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The First Indy 500
The first Indianapolis 500 was a bit different than those we’ve seen lately. The cars lined up five abreast except for the first and last rows; the pace car occupied the pole position. Forty cars started the race; starting position was determined by when the entry form was received in the mail by...
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The Mary Rose
By the time she sank off Portsmouth harbor in 1545, the Mary Rose was obsolete: cumbersome, vulnerable to attack and ill-equipped for 16th century warfare. Fifty years earlier, however, she had been the pride of Henry VIII’s fleet…
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The Regent Diamond
The history of the Regent is similar to that of several other great diamonds. Greed, murder and remorse play a part in the beginning followed by trouble -- political, social, and personal.
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Herblock vs Joseph McCarthy
“The press must speak out and, if the occasion arises, raise bloody hell.” -- Herblock
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The Capture of Adolf Eichmann
Daniel Silva has written an excellent series of thrillers regarding the exploits of master art restorer and sometimes Israeli spy Gabriel Allon. One of the main characters in the series is Ari Shamron, the former head of The Office and the man responsible for Allon’s recruitment. In the books...
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Pennsylvania Dutch Hex Signs
The use of stars and circles in art and decoration goes back thousands of years. These designs of rosettes, stars, circles, and the "Tree of Life" with their connection to the sun, nature, and the celestial, can be seen on everything from tombstones and birth certificates, to furniture and plates....
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The Blue Eyed Six
It was a foolproof plan. You buy insurance policies on the life of an elderly recluse living in a hut surviving on handouts from his neighbors. He dies and your financial troubles come to an end. But what if he doesn’t die? Insurance premiums are not inexpensive….
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Simon Girty: American Frontiersman
“[Simon Girty was] as brutal, depraved, and wicked a wretch as ever lived.” –John Heckewelder (1743-1823) an American missionary who lived and worked among the Indians of Ohio and Pennsylvania.
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Boathouse Row
If you ever get to Philadelphia at some point during your visit you want to make sure you’re on the Schuylkill Expressway north of Vine St at night. When you get there look across the river towards the east; that’s Boathouse Row and it’s lit up every night.
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History of Covered Bridges
The covered bridge belongs in the same category as the prairie schooner and tall ship: they are picturesque but largely obsolete technologies of a formative stage of American development.
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Casey Jones
“Driving that train, high on cocaine, Casey Jones is ready, watch your speed. Trouble ahead, trouble behind, And you know that notion just crossed my mind.” …Robert Hunter
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Horseshoe Curve
Before electricity and automobiles, airplanes and space travel there was the engineering marvel known as the Horseshoe Curve. Since it was constructed many highways and railroads have used the curving technology but there is only one known as the Horseshoe Curve.
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Ephrata Cloister
Established in 1732 in the northern Lancaster County the religious society that came to be known as the Ephrata Cloister gave William Penn’s “Holy Experiment” its most extreme test.
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Earth Day: April 22, 1970
". . . on April 22, 1970, Earth Day was held, one of the most remarkable happenings in the history of democracy. . . “-American Heritage Magazine, October 1993.
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Kim Jong-Un: Nepotism at its Worst
Just like any 30-year old who inherits the family business, controls some nukes and has a bad haircut.
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A Short History of Time
What is Time? A physicist would tell you time appears to be related to change and is only apparent to us through motion. The Present gives us the most real feel of time, though it is of no measurable duration. The Past and the Future are both measurable; however, they are both inaccessible. If you...
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MLK, JR.: "Letter from Birmingham Jail"
Many leaders of Christian denominations from across the United States are gathering in Birmingham, Alabama April 14 – 15 to mark the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.”
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Interstellar Travel: Is It Possible?
We can get off the planet. We can even get to the moon with manned missions and send unmanned probes to the depths of the solar system. But can we get anywhere? Where is anywhere? The closest star to Earth, Proxima Centauri, is 4.243 light years away. That’s 2.49424747 x 1013 miles (24.9 trillion)....
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JFK: The Babushka Lady
Everyone who was alive and old enough to be aware remembers where they were when they heard JFK was shot. I was in my seventh grade English class. It was my twelfth birthday. There have probably been as many, if not more, words written about this event than any other in history; yet, until...
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Kryptos
A 1989 sculpture by Jim Sanborn it sits in front of the Central Intelligence Agency in Langley, Virginia. There are four coded puzzles embedded in the curved copper panels of the sculptures. The codes were designed by Sanborn with the help of a retired CIA cryptographer. To date, three of the four...
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Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown
Mordecai Brown overcame a childhood farm accident that mutilated his right hand. His disability notwithstanding, he became one of the greatest pitchers of his day, a member of baseball’s Hall of Fame and his 2.06 ERA is the best in major league history for any pitcher with more than 200 wins.
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William Wilson: "The Pennsylvania Hermit"
After he was unable to stop the execution of his sister in Chester, PA William Wilson roamed southeastern and south-central PA living the life of a hermit. He ended up living from 1802 until his death in 1821 in a cave in Hummelstown, PA.
