What do Robert Louis Stevenson, Sally Rand’s Nude Ranch, monkeys racing tiny automobiles, Diego Rivera, and Indiana Jones, all have in common? The answer is that they are all connected to the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition, which opened on February 18, 1939 on Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay. The start of that event […]

In September 2009, not long after Senator Ted Kennedy had died, 91-year old Senator Robert Byrd, who had been quite ill, spoke on the Senate floor about his late colleague. “Not very ago, I picked up a book of poetry which Ted Kennedy had given to me in July 1996,” said the ailing Byrd, who

Like many people interested in urban and environmental issues, I have long been interested been interested in Oregon’s long history of progressive populism. And like many people who have looked up to Oregon’s lead in those areas, I’ve been puzzled and concerned by the fact that the state also has been – and continues to

Although I know it’s not true, I believe the word “hassle” comes from the man who founded what became the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which has often been “hassled” (and worse) for its work on climate change. Here’s why I want this all to be true. NOAA traces its history back to multiple

I live close to Concord, Massachusetts which means that whenever I’m feeling too adequate, I can recalibrate by taking a modest bike ride past the homes of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Louisa May Alcott, and Nathaniel Hawthorne. And if I’m still feeling too good about myself, I can go a bit father to a pond where

“Two centuries after his death, Chief Justice John Marshall still presides over the Supreme Court,” Josh Blackman wrote on the SCOTUSblog last summer. “His larger-than-life statue greets visitors. During investiture ceremonies, new members sit in his chair. And the justices cite him whenever possible.” His presence has been especially large for the13 men who have

“Valor is a gift,” Carl Sandburg once said. “Those having it never know for sure whether they have it until the test comes.” The four chaplains on the SS Dorchester displayed extraordinary valor on February 3, 1943 when a German submarine sank the converted luxury coastal liner, which was carrying about 900 servicemen, merchant seamen

“We bring you ‘Voices from America,’” said announcer William Harlan Hale at the start of a 15-minute shortwave radio broadcast that was transmitted into Germany on February 1, 1942. “Today, and daily from now on, we shall speak to you about America and the war,” he continued. “The news may be good for us. The