The Library of Congress was established on April 24, 1800. It was originally founded to provide a legislative library for members of Congress. In just over a decade, the collection had grown to over 3000 books. There was a major setback during the War of 1812 when the invading British burned the Capitol building and the
Whenever I substitute teach for history (like the past two weeks), I always like to find something that makes the events more meaningful. My “Global” classes were studying the Cold War and all its ramifications, and that jogged a memory of a passage in a guide book I’d gotten a long time ago. Entitled Los
Periodically we run across a historical description that sounds unbelievable — “Could this really have happened?” Then we investigate and discover that not only did it happen, it was actually worse than we could ever have imagined. Some of the stories from the civil rights struggle in this country and the Holocaust are two ready
For the next two weeks I’m filling in for a high school social studies teacher. I originally wanted to teach social studies, so I’m having a lot of fun during this time, although I have to keep reminding myself they’re typical high school students and not a history nerd like me. Remember Winston Churchill’s quote,
Something to think about on the 150th anniversary of the Civil War — As politically divided as the United States is today, it was worse in the mid-19th century, as the North-South conflict over slavery came to a head. Of course, that issue was only resolved through a long and bloody Civil War. Even today,
I was trying to think of something clever to write about today when something fell into my lap. USA Today’s website has a post on “five history lessons on products you use every day” — — The Surprising History of Toilet Paper (Have you ever wondered how the Greeks and Romans got by without paper?)
Teaching today has put me in the mood to post something historical — Railroads and the Civil War Some consider the American Civil War to be the first modern conflict. For example, it saw the first battle between ironclad warships, the first successful use of the submarine, warfare directed toward the civilian population (Sherman’s March
Last night I saw the play Pride and Prejudice at Wright State University. That got me to thinking about marriage. As part of my training to become a teacher, I read the book Marriage, a History for a Sociology course. It was a real eye-opener and one of the more interesting books I’ve ever read.
As a history nerd and aspiring writer, I can occasionally combine the two interests. One fascinating tidbit (at least to me) is the number of English kings who did not speak English. If this surprises you, recall what happened in 1066 — William of Normandy earned his nickname William the Conqueror by defeating Harold II at the
Recently I came across an interview with Taylor Branch, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s, biographer. Published in the January 2015 issue of “Smithsonian” magazine, it discusses Dr. King’s true legacy. Branch makes an important case: “Look at the fall of the Berlin Wall, the fall of the whole Soviet Union, begun with nonviolent demonstrations in a