1939’s ‘World of Tomorrow’ Shaped Our Today

(Wired) The New York World’s Fair of 1939 and 1940 promised visitors they would be looking at the “World of Tomorrow.” Not everything they saw there came true, but plenty was close. One reason for that was the fair’s own lasting influence on American architecture and industrial design. It was a futuristic city inspired by the pages — and covers — of pulp science fiction: huge geometric shapes, sweeping curves, plenty of glass and chromium, and gleaming white walls. Continued

Images: Library of Congress

Frank Zappa statue to be dedicated in September

(Baltimore Sun) The Frank Zappa statue will be dedicated Sept. 18 in its new home outside the Southeast Anchor Library in Highlandtown, officials said today.
The decision to erect the bust outside the library has generated buzz from neighborhood residents and local Zappa fans, according to Roswell Encina, spokesman for the Enoch Pratt library system. Continued

Archives exhibit explores little-known aspects of Civil War

(Washington Post) The Confederate prisoners were lined up 15 paces from the Union firing squad. The order was given, and the six rebels died instantly. Five of them were shot through the heart, the Union officer in charge reported, adding that the execution was conducted to "my entire satisfaction." So what if they were innocent POWs. Continued

See also: New Shades of the Blue and the Gray

1861: Maryland's House of Delegates votes not to secede from the Union

(Wikipedia) Maryland, a slave state, was one of the border states, straddling the North and South. Due to its location and a desire from both opposing factions to sway her population to their respective causes, Maryland played an important role in the American Civil War. The first fatalities of the war happened during the Baltimore Riot of 1861, and the single bloodiest day of combat in American military history occurred near Sharpsburg, Maryland, at the Battle of Antietam, which provided the opportunity for President Abraham Lincoln to issue his famed Emancipation Proclamation. The 1864 Battle of Monocacy helped delay a Confederate army bent on striking the Federal capital of Washington, D.C..
Nearly 85,000 citizens signed up for the military, with most joining the Union Army, although nearly a quarter of these enlisted to fight for the Confederacy. Leading Maryland leaders and officers during the Civil War included Governor Thomas H. Hicks, who despite his early sympathies for the South, helped prevent the state from seceding, and General George H. Steuart, who was a noted brigade commander under Robert E. Lee. Continued

Image: Library of Congress

Wool aficionados find their inner shepherd at Freeland farm

(North County News) Lisa Westra knew nothing about sheep until 11 years ago, when tenants at her parents' Freeland farm left town without bothering to take their 20 sheep and bags filled with sheared wool.
She taught herself how to wash the wool, dye it, spin it into strands of yarn and knit it into clothing. She learned how to muck stalls, lend a hand with difficult births and bottle-feed newborn lambs.
Last year, she decided to share that knowledge by inviting others to the farm to follow the wool process from sheep to skein over the course of a year. Continued

Henry Reed

(LoC) James Henry Neel Reed, known as Henry Reed, was born on April 28, 1884, in the Appalachian Mountains of Monroe County, West Virginia. Reed was a master fiddler, banjoist, and harmonica player whose amazing repertoire consisted of hundreds of tunes, as well as multiple performance styles. His music conveyed tradition while setting new directions, and became a touchstone for academic research into the history of U.S. fiddle music.
Henry Reed learned the overwhelming majority of his tunes by ear and retained them by memory. He learned from elderly musicians such as Quince Dillion, who was born around 1810 and served as a fifer in the Mexican War and the Civil War. As a youngster, Reed learned to read music, played alto horn in a local band, and picked up a few additional tunes from sheet music. Continued

War of 1812 Re-enactment at the Susquehanna Museum

Come and watch American and British forces drill and train throughout the day in preparation for the attack on Havre de Grace later that afternoon. Listen to historical lectures on the event and interact with the re-enactors in a variety of activities. The event culminates with a Star Spangled Banner presentation by the Fort McHenry Guard -- the unfurling of a full-sized replica of the flag that flew over the fort during the War of 1812

Schedule

10:00 Morning Gun – Event Begins

10:30 Militia and US Marine Drill

11:30 Cannon firing

12:00 Troops stand down for Lunch

1:00 Discussion of Background of War of 1812

1:30 “The John O’Neill Perspective”

