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Volume, Confusion, and Rage: On Commuting
Knocker-up in action Commuting has been part of the human experience since the Industrial Revolution. Ever since the workplace and the home got firmly disentangled, people have been waking up and resignedly making their way to their place of employment. Show More Summary
Color films of Britain in the 1920s
A reader — he knows who he is — pointed me to this video, a remarkable color film of London in 1927 that has been making the Internet rounds the past couple of days. The uploader notes that it’s the work of British film pioneer Claude Friese-Greene using a color process invented by his father [...]
Tesla Wardenclyffe laboratory bought for museum
Last year’s hugely successful Indiegogo campaign to raise $850,000 for the nonprofit Tesla Science Center to build a museum dedicated to the genius inventor Nikola Tesla at his Wardenclyffe laboratory in Shoreham, New York, has borne fruit. The 15.69-acre laboratory site and all its buildings are no longer the property of Belgian multinational Agfa. As [...]
Explorator 16.03
I’m posting this here for now because Yahoo isn’t letting me send it out; I await email from technical support: ================================================================ explorator 16.03 May...Show More Summary
Charles Dawes: Vice President, Nobel Winner and Musical Hit Maker
by Jack El-Hai, Wonders & Marvels contributor Barry Manilow, Van Morrison, the Four Tops, Cass Elliot, Isaac Hayes, Bing Crosby and Nat “King” Cole all owe a lot to a now obscure United States vice president and Nobel Peace Prize winner named Charles Dawes. Those musical artists, as well as dozens of others, recorded a [...]
Notre Dame gets new bells for her 850th birthday
Notre Dame de Paris, the Gothic cathedral that is one of the most famous churches in the world, turns 850 years old this year and has gotten a new set of nine bells for a birthday present. The new bells range in size from 767 kilos (1691 lbs) to 1.91 tons. They were blessed in [...]
The Black Stork: A physician’s cinematic argument for eugenics
by Jack El-Hai, Wonders & Marvels contributor One of the most infamous movies of the silent era, which made a case for allowing disabled infants to die, sparked a national debate between 1917 and the late 1920s before sinking into obscurity. Along the way, The Black Stork rocketed a physician to fame and symbolized America’s [...]
Skip Ewing – Country Music’s Unknown Star
Let’s play a game. What do the following phrases have in common? It’s You Again The Gospel According to Luke I’m Your Man Your Memory Wins Again It Wasn’t His Child Love, Me Lighter Shade of Blue Every Other Weekend Matches Rebecca Lynn The Hole If I Didn’t Have You You Had Me From Hello [...]
The Boston Massacre and the Rising Generation
Last Saturday’s reenactment of the Boston Massacre drew scores of volunteers from at least as far north as New Hampshire and at least as far south as Virginia and Kentucky. Their dedication was awe-inspiring, as always.I was especially impressed by some of the younger participants: the drummer for His Majesty’s 29th Regiment of Foot. Show More Summary
Ouch
“Gross lack of intellectual standards” could be the name of my next band: Senator Sessions’s staff on the Budget Committee has contacted both me and my editor objecting to the item in the most strenuous terms. I have further explored the matter at length and determined that, in my haste, I treated Senator Sessions’s claims far too generously. Show More Summary
But Did He Ride Them Down To The Ground?
Breitbart has the scoop: Journalists on the campaign trail saw [President Lyndon] Johnson drunkenly board a plane armed with nuclear weapons and then accidentally drop them on the United States. Luckily, by the grace of God, they did not go off. The day is not lost as long as there’s a Dr. Strangelove reference possible. (h/t @davidfolkenflik)
Track of the Day #4: Soft Hearted Scientists - Rockford's Return
The band's name was Soft Hearted Scientists. I remember being very glad indeed that neither the name nor the sleeve suggested Lostprophets-wannabe. That was rare back in 2002.
The Revolution Will Be Televised
Last week I noted Melvin Bernstein’s esay on the change of government in Worcester on 6 Sept 1774. For folks interested in hearing more, check out the video of this TEDxEureka talk by Ray Raphael titled “Revolution: A Success Story.” Ray taught high school before becoming a full-time historian and author, so he’s a very engaging speaker. Show More Summary
Medicinal Compounds, Efficacious in Every Case
By Lisa Smith, W&M Contributor Perhaps the most famous cure-all of all time is Lydia E. Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound, immortalized in song as “Lily the Pink” (or “The Ballad of Lydia Pinkham”). Although the original vegetable compound aimed to treat women’s ailments, the song suggests—tongue in cheek–that it might have much wider, rather miraculous applications. [...]
Concussion and PTSD in the Ancient World
The Ludovisi Battle Sarcophagus depicting Roman conquest of Barbarians, 2nd - 3rd century CE. Photographed at the Palazzo Altemps, Museo Nazionale Romano, in Rome Italy by Mary Harrsch. After I suggested in my review of "Semper Fidelis...Show More Summary
Medieval clapper bridge swept away in flood
Tarr Steps is a clapper bridge (a bridge constructed using unmortared stone slabs) over the River Barle in Exmoor National Park in Somerset. It’s at least 600 years old — it is referenced in primary sources starting in the 1400s — but some theories date it to the Bronze Age, as early as 1000 B.C. [...]
The Year in History Blog History
I said in last year’s Year in History Blog History that I would attempt to make this a yearly tradition, so welcome to the second annual Year in History Blog History! Just a few days ago I was griping about the endless parade of crappy best-of lists so prevalent in the press between Christmas and [...]
Know Your Archives: The Center for Popular Music
Randall Stephens It takes a certain temperament to be a historian. For example, you have to, at least on some level, enjoy rummaging through dusty manuscripts and spending hour upon hour hunting down sources, reading, rereading, and conducting keyword searches until your fingers become arthritic claws. Show More Summary
Gorgeous Hussies and Parlor Politics
Joseph Yannielli One of the advantages of digital history is that it allows its practitioners to comment on public events in real time and achieve a potentially broader and more immediate impact. And what event could be more gripping than a big old scandal? Scandals tap into a seemingly universal appetite for tawdry drama. Show More Summary
John Fea's Virtual Office Hours
Randall StephensHistorical Society member, Springsteen disciple, and historian extraordinaire John Fea recently launched a series of videos called "Virtual Office Hours" from his blog The Way of Improvement Leads Home. So far he's created four clips. Show More Summary
