A Brief History On January 24, 2023, Americans celebrate National Peanut Butter Day, a day when we can savor the flavor of our favorite bread spread that lends itself to making cookies, pies, candies, and other foodstuffs. Who do we have to thank for this wonderful food? Digging Deeper It may surprise you that George Washington Carver did not invent peanut butter, since he was such an influential proponent of the “Goober Pea” and is often erroneously given credit for this particular advance in eating pleasure. The ancient Aztecs and Incas made a form of peanut butter about 1000 BC,…
Browsing: January 24
A Brief History On January 24, 1915, the British Royal Navy Grand Fleet fought a sizable naval engagement against elements of the German Imperial High Seas Fleet in the North Sea at an area called Dogger Bank. With all the attention the Battle of Jutland and the submarine war in the Atlantic get, it may be easy to forget there were other major naval engagements during World War I. Today we discuss one of those naval battles, a battle won by the British, although like Jutland, a not satisfying victory. Digging Deeper The battle area, Dogger Bank, is a 160…
A Brief History On January 24, 2018, the Ashland Eagles women’s basketball team representing Ashland University in Division II college basketball is keeping up the momentum of their terrific National Championship 2016-2017 season by posting a national best record of 19 wins and 0 losses in the 2017-2018 regular season so far. Marching toward another National Championship, the Eagles have run up a Division II record 56 wins in a row going back to last year and have 9 regular season games to go this year before the playoffs start. Digging Deeper On March 24, 2017, Ashland’s basketball ladies completed…
A Brief History On January 24, 1940, The Grapes of Wrath, a drama film directed by John Ford, was released in theaters in the United States of America. The film was based on John Steinbeck’s 1939 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name. The screenplay was written by Nunnally Johnson and the executive producer was Darryl F. Zanuck. The film tells the story of the Joads, an Oklahoma family, who, after losing their farm during the Great Depression in the 1930s, become migrant workers and end up in California. The motion picture details their arduous journey across the United States as…
A Brief History On January 24, 2017, we pick this date at random to celebrate a little explored aspect of police work, that of the dreaded nickname! Most readers would be familiar with “Dirty Harry” Callahan of (fictional) movie fame, or perhaps “Prince of the City” (NYPD Det. Robert Leuci played by Treat Williams) of the 1981 film by that name. Richard Cain of the Chicago PD was also known as Richard Scalzeti, perhaps because of his association with the Chicago Mob. Who could forget fictional “Sperm” Whalen of the book and movie, The Choir Boys? Even other countries get…