Esther Howland: Valentine Queen
In photographs, she presents the grim, humorless visage of a middle-aged, Victorian spinster. But Esther Howland popularized valentine giving in the United States and, by the time of her death in 1904, had earned the sobriquet “Mother of the Americ...
March On: Celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.!
One of the greatest moments of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. But it wasn’t planned that way. (This article was first published in Uncle John's Triumphant 20th Ann...
Hey, Buddy: A lot of popular, colloquial phrases involve the use of a common, generic first name. Here are the origins of some of them, Jack. “Geez, Louise” At least as early as the late 1900s, English speakers started inserting words into ...
President George H.W. Bush, who served from 1989 to 1993, passed away at the edge of 94. Here’s a look back at the long and interesting life of the Commander-in-Chief. Near death experience As a teenager, he contracted such a serious staph in...
When Canada Tried to Join America
If there’s ever a 51st state in the United States, it’ll most likely be Puerto Rico or the District of Columbia. But if these very small political movements had had their way, we’d already have more states: former Canadian provinces. All o...