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Nixon Posters
There has been something nagging at me for the longest time and I never could quite put my finger on it. All through the last election cycle, the inaction and intransigence of the Congress to date, the wars, the economy, the debate over gun control while babies are being slaughtered, immigration,...
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Medal of Honor Winner: William Carney
From the time Abraham Lincoln burst upon the national scene until his assassination he argued that the major issue facing the United States of America was the disintegration of the nation. Lincoln was not an abolitionist, per se, he did not commit Union forces to end slavery, but rather to keep...
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Jack the Stripper
Jack the Stripper was the name given to an unknown serial killer who terrorized London in much the same pattern as Jack the Ripper in 1964 and 1965. He murdered six – possibly eight – prostitutes, whose nude bodies were found around London or dumped in the Thames. Much like the Ripper, the Stripper...
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Last Meals of the Famous and Infamous
I like to eat. I don’t necessarily like to eat a lot of things, but of those things I like to eat, I like to eat them a lot.
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The Beast: The President's Ride
There was a picture shown world-wide of the Presidential limousine hung up in the driveway of the Dublin embassy. A video of the Secret Service trying to execute a ‘K’ turn and get the vehicle moving quickly went viral. It was a good laugh. It also wasn’t The Beast; you can tell by the white-wall...
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The Greatest Game Ever Played
Rarely is it possible to discern a watershed event in the moment; usually it takes time and reflection to label something “The Greatest.” That was not the case with the 1958 NFL Championship game. As Tex Maule, the superb writer for Sports Illustrated, finished his game article the night of the...
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The Role of the Filibuster in the Senate
Senator Ron Paul recently conducted a 12 hour and 52 minute filibuster, the 9th longest speech in the history of the Senate. The Kentucky Republican was delaying a final vote on the confirmation of John Brennan as CIA director in an effort to highlight his concern for the Obama administration’s...
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Why Columbus?
Regardless of how many people preceded Columbus to the Americas, it is only his voyages that had world-changing impact.
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Who Is A Patriot?
“A patriot is he whose publick conduct is regulated by one single motive, the love of his country; who, as an agent in parliament, has, for himself, neither hope nor fear, neither kindness nor resentment, but refers every thing to the common interest,” Samuel Johnson, 1774.
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How Accurate is the Weather Forecast?
“You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows” Bob Dylan.
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Ten Athletes Who Have Faced Bankruptcy
Joe Flacco, Ravens quarterback, just signed a new contract with Baltimore. He is now the highest-paid player in NFL history. That got me to thinking about the other side of the coin…
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Gun Violence in Pennsylvania
Second Amendment: A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
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The Murmansk Run
If the Allies were going to defeat Germany in World War II it was imperative they keep the Soviet Union in the war. Until a western front could be established all hopes hung on the Soviets being able to maintain an eastern front.
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Electing A Pope
One hundred-fifteen cardinals are going into seclusion to elect the next head of the Catholic Church. As the leader of over one billion Catholics the Pope can still have an extremely important role in global affairs as evidenced by the papacy of John Paul II.
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KAL Flight 007
One of the most tragic incidents of the Cold War was the loss of Korean Air Lines Flight 007, a Boeing 747 jumbo jet en route from New York to Seoul via Anchorage.
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Chip Hilton: Young Adult Sports Series
William “Chip” Hilton is the central character in a series of young adult books written by Clair Bee. Hilton is an exceptional athlete who excels at football, basketball and baseball, but more importantly, excels as a friend.
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USS Thresher: Crush Depth
Sonar operators aboard the Skylark heard a chilling sound “like air rushing into a tank,” and Thresher was no more.
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GG1: 20th Century Workhorse
The GG1 was a class of electric locomotives built by General Electric for the Pennsylvania Railroad and designed to operate under the catenaries of the northeastern United States.
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Preserving Your Memories With Framing
“Take care of all your memories” said my friend Mick “For you cannot relive them…” … Bob Dylan, “Open The Door, Homer”
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The Rhoads Opera House Fire
January 13, 1908 dawned much like any other day in Boyertown, PA, by the time the calendar flipped to January 14th 170 people, one-tenth of the town’s population, would be dead.
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The Battle of Gettysburg at 150
It has been 150 years since General Lee led the Army of Northern Virginia into Pennsylvania and met the Union Army in the bloodiest clash ever fought on American soil.
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20 Years Ago: The 1st World Trade Center Bombing
At 12:18 p.m. on Friday, February 26, 1993 an explosion rocked the basement of World Trade Tower One – the NorthTower - and rocked the American psyche as the first attack by foreign terrorists on U.S. soil occurred. Six people died, more than a...
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Social Security: Why Do We Refuse To Fix It?
After almost 80 years of debating the pros and cons of Social Security and "entitlements" maybe we should actually make it solvent and move on to something else.