2:00 Militia Pre-Attack Activities

2:30 Attack on Havre De Grace

3:30 Star Spangled Banner Presentation

4:00 PM Event ends

Link

SS Sultana: "The Titanic of the Mississippi"

(Wikipedia) The SS Sultana was a Mississippi River steamboat paddlewheeler destroyed in an explosion on 27 April 1865. This resulted in the greatest maritime disaster in United States history. An estimated 1,800 of the 2,400 passengers were killed when three of the ship's four boilers exploded and the Sultana sank near Memphis. This disaster received somewhat diminished attention, as it took place soon after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln and during the closing weeks of the Civil War. Continued

1889 Pandemic Didn’t Need Planes to Circle Globe in 4 Months

(Wired) The 1889 Russian flu pandemic circled the globe in just four months, captivating the world, despite the lack of airplanes or hyperventilating cable news stations.
If that was possible, closing down air traffic in the event of a new pandemic might not do much, argue the authors led by Alain-Jacques Valleron, an epidemiologist at the Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale in Paris.
“The rapid progression of the 1889 pandemic demonstrates that slower surface travel, even with much smaller traveler flows, sufficed to spread the pandemic across all of Europe and the United States in ~4 months,” the researchers wrote in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on April 26. Continued

Ancient Tools Revealed by Melting Arctic Ice

(LiveScience) Warming temperatures are melting patches of ice that have been in place for thousands of years in the mountains of the Canadian High Arctic and in turn revealing a treasure trove of ancient hunting tools.
Ice patches result from layers of annual snow that, until recently, remained frozen all year. As Earth's temperature has warmed in recent decades due to the accumulation of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, some of the ice patches have begun to melt away, sometimes revealing ancient artifacts to the surprise of archaeologists. Continued

History From Unexpected Characters

(NYTimes) THE first clue that “America: The Story of Us” isn’t your typical PBS-style documentary comes five minutes in. After actors re-create the early travails of the settlers at Jamestown and their eventual success building a tobacco business, the very first expert who comes on camera to put it all in context is not an eminent Harvard historian or noted archaeologist, but the businessman Donald J. Trump. Continued

Frederick Law Olmsted

(LoC) Frederick Law Olmsted, nineteenth-century America's foremost landscape architect, was born on April 26, 1822. Son of a well-to-do Hartford, Connecticut, merchant, Olmsted spent much of his childhood enjoying rural New England scenery. Weakened eyesight forced him to abandon plans to attend Yale. Instead, young Olmsted studied engineering and scientific farming, putting his agricultural and managerial theories into practice on his own Staten Island farm.
A tour of England and the Continent inspired Walks and Talks of an American Farmer in England (1852) and a new career in journalism. Later that year, the founding editor of the New-York Daily Times (soon renamed the New York Times), Henry J. Raymond, engaged Olmsted to report on conditions in the slaveholding states. His articles were subsequently published as A Journey in the Seaboard Slave States (1856), A Journey through Texas (1857), A Journey in the Back Country (1860), and in a two-volume compilation of material from all three books, The Cotton Kingdom (1861). Together Olmsted’s keen observations created the most complete contemporary portrait of the South on the eve of the Civil War, concluding that slavery harmed the whole of Southern society. Continued

Antique Toy Museum: Collection for Sale

(Baltimore Sun) Collector strives to keep her unique museum whole, long after she’s gone.

What's the next step for the Stewartstown Railroad?

(YDR) New players have entered the discussion for the future of the Stewartstown Railroad Company.
For more than two years, the estate of George M. Hart has been trying to collect a debt of more than $350,000 from the 125-year-old company. Deadlines have passed, and been extended, and the estate is now listening to offers from groups looking to buy that debt, a lien on the railroad's station and engine houses. Continued

Photo: MDRails

Oliver Cromwell

(Wikipedia) Oliver Cromwell (25 April 1599 – 3 September 1658) was an English military and political leader best known for his involvement in making England into a republican Commonwealth and for his later role as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland.
He was one of the commanders of the New Model Army which defeated the royalists in the English Civil War. After the execution of King Charles I in 1649, Cromwell dominated the short-lived Commonwealth of England, conquered Ireland and Scotland, and ruled as Lord Protector from 1653 until his death from malaria in 1658.* Continued

*For how this relates to Maryland, see "The Plundering Time: Maryland and the English Civil War, 1645 - 1646" by Timothy B. Riorden.

