A Brief History On February 27, 1807, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born in Maine, going on to a career in education and especially poetry, becoming the most prominent American poet of his day. Today, we ask you, “Who is America’s greatest poet?” We list some possible choices with perhaps their greatest poems, but feel free to add your own: Digging Deeper Maya Angelou, “On the Pulse of Morning” E.E. Cummings, “anyone lived in a pretty how town” Emily Dickinson, “Hope” Robert Frost, “The Road Not Taken” Langston Hughes, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “Paul Revere’s Ride” Edgar…
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A Brief History On January 18, 2023, Americans celebrate another National Thesaurus Day, a day to be thankful for that reference book that helps us find other ways to say the same thing. Oddly enough, there is no other word for “thesaurus!” Digging Deeper Why do we choose to celebrate National Thesaurus Day on January 18th? Because that is the day of birth for Peter Mark Roget, back in 1779, the man that gave us Roget’s Thesaurus, a staple in every student’s desk. At the age of 61, Roget retired from his career as a physician, and embarked on his…
A Brief History On January 1, 1735, Paul Revere, silversmith and patriot, was born, starting a long line of famous Americans born on the first of the year. Which one of these New Year’s babies do you rate as the greatest? Feel free to nominate your own choice. Digging Deeper Paul Revere, Revolutionary, 1735 Anthony Wayne, General, 1745 Betsy Ross, Flag Designer, 1752 Frank Knox, World War II Secretary of the Navy, 1874 William J. Donovan, General and Master Spy, 1883 Edgar Hoover, Director of the FBI, 1895 Hank Greenberg, 1911, Baseball player J. D. Salinger, Army veteran and author,…
A Brief History On December 31, 192, Roman Emperor Commodus was assassinated, one of many Roman emperors that met an untimely end. Today, we take a look at just a select few of those people that died in 2022. Who else would you include on this list? Digging Deeper Shinzo Abe, Japanese Prime Minister Madeline Albright, Diplomat Kirstie Alley, actress Louie Anderson, Comedian Benedict, Pope Emeritus Peter Bogdanovich, Writer and director James Caan, Actor Irene Cara, Singer Coolio, Rapper Tony Dow, Actor Judith Durham, Singer Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom Mikhail Gorbachev, Soviet President Gilbert Gottfried, Comedian Franco…
A Brief History On December 27, 1771, French engineer, Henri Pitot, died at the age of 76. Although you may not be familiar with him, his invention, the Pitot Tube, has probably served you well in your life, as it is the primary instrument used for measuring the speed of aircraft and boats, as well as other liquids and gases. Today, we take time to remember some of the famous folks that died on December 27th. Digging Deeper 1834: Charles Lamb, English essayist and poet. 1836: Stephen Austin, known as “The Father of Texas” and the namesake of the state’s…
