It doesn’t take much imagination to mock Kentucky’s oath of office, which contains this gloriously anachronistic bit of verbiage: I do further solemnly swear (or affirm) that since the adoption of the present Constitution, I, being a citizen of this State, have not fought a duel with deadly weapons within this State nor out of […]
The always excellent Early American Crime just wrapped up a multi-part series on Levi Ames, a Massachusetts burglar who was hanged in 1773. Ames’ story survives in large part because of his last words, delivered on the gallows and commemorated in an illustrated pamphlet bearing the ridiculously non-concise name An address to the inhabitants of […]
Tags:burglary·crime·Massachusetts·McGruff the Crime Dog·U.S. history
So we’re starting the second draft of our addiction piece for Wired today, which means the majority of our mental bandwidth shall be dedicated to inebriation for the next six to seven days. A rough ride for us, as the topic is a beast—we’re still not entirely sure we understand what takes place in the […]
While today’s Congressional politics may seem somewhat distasteful to fans of decorum, Capitol Hill’s past is full of far more vicious conflict between ideological opposites. As noted in this New York Times report from 1856, the people’s representatives were once none-too-shy about resorting to the gun or sword when positions seemed irreconcilable—though, to the American […]
Tags:Bladensburg Dueling Grounds·Congress·dueling·Maryland·politics·U.S. history
If you’ve yet to read this jarring New York Times piece, do yourself a big favor and click over stat. It’s a damning account of how the Iraqi cops have been duped into buying a handheld “bomb detector” that apparently works no better than an old-school divining rod. Scary stuff, considering that so much of […]
Tags:Ghost Dance·Iraq·Native Americans·New York Times·The Bulletproof Project·U.S. history·Wounded Knee Massacre
An absolutely haunting collection of photographs that document America’s push westward. The one above is by no means the most dramatic, but something about the facial expressions stuck with us. The caption simply reads: A noon meal in Ferdinand V. Hayden’s camp of the U.S. Geological Survey. Red Buttes, Wyo. Terr., August 24, 1870. Hayden […]
Tags:Ferdinand V. Hayden·geology·National Archives·surveying·U.S. history·Wyoming
Sorry ’bout the lack of posts this morning. We’re scrambling on a million things, both pre-Africa and pre-holiday weekend. Please go check out our take of yore on Grover Cleveland’s desperation, and we’ll try to circle back to y’all once more before our all-too-brief vacation kicks in. Danke sehr, dear readers.
Inspired in part by the “Meat is the new bread!” daring of the much maligned KFC Double Down, we recently found ourselves keen on learning more about the history of America’s love affair with flour. There is, of course, good reason that one of our most patriotic songs goes out of its way to shout […]
Tags:breakfast cereal·China·development·economics·food·India·John Harvey Kellogg·U.S. history·wheat
With next year’s Census already sparking so much political heat, it’s worth looking back at one of Microkhan’s favorite-ever technology stories: the 1890 Census, the tabulation fiesta that have birth to (semi-)modern programming. For the hardcore geeks in the audience, this is already a well-known tale, featuring one of the true rock stars of the […]
Tags:Census·computers·gadgets·Herman Hollerith·IBM·programming·statistics·technology·U.S. history
Mea culpa for letting our First Contact series lapse. It’s been nearly two months since we discussed Martin Frobisher’s encounter with the Inuit, and that’s far too long to do without primary-source accounts of the clashes of civilizations. But we’re back with a dandy today, courtesy of the Spanish explorer Francisco Vázquez de Coronado. Though […]
Tags:Apaches·First Contact·Native Americans·ranching·Spain·U.S. history
Since the writing game puts food on our table, we currently have a somewhat complicated relationship with Google Books. Try as we might, we’ve yet to figure out a way we’ll be able to avoid starvation in a world where the sweat of our brow gets given away for free. Yet those concerns fall by […]
Tags:California·Emperor Norton·Mexico·San Francisco·Sandman·U.S. history
Part of our goal with The Murder Project series is to assess how hitman prices have changed over time. Our assumption going in is that these prices shift according to the certainty (or lack thereof) of capture, and so more lawless epochs will be marked by lower murder-for-hire fees. A logical guess, perhaps, but does […]
Tags:crime·New York City·police·The Murder Project·U.S. history
We first fell in love with the oral-history format eons ago, when a copy of Studs Terkel’s The Good War found its way into our grubby hands. Ever since, we’ve rarely passed up the opportunity to comb through typed-up question-and-answer sessions with the sorts of characters who otherwise would be excluded from the history books. […]
Tags:Herman Perry·Manzanar·Now the Hell Will Start·Tule Lake·U.S. history·World War II
In honor of this blessed holiday, let’s give a shout-out to a president who rarely gets a lick of recognition (save for in the occasional Simpsons parody). Zachary Taylor was neither a disaster nor a titan of governance; he was, instead, sort of like presidential Muzak, a banal and utterly forgettable Whig whose most notable […]