Reagan on $50 bill not for Grant-ed

(AP) ... Folks in southern Ohio are mounting a counterattack against a congressional proposal to replace native son Ulysses S. Grant with Ronald Reagan on the $50 bill.
Politicians have passed resolutions, businesses have put up signs, letter-writing campaigns have begun, and, of course, a Facebook page has been created for the cause of leaving Grant's image just as it is on the currency. A bill pending in the U.S. House seeks to replace Grant with Reagan, the late 40th president and conservative icon. Continued

Hubble Space Telescope

(Wikipedia) The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is a space telescope that was carried into orbit by the space shuttle in April 1990. It is named after the American astronomer Edwin Hubble. Although not the first space telescope, Hubble is one of the largest and most versatile, and is well-known as both a vital research tool and a public relations boon for astronomy.
... The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) is responsible for the scientific operation of the telescope and delivery of data products to astronomers. STScI is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) and is physically located in Baltimore, Maryland on the Homewood campus of Johns Hopkins University, one of the 33 US universities and 7 international affiliates that make up the AURA consortium. Continued

James Abercrombie

(Wikipedia) General James Abercrombie or Abercromby (1706 – April 23, 1781) was a British Army general and commander-in-chief of forces in North America during the French and Indian War, best known for the disastrous British losses in the 1758 Battle of Carillon [also know as Ticonderoga]. He was born in Glassaugh, Banffshire, Scotland to a wealthy family, and purchased a major's commission to enter the army in 1742. He was promoted to colonel in 1746, and major-general in 1756. Continued

April 23, 1516: Bavaria Cracks Down on Beer Brewers

(Wired) 1516: Two Bavarian dukes issue a decree that limits the ingredients used in brewing beer to barley, water and hops.
Referred to today as the Reinheitsgebot (purity ordinance), the decree has come to be known as a beer-purity law that was intended to keep undesirable or unhealthy ingredients out of beer. But the original text doesn’t explicitly state the reasoning behind the regulation.
An English translation of the decree simply states,”We wish to emphasize that in future in all cities, markets and in the country, the only ingredients used for the brewing of beer must be barley, hops and water.”
In fact, the main intent of the decree had more to do with bread than beer. Continued

Image: Tradecard for Wiedemann Beer: old cowboy holding glass of Wiedemann's (Library of Congress).

OK Corral documents discovered in court storeroom

(BBC) Records from an inquest into the notorious 1881 shootout at the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona, have been discovered in a court storeroom.
The scrawled notes are a transcript of a witness statement about the shootout between lawmen including Wyatt Earp and three outlaws, who were killed.
... The pages will soon be digitised and made available online to researchers and Wild West history buffs. Continued

Image: Tom McLaury, Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton (left to right) lie dead after the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. (Wikipedia)

Ex-Pat Paris as It Sizzled for One Literary Lioness

(NYTimes) If the world’s dwindling independent bookstores have a patron saint, an exemplar to cling to in moments of duress, she is Sylvia Beach (1887-1962), the soulful and fearless owner of Shakespeare & Company, the English-language bookstore she founded in Paris in 1919 and operated on the Left Bank until the German occupation during World War II. Continued

Remembering Lincoln funeral train stop in York

(YDR) Hannah Winand stood along railroad tracks and focused on her mother, Becky, who wore a black mourning gown, held a wreath made of white roses and waited for the exact time that marked the arrival of President Abraham Lincoln's funeral train in York.
Amid the modern-day downtown noises from car traffic and sirens, a ceremonial cannon salute and church bells could be heard in the distance.
As sundown approached, the noises melded and April 21, 1865, faded into April 21, 2010, in a stunning yet eerie display. Continued

Photos: Wikipedia, MDRails, Library of Congress.

