Blog archives
History stories in our blog
Mark Twain surfing in Hawaii: Quote from 'Roughing It'
November 16, 2011
From Roughing It, a Mark Twain quote about how he tried surfing in Hawaii in 1866.
9/11: Iraq erased from 'War on Terror'?
September 10, 2011
When remembering 9/11, are soldiers who died in Operation Iraqi Freedom to be counted among the casualties of the War on Terror?
'Public Enemies' (2009 Johnny Depp movie)
August 8, 2011
A couple strong scenes of gun violence, but a weak story and characters make for a mediocre movie which should have been much better.
Racine, Wisconsin history: House on Taylor Avenue near Durand
August 4, 2011
A historical house in Racine, Wisconsin was built by an old settler and race horse owner named Joshua Pierce.
Debt, Medicare, spending, deficit: Obama speech, April 13, 2011
April 13, 2011
President Obama’s speech: Video and full text of his remarks at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
Genesis, creation and evolution: Science finds snake's legs
February 10, 2011
A 95-million-year-old snake fossil in Lebanon reveals lizard-like leg bones. Did Bible authors know snakes didn’t always slither on their bellies?
The Packers: Green Bay's socialist success story
February 5, 2011
The Green Bay Packers are community-owned, and very strongly supported by the community of Green Bay.
Chicago Blizzard of 1967
January 31, 2011
Radio broadcasts and reminiscences recall the snowstorm that buried Chicago under 23 inches of snow in January of 1967.
The Krampus and St. Nicholas in Austria
December 5, 2010
See videos of the Krampus with old Saint Nick on December 6. Plus a Krampus Christmas song, Stephen Colbert on Krampus.
About Halloween: History book traces Halloween ideas, customs
October 14, 2010
Reading this history of Halloween — Death Makes a Holiday — makes me get up and Google things every few minutes.
Ditch Day plus 2 years: Obama, the Tea Party, and the attention of Americans
September 18, 2010
Exactly 2 years after America’s economy crashed into a ditch, Americans are considering taking the same wrong turn yet again.
Old farm machinery: Belle City threshing machine from 1915
July 14, 2010
Kenosha County is where we saw this antique farm machinery — a Racine, Wisconsin threshing machine from 1915.
Dick Cheney: A record of recklessness
February 14, 2010
When Dick Cheney sounds off on safety and security, someone should ask him about Tora Bora or the liquid bomb plot.
WGN-TV shuts out The Museum of Classic Chicago Television
September 30, 2009
WGN-TV has reportedly forced The Museum of Classic Chicago Television to pull all WGN material from the museum website.
Metal detector finds gold treasure buried in Staffordshire, England
September 24, 2009
Terry Herbert’s metal detector found gold treasure from Anglo-Saxon days in a field in Staffordshire, England.
First moon walk video 'erased': Apollo 11 footage lost by NASA
July 16, 2009
The best Apollo 11 video footage of Neil Armstrong’s walk on the moon is gone, but there is still video on DVD.
Original Culver's restaurant monument: Sauk City, Wisconsin
June 9, 2009
The original building has been replaced, but a stone monument marks the location of the original Culver’s restaurant.
GQ magazine shows Bible quotes on Rumsfeld-era Pentagon documents
May 18, 2009
Apart from the issues raised by perverting holy scripture to perfume a rotten war, some horrific graphic design decisions are on display.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis
April 3, 2009
Never-before-published photos at the LIFE website, and a long-remembered NPR interview — both capturing the day Dr. Martin Luther King was killed.
1982 Tylenol tampering crisis: Tylenol killer caught?
February 4, 2009
After over 26 years, there suddenly is new activity in the case of the 1982 Chicago Tylenol murders.
MSNBC: Interactive inauguration, complete text and video
January 20, 2009
MSNBC’s ‘Explore’ feature is a cool new marriage of online video and text.
Keith Olbermann on the Bush legacy: 8 years in 8 minutes
January 17, 2009
Keith Olbermann nails the reign of George W. Bush.
Gael García Bernal, 'The Motorcycle Diaries' (film, 2004)
January 22, 2008
An atmospheric buddy picture about a South American road trip taken by Alberto Granado and Che Guevara.
Memphis, Tennessee: Civil Rights Museum at Lorraine Motel
January 21, 2008
The former Lorraine Motel where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed now houses the long and moving story of the civil rights movement in the United States.
A history of Christmas in America: 'The Battle for Christmas'
November 24, 2007
Why Christmas is commercial: All about Christmas in the USA and the rich men who made it that way.
'The War' -- WWII movie by Ken Burns on PBS
September 26, 2007
An excellent documentary, resulting from years of searching and assembly.
Michigan Upper Peninsula travel guide
August 27, 2007
Hunts’ Guide to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula helped us find some interesting things around Iron Mountain.
The grace of Elizabeth Edwards
March 22, 2007
How friendly could you be to strangers if you just found you had a tumor?
Keith Olbermann's 'Special Comment' on Condoleezza Rice
February 27, 2007
The Secretary of State’s deformed analogy rings the special bell in the commentator’s head.
Movie review: 'Blogumentary'
February 11, 2007
Watch the full movie online — a look at the blogging phenomenon and a number of the most well-known bloggers.
'Misquoting Jesus': The Bible and Bart Ehrman
January 25, 2007
Ehrman does an outstanding job of summarizing the history of Biblical texts in simple language.
What's on my iBook?
November 9, 2006
I depend on my iBook for a lot of things. When its screen died, Vine Viewer helped me backup my files via VNC.
Zarqawi: Mastermind or numbskull?
May 5, 2006
The US has put a lot of effort into portraying Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as a fearsome adversary. Now they expose him as an idiot.
He's three branches in one
May 1, 2006
Presidential sticky notes known as ‘signing statements’ magically eliminate the need for a congressional or judicial branch of government.
