…but some of them "didn’t get the memo". Or more accurately, some of them were never told about the memo. I wasn’t aware of this, but in the deepest regions of the South, African-Americans were kept as slaves until as late as — wait for it — 1961. More here
Today Is Guy Fawkes Day
On November 5, 1605, Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the Parliament. Read what happened and the lessons from the whole event that are relevant to today.
Hitler Had Tailpipe Problems
Footnote to history: It may sound like a Woody Allen scenario, but medical historians are unanimous that Adolf was the victim of uncontrollable flatulence. Spasmodic stomach cramps, constipation and diarrhea, possibly the result of nervous tension, had been Hitler’s curse since childhood and only grew more severe as he aged. As a stressed-out dictator, the agonizing digestive attacks would occur … Read More
The Photo Detective
If I could live my life over again, I think I would want this person’s job. With millions of Americans obsessively tracing their roots, Ms. [Maureen] Taylor has emerged as the nation’s foremost historical photo detective. During a recent meeting of the Maine Genealogical Society, attendees lined up a dozen deep as she handled their images with a cotton glove … Read More
Actually, Columbus Was Kind Of A Prick
Let’s first dismiss the Euro-centric notion that Columbus "discovered" America. He didn’t. There were already people — yes, there were actual people — living here, and to suggest that Columbus "discovered" America is to suggest that the people already familiar with the land don’t count (for some reason). Secondly — even if we were to dismiss the millions of Native … Read More
Michael Medved: “Six Inconvenient Truths About The U.S. And Slavery”
Michael Medved thinks that America’s involvement with slavery is hyped. Seriously. And he’s here to set us straight with an offensive little bit of revisionist history. He lists "six inconvenient truths about the U.S. and slavery" in attempt to convince you, the reader, that — "Hey! Slavery was no biggie!" In his preface, he opens with this: Those who want … Read More
Little Rock — 50 Years Later
Fascinating article should be read here at Vanity Fair. It focuses on this famous iconic picture: The picture was taken on September 4, 1957. The black girl is Elizabeth Eckard, one of the Little Rock Nine, the group of black students who attempted to go to school in one of the first desegregated high schools in the South. Standing behind … Read More
Ken Burns’ “The War”
My expectations of the new Ken Burns documentary were rather low. WWII is an awfully big subject, but Burns handled The Civl War, another monumental subject, just fine. So I was a little disappointed to read that he wasn’t going to treat WWII comprehensively. Instead, he was going to focus on the impact of the war on four places in … Read More
Gems Of The New York Times
As some of you may know, the New York Times has dropped its TimesSelect subscription program, making large parts of its online archive available for freemaking large parts of its online archive available for free. This means that you no longer have to pay to read some of its editorials (many of which I have linked to in the past, … Read More
Eight Years Later: 9/13 Changed Everything
There’s hardly a fictional person alive who can forget the terrible events of September 13, 1999 — the day the nuclear waste plant exploded on the Moon, sending it out of Earth’s orbit and on a journey to galaxies and planets unknown. After that, our fictional world was never the same. Not only did it reak havoc with the tides … Read More
An Interesting Tribute
Neil Tillotson cast the first vote in the New Hampshire presidential primary every year from 1960 to 2000. For four decades, his vote was the first one cast in the nation’s selection of the next president. The Dixville Notch resident passed away in 2001 at the age of 102. So the New Hampshire Historical Society is honoring him by offering … Read More
9/11 Before 9/11
Some objects which pre-dated 9/11/01, taking on signficance only afterward: (1) A postage stamp (2) A 1979 ad for Pakistani Airlines (click to enlarge) (3) An ad that ran a few days earlier (4) Tourist coffee mug: More here. UPDATE: And then there’s this. In March of 2001 Fox TV aired Episode One of a new show spun-off from The … Read More
Fun Fact
The next time you hear someone complain about how raunchy current music is today, just point them to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Historian Pounces On Bush
Not literally, of course (although that would be a great Youtube moment) In Wednesday’s speech Bush said: "’An interesting observation, one historian put it, ‘Had these erstwhile experts’ — he was talking about people criticizing the efforts to help Japan realize the blessings of a free society — he said, ‘Had these erstwhile experts had their way, the very notion … Read More
Alexii Found
For those Romanov-ophiles out there, it looks like they found the bodies of Czar Nicholas’ son and the "missing" daughter (probably Maria). Anastasia, as you probably know, didn’t survive — although her story ended up being a good play/movie.