Earth Day

(LoC) Earth Day was first observed on April 22, 1970, when an estimated 20 million people nationwide attended the inaugural event. Senator Gaylord Nelson promoted Earth Day, calling upon students to fight for environmental causes and oppose environmental degradation with the same energy that they displayed in opposing the Vietnam War.
In July 1970, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was established in response to the growing public demand for cleaner water, air, and land—its mission to protect the environment and public health. Earth Day also was the precursor of the largest grassroots environmental movement in U.S. history and the impetus for national legislation such as the Clean Air and Clean Water acts. By the twentieth anniversary of that event, more than 200 million people in 141 countries had participated in Earth Day celebrations. Continued

“The Sparck of Rebellion”

(American Heritage) On the evening of December 16, 1773, in Boston, several score Americans, some badly disguised as Mohawk Indians, their faces smudged with blacksmith’s coal dust, ran down to Griffin’s Wharf, where they boarded three British vessels. Within three hours, the men—members of the Sons of Liberty, an intercolonial association bent on resisting British law—had cracked open more than 300 crates of English tea with hatchets and clubs, then poured the contents into Boston Harbor.
News of the “Boston Tea Party” quickly spread throughout the colonies, and other seaports soon staged their own tea parties. Continued

Image: Library of Congress

Thomas Wyatt Turner

(Wikipedia) Thomas Wyatt Turner (March 16, 1877 – April 21, 1978) was an American civil rights activist, biologist and educator. Born in Hughesville, Maryland, Turner attended Episcopal local schools after Catholic schools refused to admit him because of his race.
After receiving the proper credentials, Turner headed to the Tuskegee Institute, Alabama, where he taught academics in biology. Later, he gave service to various public schools in Baltimore, Maryland. From 1914 to 1924, he served as a Professor of Botany at Howard University in Washington, D.C., and also served from 1914 to 1920 as the Acting Dean at the Howard's School of Education. Continued

April 20, 1841: ‘Rue Morgue’ Paves Way for Detective Genre

(Wired) 1841: Mad literary genius and theorist Edgar Allan Poe publishes “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” in Graham’s Magazine, launching the detective story into popular culture and acclaim.
The prolific Poe was born in Boston in 1809, and eventually died under mysterious circumstances in Baltimore in 1849. But, in the United States, he was known better during his life as a literary critic than a craftsman, though more famous in Europe for his fiction. Continued

Image: Library of Congress

Penelope Alice Thresher, Steppingstone Museum volunteer, dies

(Baltimore Sun) Penelope Alice DeNure Thresher, a homemaker and Steppingstone Museum volunteer, died of cancer Friday at her Churchville home. ... In 1976, she became a volunteer at the Steppingstone Museum in Havre de Grace, where she worked for 25 years. Mrs. Thresher helped to start the farm history programs and assisted with kitchen crafts and cooking demonstrations. Continued

Daniel Chester French

(LoC) ... By the turn of the century, French was America's preeminent monumental sculptor. He is best known for his colossal seated figure of Abraham Lincoln, which presides over the Lincoln Memorial. The Angel of Death Staying the Hand of the Sculptor, created for Boston's Forest Hills Cemetery; John Harvard, located at Harvard University; a bust of Ulysses S. Grant, and a standing Abraham Lincoln at the west entrance to the Nebraska State Capitol are a few of the monuments that French produced during a long and productive career. Continued

President Accused of Theft, Failing to Pay Massive Library Fines

(Lowering the Bar) Yet another presidential scandal broke over the weekend, as a library in New York accused George Washington of failing to return valuable library materials checked out during his presidency.
The former president could not be reached for comment. Continued

Cecil Baseball History Exhibit Opens April 30th

(HSoCC) Cecil County has a long and rich love affair with baseball going back more than a century, with its share of “local boys” making good in the Big Leagues. On Friday, April 30, from 5 to 8 p.m., sports fans of all ages are invited to experience the best years of county baseball all over again as part of “Cecil’s Field of Dreams,” a new exhibit at the Historical Society of Cecil County that celebrates our baseball heritage. Continued

