Welcome to this week’s Things That Are Not, a limited series exploring historical mysteries and paranormal phenomena that simply aren’t true. Having explored the Bermuda Triangle last week, we’ll take a deep dive into an even stranger maritime misadventure. When … Continue reading Things That Are Not: The Philadelphia Experiment
Welcome to this week’s History Thread! Today’s picture: On this day in 1869, several men digging a well in Cardiff, New York discovered an unusual specimen: a ten foot tall man made of stone! Immediately dubbed the Cardiff Giant, it … Continue reading The Giant Weekly History Thread
Welcome to Things That Are Not, a limited series examining paranormal/supernatural mysteries and myths that have been debunked or discredited over the years. I thought this might be a nice break from political-themed articles, particularly with Halloween around the corner. … Continue reading Things That Are Not: The Raifuku Maru, from Tragedy to Myth
Welcome to this week’s History Thread! I will forgo a discussion topic again this week so we can have…fun? Today’s picture: 51 years ago, Thurgood Marshall became the first African-American Justice on the Supreme Court. Marshall had a distinguished career … Continue reading The Weekly History Thread is Sworn In
Welcome to this week’s history thread! Today’s topic: Democracy. Perhaps as much of a philosophical/political discussion as historical, but there are plenty of historical examples upon which to draw. Does democracy work? Is it the most desirable form of government, … Continue reading The Democratic Weekly History Thread
History Thread. Today’s picture: 120 years ago today marked the beginning of the Fashoda Crisis in modern-day Sudan. The Sudan gained independence from Britain and Egypt during the Mahdist uprising of the previous decade, leading a number of European nations … Continue reading The Weekly History Thread is Ready to Fight
Welcome to this week’s History Thread! This week will discuss unlikely alliances, be they political, military, dynastic, artistic, etc. Events make strange bedfellows, sometimes literally, so let’s celebrate them. Today’s picture: September 4 commemorates two more seminal dates in American … Continue reading The Weekly History Thread Makes the Deadliest Friend
On April 30, 1973, Richard Nixon announced a shocking political purge. As the Watergate scandal spiraled beyond Nixon’s control, he forced the resignations of his two closest aides, H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, beleaguered Attorney General Richard Kleindienst, and (less … Continue reading How We Got Here: The Saturday Night Massacre
Welcome to this week’s History Thread! This week will be another open thread, so feel free to discuss what you will. Today’s picture: Emmett Till was lynched on August 28, 1955. The fourteen year old Till, a Chicago native, was … Continue reading The Outraged Weekly History Thread
Part Six in a series; see Parts One, Two, Three, Four and Five Franklin Roosevelt fumbled his reelection mandate with a disastrous second term. Starting in 1935, the Supreme Court struck down many of his programs, particularly the National Recovery … Continue reading How We Got Here: The Trials of Sedition
Part Five in a series; see Parts One, Two, Three and Four. Meyer Lansky had every reason to despise fascism. His family had survived pogroms in Tsarist Russia before emigrating to America; Lansky, as a youth in Manhattan, earned his … Continue reading How We Got Here: The Gentle Art of Nazi Punching
Welcome to this week’s History Thread! This week we’ll try having a discussion question for the first time in awhile (though don’t feel bound by it): pieces of historical writing that changed your worldview. Be it a book, an essay, … Continue reading The Weekly History Thread Writes, Strikes and Otherwise Causes Change
Part Four in a series; see Parts One, Two and Three. After Franklin Roosevelt’s reelection, his opponents grew more hysterical and conspiracy-minded in their rhetoric. Father Coughlin, abandoning most pretenses of progressivism, now branded Roosevelt’s programs the “Jew Deal,” reproduced … Continue reading How We Got Here: The Mad Legions of America
Welcome to this week’s History Thread! I’ll try coming up with discussion topics for future threads, but let’s again have fun talking about whatever. This week’s picture: On August 7, 1964 both houses of Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin … Continue reading The Weekly History Thread
Part Three in a series; see Parts One and Two. During the 1932 election, Franklin Roosevelt ranked Huey Long as one of the two most dangerous men in America (the other being Douglas MacArthur). As Governor, then Senator from Louisiana, … Continue reading How We Got Here: Little Foxes in Search of a Führer
Welcome to this week’s History Thread! No rules except have fun and don’t gratuitously insult your fellow posters! Today’s image: on this date in 1492, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella decided to celebrate the Reconquest of Spain from Islam by … Continue reading The Weekly History Thread
Part Two in a series; see Part One here. Throughout Herbert Hoover’s reign, corporate America constantly assured the public that economic recovery lay right around the corner. “The fact that we have let nature take its course may augur well … Continue reading How We Got Here: Business Plots
Welcome to this week’s History Thread! No discussion topic, just fun and learning! Today’s picture: On July 24, 1915 the SS Eastland, a passenger ship used for touring Lake Michigan, capsized while docked in Chicago. Exactly what happened is unclear, … Continue reading The Weekly History Thread Capsizes!
Part One of a projected series on the American far right during the Depression and New Deal. Besides inline citations, a bibliographic essay will be provided in the final article. On July 28, 1932, Washington saw the nadir of the Great … Continue reading How We Got Here: March of the Khaki Shirts
Welcome to this week’s history thread. As we’ve done for the past few weeks, I’ll dispense with a discussion question; it doesn’t seem to have seriously inhibited discussion, and it saves me the three brain cells I might otherwise expend … Continue reading The Weekly History Thread
Like many American presidents, Woodrow Wilson harbored contradictory impulses. He enacted progressive economic and labor reforms while racially segregating the Federal government. He spoke stirringly about spreading democracy abroad while suppressing civil liberties and arresting dissidents at home. He advocated … Continue reading How We Got Here: Appointment at Veracruz
