Clik here to view.
Ford, Edison, and the Quest for the World’s Largest
I love that my children are back in school and that our sense of routine has returned. Still, a couple weeks in, I also have to admit that I miss the open road. This was a summer of lots of travel for...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Queen of Strength and Beauty
Just two years after he organized what is largely considered the world’s first bodybuilding competition in 1901, acclaimed German muscle man Eugen Sandow met his match in a woman. The story goes that...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Research, Cannons, and Great Big Nerds
On March 10, 1842 president of the short-lived Republic of Texas Sam Houston overstepped the limits of his office when he ordered the national archives to be removed from the capital city of Austin and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Stupid Holidays, but Milkshakes
In 1936, a man by the name of Earl Prince invented a machine that could make five milkshakes simultaneously. Made possible by the newfangled freon-cooled refrigerator systems, his “Multimixer”...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Bobbling Along With Style
History has not been especially kind to King George IV of the United Kingdom. Many of his contemporaries described him as selfish, unreliable, and just kind of the worst. He was difficult to work with,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Outsmarting Sawdust and Dog Hair
The weather has at last begun to turn a bit cooler here in the Midwestern US. Our peak temperatures missed their mark a little bit this year, arriving in early September rather than mid to late August...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why I Want to be a Science-y Lemming
The 1959 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature went to Disney’s White Winter, largely for the wonderful exploration the film made of the strange case of lemming mass suicide. It is one of those...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why Does My Wrist Hurt?
Not too long ago I celebrated a big birthday. Okay, it wasn’t really that big. It didn’t end in a zero or anything, but it did feel kind of significant only because once upon a time I read Douglas...
View ArticleClik here to view.
WU (What’s Up) With this ARE (Acronym-Rich Environment)?
It started out like any morning, with me rushing to get the kids out the door in time for school. That’s been a little harder lately as the days have gotten shorter and the mornings darker. But we were...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Great Pumpkin and the Good Candy
This time of year I always think I should blog about Halloween—its history, which is a little muddled depending on what source you look at, and its bizarre traditions. But every year I think I end up...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Where Can I Find a Ghost Like That?
The end of October is finally upon us and for writers that means only one thing: bowls full of miniature candy bars will be widely available for snacking. Or maybe two things. Because tomorrow is the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
November is a Month for Silly Affectations
It’s finally November, which just means many of us are rethinking our grooming options. That’s right, we’ve reached that one month out of the year when for some inexplicable reason, otherwise clean-cut...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Handkerchiefs, Ribbon, and Necessity
November is well under way and here in Missouri that means we’ve experienced our first cold snap and snow accumulation event, which we never get this early, except that this is the third year in a row...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Bravely Throwing Out a Piece of the Soul
In 1936, celebrated American author F. Scott Fitzgerald made a list. He’d hit a big rough patch in a life full of rough patches, drinking too much and living in a hotel in Asheville, North Carolina to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
I, Said the Cow
This has been a year of big transitions for my two sons. My oldest started his freshman year in high school and will soon be learning to drive; my youngest headed for the first time to middle school....
View ArticleClik here to view.
My Babylonian Resolution
Four thousand years ago, give or take, the Babylonian people celebrated a twelve-day festival called Akitu. I don’t know if it involved giving their true loves a bunch of gold rings, some milking...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What to Do in the Meantime
In 1912, rare books dealer Wilfrid Voynich added to his collection of his London shop the strangest book he never read. It’s not entirely clear how the manuscript came into Voynich’s possession, but it...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What’s in a Name
On January 15, 1929 a baby boy who was destined to do great things came screaming into the world. His name was Michael, after his father, a Baptist minister who served as the senior pastor at Ebenezer...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Four Wheels and a Hint of Danger
In the wee hours of the morning on July 4, 1896, Henry Ford smashed the brick side of his shed with an axe. That might sound a little extreme, but after months of work the inventor and future business...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Four Score and Seven Words to Go
On November 2, 1863, a man named David Wills, writing on behalf of the governor of Pennsylvania, asked then president of the United States Abraham Lincoln if he might consider making “a few appropriate...
View Article