Eddie Gaedel: Not That Funny Anymore

On this date in 1951, the shortest man ever to play Major League Baseball, Eddie Gaedel, pinch hit for the St. Louis Browns. He was 3’7″ and weighed 65 pounds. Bill Veeck, the owner of the Browns was always trying to pull promotional stunts, and to him this was just another. Gaedel wore the number […]

The Legacy of the Enola Gay

75 years ago today, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. This, along with the dropping of a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki three days later led to the end of deadliest conflict in human history, and ushered the world into the nuclear age. The devastation is beyond comprehension. As many as […]

Hiroshima and Nagasaki: History That is Always On the Mind of True Leaders

74 years ago today the United States dropped the second of two atomic bombs on Japan. This happened in the city of Nagasaki, where over 100,000 people were killed. Ever since the world entered the era of using weapons of mass destruction, we have hoped that the lessons of Hiroshima and Nagasaki would prevent anyone […]

August 6th: A Day Filled with History of Every Kind

The history of August 6th is a rich and wide ranging. It is a day that shows the many complex sides of the human story. 1. 74 years ago today, the United States dropped the first of two atomic bombs on Japan, killing approximately 150,000. There is no telling how this decision by President […]

Tony Bennett: One of the Greatest Living Americans

Happy 93rd birthday to Mr. Tony Bennett. You probably have some idea that Mr. Bennett is one of the most successful recording artists of all time. He has sold over 50 million records, won 19 grammy awards, has been a Kennedy Center Honoree, and most impressively is still recording and touring with as much vigor […]

John F. Kennedy: From Sickly Kid to War Hero

John F. Kennedy’s childhood was far from ideal, even farther from easy. When he was three years old he contracted scarlett fever, which hospitalized him for nearly three months. Later in his childhood and teenage years he suffered from diphtheria, appendicitis, whooping cough, jaundice, asthma, and pneumonia. By the time he turned 17, he had spent […]

When Dr. Seuss Went To War

115 years ago today, a man who changed the lives of millions of children was born. He would sell over 650 million children’s books and help millions of children fall in love with reading, thereby handing them the keys to the universe. His real name was Theodore Geisel, but you probably know him better […]

The Strange Story of the Battle of Los Angeles

Late February 1942 was a time of great angst for all of America, especially along the west coast. A little more than three months earlier, America had been shocked out of its isolationism by the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. The laid back culture of sunny southern California had become one of […]

Kill or Be Killed: The Eddie Slovik Story

“Born down in a dead man’s town the first kick was when I hit the ground you end up like a dog that’s been beat too much til you spend half your life just covering up….. Born in the U.S.A.” Bruce Springsteen did not write his 1984 mournful ode to veterans “Born in the U.S.A.” […]

Every Picture is Bigger

Early this morning I was perusing the internet and came across two intriguing pictures. They were on a twitter site called “Weird history.” They showed two boys. One of them a nine year old from New York named Kevin Gorman, the other is Dionni, the son of the Chief of the Masai tribe of Kenya. […]