Volunteers to place flags at York memorial for fallen soldiers

(YDR) The Iraq/Afghanistan War Flag Memorial will be re-established at Prospect Hill Cemetery in York on Saturday, beginning at 9 a.m.
Volunteers, including Gold Star Family Members who have lost loved ones in both conflicts, plan to attend, according to a news release. Participants will place more than 5,500 flags on the hillside. Continued

Image: Nightening

Benjamin Rush

(Wikipedia) Benjamin Rush (December 24, 1745 – April 19, 1813) was a Founding Father of the United States. Rush lived in the state of Pennsylvania and was a physician, writer, educator, humanitarian and a devout Christian, as well as the founder of Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
Rush was a signatory of the Declaration of Independence and attended the Continental Congress. He was also a staunch opponent of Gen. George Washington and worked tirelessly to have him removed as the Commander-In-Chief of the Continental Army. Continued

Photo of West Nottingham Academy by Kim Choate

New tech sees dead people

(Discovery News) A spooky sounding technology is finding old, unmarked graves. Using hyperspectral imaging, scientists from McGill University have found unmarked animal graves with special cameras that measure changes in the light coming from soil and plants.
Hyperspectral imaging collects and processes light from across the electromagnetic spectrum, including visible light as well as ultraviolet and infrared light. The research could help police solve missing persons cases or reveal new mass graves from hundreds, if not thousands, of years ago. Continued

Fire in historic Annapolis damages two buildings

(Baltimore Sun) A four-alarm fire in an historic Annapolis retail district just a block from the State House damaged two buildings and put on a show for tourists, but a quick response by firefighters appeared to have held losses to a minimum. Continued

"There are thousands of casinos, there is only one Gettysburg"

(YDR) It's another civil war and film director Ron Maxwell was on hand to rally the No Casino troops with shouts that casino investors want to "rape" and "exploit" the battlefield.
Maxwell, the director of "Gettysburg" and "Gods and Generals," addressed the roughly 125 No Casino Gettysburg supporters gathered at the Gettysburg Fire Hall Thursday night, saying that those who want to preserve the history and the sacrifices made during the Battle of Gettysburg should not allow the proposed Mason Dixon Resort and Casino to come to fruition. Continued

Did I Mention the Graves Out Back?

(NYTimes) ... Burial at home was once common in the country, and family cemeteries and plots can be found on many historic properties. But while they have intrinsic appeal to genealogists and historians, their effect on housing values depends a lot on who is buying, real estate agents said. Continued

Welcome! Visitors offered free access to buildings not normally open

(msnbc.com) ... When traveling, we often make a beeline for the homes of the rich and famous and to buildings that have historical significance. And there’s something appealing about reaching the top of iconic structures and walking onto observation decks offering panoramic views over a city.
But what about the places next door to those much-visited structures? Or that imposing church, government building, or residential mansion you pass by on your way to these tourist destinations? Or that shuttered factory or art-deco office building in your own home town? Don’t you sometimes wonder what’s behind those closed doors? Continued

Photo: Shenks Ferry Tunnel (MDRails)

Historic Tulip Hill estate sold to mystery buyer

(Baltimore Sun) An historic Anne Arundel County estate known as Tulip Hill was sold at auction this month to a mystery buyer for more than $2.37 million, according to Concierge Auctions, the New York-based company that handled the sale. ... Located in the 4500 block of Muddy Creek Road, the plantation house dates from around 1756, sits on 52 acres, includes water frontage and a pier, and is considered by historians to be one of the finest Pre-Revolutionary War estates in the U.S. Continued

Image: Library of Congress

Celebrity Manatee Ilya Survived Florida’s Harsh Freeze

(USGS) Ilya, an adventurous manatee that wandered as far north as Cape Cod last summer, has recently been sighted at several locations around Miami’s Biscayne Bay, confirmed U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) biologists.
After a winter of harsh conditions that led to hundreds of manatee deaths in Florida, Ilya’s survival was welcome news to biologists and veterinarians who rescued Ilya from the dangerously cold waters of New Jersey last October.
“He doesn’t have any new scars and he’s doing really well,” said Kit Curtin, a scientist contracted by USGS who photographed Ilya. “We think he spent the winter in southeast Florida, where the Gulf Stream can have a warming effect,” she added.
Before being rescued from New Jersey, Ilya had been spotted up and down the Atlantic Coast throughout the summer, making appearances in the Chesapeake Bay before wandering as far north as East Dennis, a small town on the northern side of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. His widespread travels made him an aquatic celebrity. Continued

Pictures of Ilya by Kit Curtin, U.S. Geological Survey

Snidely Whiplash was from Baltimore?

