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WHY DON'T HISTORY BOOKS EVER ACQUAINT US WITH THE OFF-COLOR, SCATOLOGICAL...
When Lincoln was a young lawyer in Illinois he "rode the circuit" and spent much time away from home following the circuit court judges who travelled from town to town, village to village, to convene...
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HOW ARE THE "PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE," THE CHICAGO WORLD'S FAIR OF 1893 AND...
1892 was going to be a significant year in the United States. Plans for celebrating the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' discovery of the New World ("In fourteen hundred and...
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"DIAMOND JIM" BRADY."ROBBER BARON" SUPREME IN AN AGE OF EXCESS. HIS THREE...
James Buchanan Brady was born in a poor working-class section of New York City in 1856. He worked at his father's saloon, where he lived in such deprivation that he often went hungry for lack of...
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WHY DID LEO HIRSCHFELD NAME HIS NEW PENNY CANDY THE "TOOTSIE ROLL"? HOW MANY...
The "Tootsie Roll" is 119 years old this year (2015). Who invented it? How did it get its name? The story goes something like this. Leo Hirschfeld (other sources spell his name Hirschfield) was an...
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A BRIEF AND AMUSING HISTORY OF THE CONDOM: CROCODILES, SEA SPONGES, LEMONS,...
The first man/woman-made birth control device known to history was developed in ancient Egypt centuries, at least, before the birth of Christ. It was called a “pessary” and consisted of herbs, grasses,...
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A SHORT HISTORY OF TWINKIES AND BANANAS. HOW ARE THEY CONNECTED? WHAT DOES...
Bananas have an interesting history. Some horticulturalists believe that the banana was the Earth's first "fruit." Actually, the banana is not a fruit, it is an herb.They are believed to have...
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A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE "LOLLIPOP" WITH CONNECTIONS TO ANCIENT EGYPT, CHARLES...
The "lollipop" is something we take for granted. It's just there, in all its different forms, flavors and sizes. But as is so often the case, upon closer examination this simple, mundane object that is...
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FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT AND "THE CHILDREN'S HOUR," HIS RELAXATION RITUAL IN...
As the year 2000 approached, lists of all kinds began to appear ranking the most important, most popular, most significant...etc...people and things of the last century. Time magazine rated Franklin...
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WAS THERE EVER A REAL "BABY RUTH"? AND HOW IS SHE CONNECTED TO "SUPER GROVER"...
Few would have imagined when Stephen Grover Cleveland was born in New Jersey, in 1837, he would go on to make history in a number of ways: he would become President of the United States; he would be...
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WHY DOES THE YELLOW RIBBON REPRESENT THE DESIRE FOR A LOVED ONE TO RETURN...
A family in my neighborhood has a son serving in Afghanistan. Outside their house yellow ribbons are tied around the trunks of the numerous trees located along the street. It got me to thinking of how...
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A SHORT HISTORY OF WINNIE THE POOH. HOW ARE WINNIE THE POOH, WORLD WAR I, THE...
It is bewildering how an event remembered for its violence and brutality coincidentally left us, as one of its most enduring legacies, a piece of innocence, joy and fun which will exist in our...
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THE HISTORY OF THE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE AND FUN FACTS ABOUT COOKIES. AN...
Nostalgia. A backwards glance. The sense of smell is the most evocative of memory in the human being. When I was a kid growing up during the 1950s and 1960s I remember watching commercials on TV for...
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THE HISTORY OF THE SANDWICH AND ITS INVENTOR SIR JOHN MONTAGUE: A GAMBLING...
John Montague (1718-1792, pictured above) was the First Lord of the Admiralty for King George III, and was notorious for his corruption, mismanagement and, most of all, gambling. He was so addicted...
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WHY ARE THEY CALLED "POLKA DOTS"? WHY IS IT CALLED A "BIKINI" AND WHERE DOES...
Starting in the years between 1830-1835, Europe and then the United States were struck by a dance craze originating with the Bohemian and Czech peoples of Europe. The new dance, the "polka, "was...
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HOW ARE WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART, MISS PIGGY, "TWINKLE, TWINKLE, LITTLE STAR,"...
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791), one of classical music’s greatest composers, was a musical prodigy. His father trained him from a young age and, with him, toured the capitals and courts of...
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A SHORT HISTORY OF THE "TEDDY BEAR." HOW THE ASSASSINATION OF WILLIAM...
In November of 1902 President Theodore Roosevelt , dressed in hunting clothes and carrying a hunting knife and rifle, stepped from a private train onto the railroad platform of a small, rural town...
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WHY IS A DOLLAR CALLED A "BUCK?" AND WHERE DOES THE WORD "DOLLAR" COME FROM,...
In frontier areas, both before and after the Revolution, money was in short supply. In fact, it was such an uncommon thing in the everyday lives of people that they relied upon bartering as a...
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THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS, 1692, THE "BURNING TIME", WHY WAS THE TOWN NAMED...
Salem, Massachusetts, was named after the word “salem” which means peace. The word "salem" is derived from the Hebrew "shalom" and the Arabic "salaam," both of which mean "peace." The town’s founders...
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INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THANKSGIVING AND THE PILGRIMS THAT ARE NOT IN THE...
The Pilgrims did not stumble upon an unknown frontier when they landed in New England in 1620. The waters off what would later be referred to as Massachusetts had been fished by the English for at...
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DRUGS, WISE WOMEN, WITCHCRAFT, BEING BURNED AT THE STAKE, MEDIEVAL MEDICINE,...
During the Middle Ages, preceding the Renaissance and the Age of Exploration, women generally were responsible for the health and care of their families. The medicines we take for granted today were...
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FIVE FUN FACTS ABOUT COLONIAL CHILDREN, AND FAMILIES OF THE 1780s AND WHY IS...
Dolls were a common toy in the new nation. They were often hand carved out of wood and then clothed in scraps of material left over from old clothing. It was not uncommon for these dolls to be placed...
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FUN AND INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.
What is the connection between Columbus and dead Eskimos in kayaks? In the centuries before Columbus proposed sailing west to Asia, the dead bodies of Eskimos floated across the Atlantic Ocean in their...
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WHICH PRESIDENT WAS THE FIRST TO HAVE AN ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT ON THEIR LIFE?
In November of 2013 the 50th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy will be remembered and much will be done to point out the significance of the event and the importance of the man who...
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FUN FACTS ABOUT GEORGE WASHINGTON (PART FOUR): TREASON, ESPIONAGE,...
Part of Benedict Arnold’s (see image above) plot to betray West Point to the British in 1780 was to lure General George Washington into being captured. In August of 1780 General Clinton in...
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FUN FACTS ABOUT CHRISTMAS AND ITS HISTORY.
"Jingle bells" are a traditional sound associated with Christmas. However, they originated with the fact that when winter snows arrived in northern climates, people replaced the wheels of their wagons...
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