Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it
In 1849, rumors of untold riches across the ocean reached China. In California, or Gold Mountain as the Chinese knew it, the discovery of gold initiated a massive influx of settlers from across the globe. “Good many Americans speak of … Continue reading How We Got Here: Chinese America’s Fight for “Simple Justice”
Welcome to this week’s History Thread! Since we’ve been exploring the politics of well-known American authors in recent threads, I wanted to take a slightly different track by highlighting a lesser-known writer from the 19th Century. Specifically Edith Maude Eaton … Continue reading The Spring Fragrance History Thread
The History Thread returns with another look at the politics of a Classic American Writer – in this case, Herman Melville. The author of Moby-Dick is more like Edgar Allan Poe than Nathaniel Hawthorne (who was Melville’s close friend, and … Continue reading A Whale of a History Thread
This week’s History Thread will be a little different. We talked about Edgar Allan Poe’s political beliefs in last week’s discussion, so I wanted to do a slightly deeper dive into one of his contemporaries: Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne was a … Continue reading The History Thread Hearts Franklin Pierce
Welcome to this week’s History Thread! Today’s the anniversary of Louis XVI’s execution, so feel free to celebrate by toppling your own tyrannical monarch! Continue reading The History Thread Gets a Head
Welcome to this week’s History Thread! Today is the anniversary of everyone’s favorite irascible Yugoslavian dictator, Josip Broz Tito, becoming the President of Yugoslavia in 1953. As ever, he has no time for your bourgeois bullshit, but he is willing … Continue reading The Tito-Tastic History Thread
Welcome to the first History Thread of 2020! Since we haven’t had one of these for awhile, holidays and whatnot, you can use this week’s thread to catch up on what you accomplished in 2019 and what you’re looking forward … Continue reading The History Thread Looks Forward
Note: This article is an expanded and revised version of several posts on my blog from fall of 2012, during the film’s 50th anniversary re-release. I will caution, as well, that it includes a discussion of sexual assault. David Lean’s … Continue reading Lawrence of Arabia: Seven Scenes from Seven Pillars of Wisdom
Today’s Weekly History Thread commemorates the blackest mark on Ulysses Grant’s ledger: General Order No. 11. On December 17, 1862, Grant, frustrated by the exploitation of wartime cotton trade by civilian merchants, issued the following proclamation: The Jews, as a … Continue reading The Weekly History Thread
This week’s History Thread looks back at one of the odder events in English history: a series of protests and riots over a statue of a dog in Battersea. The Brown Dog of Battersea stood at the center of a … Continue reading The Brown Dog History Thread
Today’s History Thread remembers the Battle of Eureka Stockade, a seminal event in pre-independence Australia. A series of protests among the miners of Ballarat, Victoria culminated in a full-fledged rebellion against in November 1854. The protests had been triggered by … Continue reading The Eureka History Thread
Welcome to this week’s History Thread! It’s the anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s proclaiming the “first” real Thanksgiving in 1863, with scarcely a Pilgrim in sight! Discuss what you will today. Continue reading A Turkey of a History Thread
Welcome to this week’s History Thread! Thanks to Sheltie for subbing last week. It’s the anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, a short but powerful dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery, about which many myths have grown up over the … Continue reading The History Thread Will Little Note Nor Long Remember
Sheltie, subbing for Agnew, here! With the impending Thanksgiving holiday, let’s take a look back at the eating habits of one of the more obscure Roman emperors, Vitellius. Aulus Vitellius Germanicus Augustus (15-69 AD) was a proconsul turned commander of … Continue reading The November 12 History Thread Feasts Like Vitellius
Welcome to this week’s History Thread! Remember, remember how today is the 414th anniversary of Guy Fawkes’ arrest for his involvement in the Gunpowder Plot to destroy Parliament and restore England to a Catholic theocracy. Try to remember that before you romanticize him and put on your stupid mask to protest The Man, because you’d be acting about as revolutionary as dressing up as Pinochet for Halloween. Continue reading The Treasonous History Thread
At the dawn of the 20th Century, modern understanding of death, medicine, and infectious diseases effectively ended the Vampire Panic, but also vampires themselves changed. In 1897, five years after Mercy Brown was exhumed, Bram Stoker publish his seminal novel; … Continue reading The Vampires of Rhode Island: I Am Waiting And Watching For You. Nellie Vaughn, 19, West Greenwich 1889
Welcome to this week’s History Thread! Today’s picture: On October 28-29, 1922 Benito Mussolini and his fascist Blackshirts carried out their March on Rome, consolidating fascist power in Italy. The culmination of three years of political ferment, it was a … Continue reading The Weekly History Thread Marches
In the Late 19th century Rhode Island was a state of contradictions. In the north, the factories and mills of Providence stood at the vanguard of the American Industrial Revolution. To the south, at the height of the Gilded Age, … Continue reading The Vampires of Rhode Island: The Last Vampire. Mercy Brown, 19, Exeter 1892
In 1874 fifteen year old Ruth Ellen Rose, her body wracked by consumption, was laid to rest. Ruth Ellen was the daughter of William Rose, a local civic leader, and his first wife the late Mary Rose née Taylor. Ruth … Continue reading The Vampires of Rhode Island: Not Unfamiliar With This Plague. Ruth Ellen Rose, 15, Exeter 1874
Levi Young and his wife Anna’s farm was bountiful. The native corn, potatoes, and onions provided steady income for the family. Anna Young’s preserves , made from wild blackberries, was renowned locally, and were even fetching a good price in … Continue reading The Vampires of Rhode Island: Bright, Like An Angel. Nancy Young, 19, Foster. 1827
Welcome to this week’s History Thread! Today’s picture: On October 22, 1844, the world ended. Or so predicted William Miller, a Baptist lay priest from New York who interpreted a passage from Daniel 8:14 (“Unto two thousand and three hundred … Continue reading The History Thread is a Great Disappointment
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