🇺🇸Little-Known Fact About America’s Founding Father, Ben Franklin
In the mid-1700s, while spending time in Europe, Benjamin Franklin experienced...
In the mid-1700s, while spending time in Europe, Benjamin Franklin experienced a popular musical performance at the time: singing glasses. Intrigued by the beautiful sound of a wet finger on glass, Franklin developed an instrument known as a “glass armonica” in 1761. Working with a glassblower in London, Franklin altered the thickness of glass bowls interlocked along a rod to produce a range of pitches. Franklin had his share of odd ideas over the years (such as his failed phonetic alphabet), but the glass armonica was an 18th-century sensation. Some of the era’s greatest composers, including Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven, wrote music for the instrument. However, it was largely forgotten by the 1820s — many musicians complained of dizziness and other symptoms after playing it, which may have been due to lead poisoning (the instrument used lead paint to color code each bowl) or the instrument’s vibrations. Today, a few musicians still practice the subtle, ethereal art of the glass armonica.
Benchmark U.S. crude oil for August delivery rose $1.07 to $83.88 per barrel Wednesday. Brent crude for September delivery rose $1.10 to $87.34 per barrel.
Wholesale gasoline for August delivery rose 3 cents to $2.60 a gallon. August heating oilwas unchanged at $2.63 a gallon. August natural gasfell 2 cents to $2.42 per 1,000 cubic feet.
S&P 500, Nasdaq finish at fresh closing records with bulls 'fully in control'
U.S. stocks finished mostly higher in Wednesday's shortened session,...
U.S. stocks finished mostly higher in Wednesday's shortened session, with investors undeterred by labor-market and service-sector data that suggests the economy may be cooling.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down by 23.85 points, or less than 0.1%, at 39,308, based on preliminary data. It fell for the first time in the past three sessions.
The S&P 500 ended up by 28.01 points, or 0.5%, at 5,537.02. Wednesday's level is the index's 33rd record close of the year.
The Nasdaq Composite closed up by 159.54 points, or 0.9%, at 18,188.30 for its 23rd record close of 2024.
"Bulls remain fully in control," said Mark Hackett, chief of investment research at the Ohio-based financial services company Nationwide. He added that even political uncertainty in the U.S. hasn't been enough to cause market weakness or volatility.
API reports larger-than-expected crude inventory draw
US crude oil stockpiles...
US crude oil stockpiles declined by 9.16 million barrels last week, far exceeding analysts' expectations of a 150,000-barrel decrease, the American Petroleum Institute reported. The API data showed that gasoline supplies expanded by 2.47 million barrels, while distillate inventories shed 740,009 barrels.
DOE moves to cut gas prices with gasoline reserve sale
The Energy Department has...
The Energy Department has sold 1 million barrels of gasoline from the Northeast Gasoline Supply Reserve at an average price of $2.34 per gallon as part of the planned closure of the stockpile. Timed strategically before the July 4 holiday, the sale aims to lower regional gasoline prices and ensure sufficient supply for northeastern states during peak travel times.