I am from Louisiana and sometimes I like to use my home state as a jumping off point for a blog post. 2012 brings a perfect opportunity, because it is Louisiana’s Bicentennial. On April 30, 1812 Louisiana was admitted as a state into the Union. For a little historical background on the years before Louisiana …
Without looking at today’s photo, can you use the following clues to figure out what today is? The Green Monster Duffy’s Cliff The Triangle Williamsburg The Lone Red Seat The Splendid Splinter Pesky’s Pole Sweet Caroline Curse of the Bambino The Snodgrass Muff One hundred years ago today Fenway Park had its first professional game …
I answer a fair share of questions from authors, historians, and filmmakers who are trying to find weather or astronomical observations for a particular time and place so they can accurately describe a moment in time. You can imagine my delight when I read that film director James Cameron will be including a historically accurate …
Last year I missed the opportunity to write a post commemorating the 100th anniversary of the fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory that occurred on March 25, 1911. I didn’t want to let another year pass without writing about it because of its importance in workplace safety and labor history. The Triangle Waist Company was …
I doubt that anyone would disagree that the best time to visit Washington D.C. is when the Japanese cherry trees are in bloom. It is said that the cherry blossoms are awakened in spring by the ‘maiden who causes trees to bloom’ or by fairies who visit the emperor at the Palace of Yoshino in …
Hetty Green seems to have been given a rather frightful sobriquet for a woman who came from a Quaker family and was by several accounts quite religious. Her reputation may have been the result of being a successful businesswoman in an age of businessmen or it may have been a result of being a little …
Americans have been celebrating George Washington’s birthday since he became president. We have continued this tradition for over two hundred years with the help of Congress who, in 1879, officially designated Washington’s Birthday (February 22) as a Federal Holiday. You might be asking yourself some questions right now: Do we still celebrate Washington’s birthday on February …
I don’t know if you can see it all that well, but my office is pretty beige. A few years ago a friend of mine gave me this little tree with the ornaments and tree skirt. I think it adds some nice, if temporary, color.
When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. (Matthew 2:1-10) During a recent staff meeting, I asked my colleagues for …
James Swan entered American historical lore on December 16, 1773, when he and a few others participated in what became known as the Boston Tea Party, but he has a place in early U.S. business history as well. While I was doing some research for the Business of Congress blog post which featured “business” oriented …