‘The apple of my eye’ is very old and first appears in Old English in a work attributed to King Aelfred (the Great) of Wessex, AD 885, titled Gregory’s Pastoral Care. Originally it means the central aperture of the eye. Figuratively it is something, or more usually someone, cherished above. WHERE DO I START? Hints and Tips for […]
Kisses XXX SYMBOL at the end of a letter – In medieval times, when most people were illiterate, “contracts were not considered legal until each signer included St. Andrew’s cross after their name.” (Or instead of a signature, if the signer couldn’t write.) To prove their sincerity, signers were then required to kiss the X. […]
Circleville, Ohio in 1938 was trying to recover from the Great Depression when these photographs of downtown street scenes were taken by Ben Shahn. Permanents were in vogue at the local beauty shop during this time. Downtown Circleville Coney Island hotdogs. Circleville reminisences: a description of Circleville, Ohio (1825-1840) ; also an account of the 115-year […]
Dirt Poor – This phrase dates back to the 1930’s Depression era where there was extreme poverty and many people lived in dirty conditions. The source that claims it comes from England at an earlier date has largely been discounted. An article about “Life in the 1500s” circulated on the internet in April 1999 and according […]
The Utah War (1857–1858), also known as the Utah Expedition, Utah Campaign, Buchanan’s Blunder, the Mormon War, or the Mormon Rebellion was an armed confrontation between Mormon settlers in the Utah Territory and the armed forces of the US government. The confrontation lasted from May 1857 to July 1858. There were some casualties, most of which were non-Mormon civilians. The war had no notable military battles. (Wikipedia) Lt. Col […]
DYK: Did you know? Have you ever wonder what this term really meant? The bitter end’ means the very end and comes from a nautical term. Anchor cable was wrapped around posts called bitts. The bitt end (or bitter end) refers to the final part of the anchor rope near to where the rope is fixed […]
The United States has many great places to visit to see historical museums and actual locations in history, here are my top ten locations to see history in the US. What are yours? Washington, D.C. Regardless of your political bent , there are plenty of sights and museums to see here Savannah, Georgia Southern , southern, […]
The California Gold Rush in 1840’s made many people millionaires overnight and you would assume that the people who discovered the initial gold nuggets would be the wealthiest. However, this is not the case. Sutter employee discovers the first gold nugget In 1848, James W. Marshall, a trusted carpenter and employee of John A. Sutter, […]
Speak of the devil -This phrase is used to acknowledge the coincidence of someone arriving at a scene just at the time that they are being talked about. The full form goes like this – “speak of the Devil and he will appear”. The phrase originated in England, where it was, and still is, more […]
Cotton was a major commodity for the Lake Dick Project Community, Arkansas in 1938. (New Deal Project) The fields were so extensive that day laborers had to be employed to pick the cotton. The bags of cotton picked by each laborer was weighed and recorded in the fields as seen by the photographs below taken […]
