July 23, 1904 –At the turn of the last century, ice cream men were a breed apart. It was hard work making ice cream, and the rewards were few. “You don’t choose ice cream,” they said. “Ice cream chooses you.” Well, Charles E. Menches was an ice cream man. They say it ran in hisContinue reading “If you can dream it, you can do it.”
Tag Archives: history
On the way home
July 21, 1969 –Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin blasted off from the Moon after twenty-one and a half hours on the surface and returned to the command module piloted by Michael Collins on this date. The lunar module’s lower section, left behind, has a plaque mounted upon it, reading, “Here menContinue reading “On the way home”
Ernest Hemingway
July 21, 1899 –Ernest Hemingway was born on this date. He was young at the time of his birth. It was fine to be young. He drove an ambulance in World War I. It wasn’t called World War I then. It was just called the war. It was one of those times when people shotContinue reading “Ernest Hemingway”
The first pie fight
July 17, 1913 –On this date, audiences attending the silent film A Noise from the Deep observed Mabel Normand striking Fatty Arbuckle in the face with a pie. It was purportedly the first use of the pie-in-the-face routine in film history. It may not seem that remarkable, considering how much history there had been inContinue reading “The first pie fight”
Canada – our neighbor to the North
As always, your friends from the ACME Corp would like to salute our friends in Canada on Canada Day. Canada is the second-largest nation in the world. It is not part of the United States – (it’s the U.S.‘ nicer sister, not dissing Mexico, the U.S.’ feistier sister.) A little jewel sitting at the topContinue reading “Canada – our neighbor to the North”
The day the world changed
June 28, 1914 –Archduck Franz Ferdinand was having an extremely bad day. He was touring Serbia with his wife, the Mallard Sophie. The purpose of his tour was to get Serbia to calm down, it having become extremely irritable for reasons known only to itself -possibly related to Austria’s occupation of the region. (Either thatContinue reading “The day the world changed”
Brought to you by Metamucil
European history would have been dramatically different—if only for a higher-fiber diet. One of the most decisive battles in European history was fought in Belgium on June 18, 1815, as a resurgent Napoleon Bonaparte launched his final military offensive against the Duke of Wellington and the Prussian Marshal Blücher. Nearly 50,000 men were killed inContinue reading “Brought to you by Metamucil”
The pearl of summer
June is the sixth month of the year and consists of thirty days. The ancient Romans gave it 29 days until 46 BC, when Julius Caesar added the thirtieth for reasons known only to himself (Caesar’s hobbies seem to be conquest of the known world, sleeping with some very rich North African teenager and calendarContinue reading “The pearl of summer”
This will clearly be on the exam
On May 30, 1889, the world’s first bra was (allegedly) invented. Breasts are an essential feature among mammals, allowing mothers to nurture their young during protracted infancies. No infancy is longer than that of the human species – particularly that of the American male, which often lasts until death. Breasts, of course, are not justContinue reading “This will clearly be on the exam”
The most expensive part of having kids …
is all the wine you have to drink Mother’s Day in the United States is celebrated on the second Sunday in May. Its origins are loosely inspired by the British version of the day but took a unique path in America, thanks in part to social activist Julia Ward Howe. After the Civil War, HoweContinue reading “The most expensive part of having kids …”
The Haus of Dcaligari 