On June 30, 1930 newspaper throughout the world blazed with similar headlines, HUNTER BROS PASS 453 HOURS IN THE AIR! Prior to this day the Hunter brothers were simply two farmers who “turned from the plough to the plane.” 1 On June 30, 1930, they set a new world endurance record in the air. There […]
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Do you remember the first Shell Homes – They were much better than two room shacks [photographs]
Alabama Contributing Author, Dorothy Graham Gast, provides another interesting story about Shell Homes in Alabama. Do you remember them? SHELL HOMES by Dorothy Gast During the years after World War II, rural families in the South were still living in substandard housing. Many homes were no more than two-room shacks with lean-to areas that had […]
I had no problem serving my country even if it meant going to war – Viet Nam story
Alabama contributing writer Greg Shelby shares his personal Viet Nam story. VIET NAM STORY by Greg Shelby As a senior at Auburn University I knew upon graduation I would be drafted immediately. I had no problem serving my country even if it meant going to war. However I wanted to fly. Flying is all I […]
The army was the only hope to save college football in 1943
Did you know that during 1943, when World War II was raging, college football almost disappeared from America? The following newspaper article appeared in The Tuscaloosa News on July 6, 1943 about the situation. Army Could Help Save Football, Says Weiss WASHINGTON, July 6- (AP)- Only the army can save college football from folding up, […]
On July 7, 1930, he made it over the Falls but suffocated afterwards
Niagara Falls are voluminous waterfalls on the Niagara River, straddling the international border between the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of New York. Niagara Falls were formed when glaciers receded at the end of the Wisconsin glaciation (the last ice age), and water from the newly-formed Great Lakes carved a path through […]
He often wore disguises to escape arrest – Do you know his name?
As a child, it is reported that he was serious and never took part in athletic games. He studied law and spoke four languages—French, German, Russian, and English. For years he was hounded and driven from one country to another, living at various times in Germany, Austria, France, Poland, Switzerland and England. Disguised as a […]
This bombing 100 years ago today is probably the first film of domestic terrorism in the United States!
Dramatic video of an bombing in San Francisco in 1916 – minutes after it occurred. The Preparedness Day Bombing took place in San Francisco, California on July 22, 1916, when the city held a parade in honor of Preparedness Day, in anticipation of the United States’ imminent entry into World War I. During the parade […]
DYK: Why do we use the phrase ‘have a screw loose’?
Have a screw loose – means something is wrong with the person or mechanism. The phrase comes from the cotton industry and dates back as far as the 1780s, when the industrial revolution made mass production of textiles possible for the first time. Huge mills sprang up to take advantage of the new technology (and the […]
Did you know that one vote from a postmaster in Oregon actually changed the course of a presidential election and history?
This is unbelievable but true! One vote changed the course of this presidential election and American history. The Disputed Election of 1876 The presidential election held on November 7, 1876, between Democrat Samuel J. Tilden and Union war hero, Republican Rutherford B. Hayes probably ranks as one of the closest. President Rutherford B. Hayes (1877Â Library […]
Dot, Dot, Dash and other good Memories
Another personal story from Alabama Author Jean Butterworth! MEMORIES…….DOT, DOT, DASH by Jean Butterworth Remember those movies we saw during WWII in which our GIs tapped out secret messages to the commanders in Morse Code? Dot, Dot, Dash! Early childhood memories come to me suddenly. A memory pops into my mind as if in Morse […]