Curling in Central Park 1894 photo – Joseph Byron later published by Detroit Publishing
It may not be the most popular sport but curling may get the most television airtime during the 2022 Winter Olympics. Continue reading
If you have been watching Ken Burns excellent documentary about Muhammad Ali on PBS, you can only wonder how Muhammad Ali’s views on everything would be taken today. Ali was always unabashedly honest expressing his opinions. Ali said and did things that always created controversy. Continue reading
It was one week after the September 11 attacks. America and New York City was still in a state of disbelief. There was fear and grief. There was apprehension, And there were heroes. People who ventured into ground zero endangering their own lives for search and rescue. Continue reading
Jenseits von Gut und Böse (Beyond Good and Evil) German first edition by Nietzsche
Controversial German philosopher Fredrich Nietzsche was born in 1844 and died in 1900. Continue reading
Pére Lachaise Cemetery photo: Stuffnobodycaresabout.com
“Is there really a body in there?” is usually not one of the questions you ask yourself when visiting a grave. But this is no ordinary grave. Continue reading
A typical fact filled issue of the Greater New York Bulletin of the Merchants’ Association of New York The February 16, 1925
The defunct weekly trade magazine Greater New York – Bulletin of the New York Merchants’ Association contains news and articles related to business affairs. The Bulletin did not just limit themselves to New York related items, but highlighted national and international stories.
Paging through the 1925 issues of the magazine, I found beneath the feature articles some very interesting two and three line factoids concerning statistics from previous years.
Here are 10 of these factoids with headlines reprinted verbatim, with my comments below them in blue.
Verizon abandoned their copper lines in New York City a few years ago. How many years before there are no landline telephones, just cellular phones?
Hmmm. Michigan? Calling Mr. Henry Ford? By contrast according to the IRS, in 2012, the top 400 earners in the USA reported average income of $335.7 million. Continue reading
Though it was only five dollars I somehow avoided buying “Expulsion” at the local thrift store for myself or as a gift. As the cover for Expulsion proclaims the game recreates Jewish Life in Spain from the Golden Age to 1492. It promised to be “an exciting and challenging game to play for the whole family.”
Then comes the big plus which was hard to resist. No previous background necessary to play. So you don’t need to be a Jew, an Islamic extremist, KKK member or Nazi to learn and enjoy Expulsion.
While wondering about the game, I couldn’t help thinking of the Mel Brooks film The History of the World Part 1, where Brooks does an over the top Busby Berkeley style homage to the Spanish Inquisition.
Is the object of Expulsion to get the Jews out of Spain?
According to Gabriella Geselowitz Continue reading
While recently highlighting one of the silliest movies ever made, The Thing With Two Heads, we came across stories of other human anomalies.
Co-joined twins Millie and Christine (or Christina) McKoy were famous in the 19th century, sometimes billed as “The Wonderful Two Headed Girl,” “The Two-Headed Nightingale,” or “The Eighth Wonder of the World.”
The truth about this “two headed girl” was quite different than what was advertised. Continue reading
New York City school children in a display of patriotism, September 1902, “Saluting The Flag” photo: Florence Maynard
After World War I and the Bolshevik uprising in Russia, declaring your loyalty to America was not taken lightly. In 1919, President of the New York City Board of Education, Anning S. Prall, set a requirement that all graduating New York City High School children recite a pledge of allegiance to the United States before receiving their diplomas. This is quite different than the pledge most Americans know by heart.
Prall’s pledge:
“I will reverence my country’s flag and defend it against enemies at home and abroad.”
“I will respect and obey the President of the United States and the law of the land.”
“I will support, in school and out, American ideals of justice and fair play, including the right of unhampered opportunity under the law for all.”
“I will hold the ideal of rational patriotism above loyalty to any individual, political party, social class or previous national connection.”
“I will actively oppose all revolutionary movements, such as Bolshevism, anarchism, I. W. W.-ism, or any movement antagonistic to the laws of the United States or tending to subvert the Constitution of the United States.”
How long Prall’s allegiance pledge was retained is undocumented. But in 2019, can a student refuse to say a pledge of allegiance in school? Continue reading
Actor Bruce Cabot with 17-year-old Gloria Vanderbilt at the Music Box Theater in Hollywood for the premiere of “They Can’t Get You Down” October 27, 1941 photo: Acme
Being a rich child with a large trust fund did not define Gloria Vanderbilt. Neither did a sensational tug of war child custody battle between her mother Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt and her aunt Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney. When Gloria Vanderbilt died of stomach cancer in New York on June 17, 2019 at the age of 95, she had achieved prominence in many facets of life. Continue reading