On This Day:
Wednesday December 20, 2006

This is the 354th day of the year, with 11 days remaining in 2006.

Fact of the Day: Crayola crayons

In 1885, cousins Edwin Binney and C. Harold Smith formed the partnership of Binney & Smith. In 1900, the company purchased a stone mill in Easton, PA, and began producing slate pencils for schools. This started Binney's and Smith's research into nontoxic and colorful drawing media for kids. They had already invented a new wax crayon used to mark crates and barrels; however, it was loaded with carbon black and too toxic for children. Binney and Smith were confident that the pigment and wax mixing techniques they had developed could be adapted for a variety of safe colors, and in 1903, a new brand of crayons with superior qualities was introduced - Crayola crayons. The Crayola name, coined by Edwin Binney's wife Alice, comes from craie, the French word for chalk, and ola, meaning "oleaginous." The original eight colors were: black, blue, brown, green, orange, red, violet, and yellow.