The supply of firearms was a constant struggle in the infancy of gun manufacture. Before a standardized weapon was introduced most firearms were made according to the purchaser’s specifications. This led to production issues and concerns that gun manufacturers could equip enemy soldiers. Everything changed with the introduction of the “Brown Bess,” the official musket […]
This description of the nature of conversation between two people is too wonderful not to share. Maria Popova wrote it as an introduction to her essay Telling Is Listening: Ursula K. Le Guin on the Magic of Real Human Conversation. I enjoyed the quotes from Le Guin but this was my favorite passage of the entire […]
In 1912, the Theodore Roosevelt was running for his third term in office (though it would only be the second he was elected into after his first began with the assassination of President McKinley). He had split from the Republican Party and created his own Progressive Party after sitting President Taft had received the Republican […]
Over one million people descend on the Potomac each year to attend the National Cherry Blossom Festival. The trees, not native to the nations capital, were imported by former first lady Helen “Nellie” Taft. Inspired by her time in the Phillipines, First Lady Taft wanted to create a river park for the public to enjoy. The […]
Abstract is a show on Netflix about the art of design. Each episode focuses on one designer in a specific field. The first episode is about an illustrator who has designed covers for the New Yorker, the second about a shoe designer who was an integral part of Nike’s Jordan brand, the third about a […]
Samuel Galton, a prominent gun manufacturer, lived in Birmingham, England. The contradiction between his member in the Quaker community and his profession is investigated by Priya Satia in her new book Empire of Guns: The Violent Making of the Industrial Revolution. One of the hallmarks of the Quaker faith is the refusal to participate in […]
A trust was a term used around the beginning of the 1900’s for a group of companies that, when combined, took control of the market. In 1890 the Sherman Antitrust Act was passed to prevent their formation but for years, and across multiple industries, it hadn’t been effective in controlling the formation of trusts. Teddy […]
At the end of 1989, less than a year before he died, Sammy Davis Jr. was pulled onstage by Gregory Hines at Davis’ 60th anniversary celebration. His hip had been replaced less than five years earlier and he was undergoing treatment for throat cancer which left him unable to speak. Both Davis and Hines starred in […]
Coxey’s Army originated in Ohio with 100 men all fed up with the lack of jobs during the Panic of 1893. The group was led by Jacob Coxey, a man who would go on to lead another similar march in 1914. The aim of the march was to convince the government to create jobs by […]
The Pullman Strike occurred after the owner of the Pullman Company, George Pullman, reduced his workers wages during a recession. The workers went on strike and received the support of the American Railway Union (ARU). In an effort to convince the public to rally behind the worker’s cause, the ARU refused to carry any train […]
