An all-but-forgotten hardball political maneuver designed to keep Republicans in power in Washington is behind-the-image story of today's #stampoftheday. Although these actions are quite salient today, they aren't recent. Rather, they date back to the late 1800s, when five of what are now the nation's least populated states were admitted to the union. That decision, …
Topic: Historical Figures & Events
Delving into the people and events that shaped history
Here's an implausible and oddly timely pitch for a Netflix mini-series. A Republican presidential candidate clearly loses he popular vote and appears to be on track to lose the electoral college. But his backers argue that the popular vote count in several key states nominally won by Democrats was badly flawed. They get their allies in …
In the spring of 1944, General George S. Patton, gave a series of profanity-filled, inspirational speeches to soldiers in the newly formed US Third Army, was preparing to be part of the Allied invasion of France. "No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country," he famously said. "He won it by making …
In the midst of current trade disputes with—and heated pandemic fueled rhetoric about - China, it's easy to forget the strange long history of US relations with China. Today's #stampoftheday, a 4-cent stamp depicting Sun Yat-Sen issued on November 12, 1961, reminds me of that history, particularly America's more than two-decade long refusal to recognize …
On November 13, 1937, when today's #stampoftheday was issued, Alaska was a territory, not a state. The stamp, which pictures the mountain formerly known as Mt. McKinley, was part of a four-stamp series celebrating Alaska and three other US territories: Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands. Today, Alaska and Hawaii are states. About 732,000 …
The third time (on a stamp) was not a charm for William Tecumseh Sherman, who, on November 15, 1864, sent his troops out from Atlanta on their famous (or infamous) March to the Sea. Issued in February 1937, the 3-cent stamp, which was part of a 10-stamp series honoring the US Army and Navy, pictured three …
Around the time she turned 60, writer Nina Shengold decided to walk the path around New York's Ashokan Reservoir every day for a year. Last spring, she published "Reservoir Year," an edited account of the journals she wrote after each walk. I heard about the book this summer when, thanks to Facebook, I reconnected with a …
Sometime in the mid-1920s, a Washington socialite seated next to the President Calvin Coolidge, supposedly turned to the famously taciturn president and said, "I made a bet today that I could get more than two words out of you." Coolidge, whose nickname was "Silent Cal," allegedly replied, "You lose." While it doesn't appear that this exchange actually …
On November 19, 1863, Edward Everett, one of America's great 19th century orators, gave a more than two-hour speech at the ceremony dedicating a new cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. When he was done, President Abraham Lincoln, who had been asked by the event's organizers to give "a few appropriate remarks," stood up to speak. According to …