Month: June 2022

Mount Rushmore: The Story Behind How This Iconic Monument Came into Being

A plane buzzed over the Black Hills of South Dakota in the summer of 1927. It swooped and dove through the air, entertaining President Calvin Coolidge and his family below. The pilot dropped a wreath of flowers to this little crowd and sped away. The Coolidges had chosen the large Game Lodge in Custer State…


Steam Engines, Telephones, Telegraphs: The 1876 World Expo Heralded a New Era of Industrial Power

When President Ulysses S. Grant—helped by Don Pedro II, emperor of Brazil—hand-cranked the 40-foot-tall, 600-ton engine to life, he was opening the first large-scale international exhibition ever to be hosted by the United States. It was May 1876, and this was the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition. The massive Corliss engine, which the American president had just…


This Pioneering Woman from History Advocated Tirelessly for the Wellbeing of Factory Workers

Alice Hamilton was the leading expert of occupational health and industrial toxicology at the height of her career, but she traveled a long, hard road to get there. Hamilton was born in 1869 and grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Her grandfather had made money in the railroad industry, and the family was well off,…


True American Spirit: The Unlikely Mélange of Inspiration That Brought Washington D.C. into Being

When the United States of America was young, the established cities of New York and then Philadelphia served as seats for the country’s government. While Alexander Hamilton and many northerners were content with this, Thomas Jefferson and a lot of southerners were not—so a seat for the federal government was established in a more central…


How a 19th Century Engineer’s Brilliant Mind and Generosity Changed the American Way of Life

When the 1893 Columbian Exposition opened on the shores of Lake Michigan, visitors to the fair were treated to a glimpse of the future. Chicago, the great classical “White City” by day, at night became a magically illuminated world of colored lights. President Grover Cleveland opened the exhibition by pushing a button that set the…


How the Wright Brothers Failed and Failed Again In Order to Create the World’s First Airplane

Standing near the sand dunes of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Wilbur Wright took a coin from his vest pocket. It was a sunny, warm day on December 14, 1903. After four years of experimenting with gliders and flying machines, the day had come. The flip of a coin with his brother, Orville, would determine who…


Orange County Beaches Among the Cleanest in California

Some Orange County beaches topped the list for some of California’s cleanest in Heal the Bay’s annual Beach Report Card (pdf). The non-profit environmental advocacy group assessed 500 California beaches in its 2021–2022 report and categorized them on a scale from A to F based on sewage-related pollutants measured by county health agencies. The water…


Stop Telling Singles to Try Online Dating

The wedding industry is booming in the post-COVID world. Yet the fuss over wedding flowers, gowns, and photographers can’t cover up an ever-growing reality: A large portion of the American adult population is single. Nearly half of Americans over the age of 18 land in this category, according to the Census Bureau, and 62 percent…


Tuvalu Foreign Minister Opts out of UN Conference After China Blocks Taiwanese Delegates

Tuvalu’s foreign minister has pulled out of the United Nations’ Ocean Conference on June 27 after China blocked three Taiwanese delegates from attending. Tuvalu’s Simon Kofe diverted his flight to Brisbane, Australia and headed early to Fiji for the Pacific Islands Forum in mid-July. The Pacific Islands Forum involves all Pacific nations, as well as…


Tuesday, June 28, 2022: Epoch Sudoku Hard