The Story Behind a Young Bernie Sanders’ Arrest first appeared on History In Memes.