The World Health Organization (WHO) is far from perfect. Nevertheless, it’s still worth paying attention to what its head said today. “While we have all undoubtedly been impacted by the pandemic, the poorest and most marginalized have been hit hardest – both in terms of lives and livelihoods lost,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, a biologist, […]
The WHO’s Accomplishments and Unfilled Potential Read More »
It is fitting that the American Chemical Society (ACS) comes to the fore as my #stampoftheday “project” (obsession?) is coming to a close. For chemistry, in general, and the ACS, specifically, were incredibly important parts of my father’s life. It’s odd then, that his sometimes meticulous stamp albums doesn’t include today’s #stampoftheday. A 3-cent stamp
I have been looking forward to writing about Booker T. Washington, who was born on April 5, 1856. But it seems especially timely to be writing about him today. In some ways, Washington, who founded the Tuskegee Institute and was the dominant Black political leader in the late 1800s and early 1900s, has been on
Getting Past the Myths and Sterotypes of Booker T. Washington Read More »
When we moved to Lexington in 1996, I knew that Patriots’ Day, the annual celebration of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, was a big deal. After all, I had been living in the Boston area for 16 years. But, it turns out, I had no idea what a big deal it was in Lexington,
The Night Lexington’s Reenactment Taught Me About Fear and Danger Read More »
“The postman no longer rings twice,” wrote Frank DeFilippo, in a recent column posted by news outlets in Maryland and Pennsylvania. In contrast, he added, “back in the day the Pony Express and its daredevil riders became early western cinematic celebrities for braving treacherous terrain, marauding bandits and worse weather than Texas and yet relaying
The Long Legacy of the Short-lived Pony Express Read More »
“I have called the Congress into extraordinary session because there are serious, very serious, choices of policy to be made, and made immediately,” said President Woodrow Wilson on April 2, 1917. Wilson’s somber tone was merited because, having narrowly won reelection in 1916 on a campaign that prominently noted “He Kept Us Out of War,”
What Can We Learn from Woodrow Wilson and World War I? Read More »
On April Fools’ Day, I’ve been pranked by my own (late) father and his stamp collection. And, I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that I almost fell for it. In fact, I was getting ready to write a #stampoftheday post about how I had recently rediscovered that my father’s collection included four rare stamps issued
The 1869 Eagle and His Friends Got Me on April Fool’s Day Read More »