A Brief History On October 10, 1492, the famous first voyage of Christopher Columbus and his small fleet of three ships almost came to an end right at the point of “discovering” the New World. Digging Deeper Columbus had set sail on August 3, 1492, expecting to sail to the Far East. He estimated the voyage to be about 2,700 miles and to take two months. By the time his voyage had passed the two month mark, his crew became restless and desperate to return home. Columbus faced down a mutiny on his flagship, the Santa Maria, that would probably…
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A Brief History On October 8, 1982, actor Fernando Lamas died, probably best remembered for the Billy Crystal impression saying the phrase, “You look marvelous!” Many other actors and celebrities have been attributed quotations they did not really say, and today we look at a few of those. Digging Deeper PT Barnum, showman and huckster, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” Julius Caesar, Roman dictator, “Et tu, Brute?” Albert Einstein, physicist and genius, “If the bee disappeared off the face of the Earth, man would only have four years left to live.” Greta Garbo, actress, “I vant to be alone…”…
A Brief History On October 2, 2023, Americans celebrate National Name Your Car Day. A tradition since before the 1990 inaugural “holiday” for naming cars, one poll indicates about 40% of Americans name their car. Digging Deeper We name our children, pets, boats, and sometimes homes or even body parts, but cars have a special place in the hearts of Americans. Sometimes a “love-hate” relationship, at least according to Adam Sandler! Female names account for a majority of car names, although some famous ones had male names, such as The General Lee, Herbie, and Kit, all from TV or movies.…
A Brief History On September 27, 1962, the book, Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson was published. The book dealt with environmental science and focused on the widespread use of pesticides and the disinformation provided by the manufacturers of those chemicals. Digging Deeper Carson made a case that the indiscriminate use of these chemicals was poisoning the environment and killing off many beneficial insects along with the pests. Additionally, many birds suffered ill effects from the pesticides, and Carson projected that one day the birds would be gone, hence the title of the book. You might have thought a cataclysmic environmental…
A Brief History On September 22, 1948, USAF pilot Lt. Gail Halvorsen began dropping candy via parachute to the children of Berlin. In 1948, the USSR tried to cut off West Berlin from supplies from the West, starving the population. Digging Deeper The US and its allies began an operation dubbed “The Berlin Airlift,” flying supplies of food, fuel, medicine, and other essentials to West Berlin surrounded by the Soviets and their East German lackeys. Halvorsen was one of those pilots of cargo planes, and when he noticed hungry faces of children lined up by the West Berlin airport, he…