(Wikipedia) Hans Conried (April 15, 1917 – January 5, 1982) was an American comedian, character actor and voice actor. Conried was born Hans Georg Conried, Jr. in Baltimore, Maryland. His mother, Edith Beyr (née Gildersleeve), was a descendant of Pilgrims, and his father, Hans Georg Conried, Sr., was a Jewish immigrant from Vienna, Austria. He was raised in Baltimore and in New York City. He studied acting at Columbia University and went on to play many major classical roles onstage. Conried worked in radio before breaking into movies in 1939, and was also a member of Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre Company. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in September 1944 during World War II. Continued

Library Acquires Entire Twitter Archive

(LoC) Have you ever sent out a “tweet” on the popular Twitter social media service? Congratulations: Your 140 characters or less will now be housed in the Library of Congress. That’s right. Every public tweet, ever, since Twitter’s inception in March 2006, will be archived digitally at the Library of Congress. That’s a LOT of tweets, by the way: Twitter processes more than 50 million tweets every day, with the total numbering in the billions. Continued

National Park Week April 17-25

(NPS) To make it easier to experience America's Great Outdoors, the National Park Service is waiving entrance fees, so visitors can enjoy all 392 national parks for free April 17-25. In addition, many national park concessioners are offering special promotions that are certain to add to your fun. Continued

Lincoln Shot at Ford’s Theater

Shortly after 10:00 p.m. on April 14, 1865, actor John Wilkes Booth entered the presidential box at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., and fatally shot President Abraham Lincoln. As Lincoln slumped forward in his seat, Booth leapt onto the stage and escaped out the back door. The paralyzed president was immediately examined by a doctor in the audience and then carried across the street to Petersen's Boarding House where he died early the next morning. Continued

Photo: Contents of Abraham Lincoln's Pockets, and Newspaper Recounting the Assassination (LoC)

Wrightsville bridge restoration plans inch along

(YDR) Plans to restore the Veterans Memorial Bridge in Wrightsville moved closer to reality recently after the borough council decided to support the project. ... For about $2 million, the goal is to restore the historically significant bridge to its former glory. The bridge opened in 1930 and connects Wrightsville and Columbia boroughs, with part of it in West Hempfield Township, Lancaster County. Continued

Images: Falmanac/Nightening

First Mention Pertussis, 1913

(NYTimes) Whooping cough has been a well-known disease for hundreds of years, and the term “pertussis” has been in use since the 18th century. Its symptoms are vivid: severe coughing spells ending with a whooping gasp for breath and a face that turns red or purple, often followed by vomiting and then a return to feeling fine until the next episode. But until the early 20th century, no one knew what caused it. Continued

A Civil War-era B & O veteran is back

(Baltimore Sun) The Thatcher Perkins has come a long way since the winter day in 2003 when it lay under tons of snow, slate, wood, cast iron and other debris, after half of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum's roof gave way in a record snowstorm. The Presidents Day weekend roof collapse caused $15 million in damage to the museum's collection of historic locomotives, rolling stock and other rail artifacts - and the Perkins was a woeful sight. Continued

Photos: MDRails

John O'Hara

(Wikipedia) John Henry O'Hara (January 31, 1905–April 11, 1970) was an American writer born in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. He initially became known for his short stories and later became a best-selling novelist whose works include Appointment in Samarra and Butterfield 8. He was particularly known for an uncannily accurate ear for dialogue. O'Hara was a keen observer of social status and class differences, and wrote frequently about the socially ambitious. Continued

Historic "Cliffeholme" sold at auction

(Baltimore Sun) ... The house, first built in the Italianate style, went through a major renovation and expansion in 1928 to its current early 20th-century English Revival style, said Orlando Ridout, an architectural historian in the research section for the Maryland Historical Trust. The property was bought in 1872 by Charles Morton Stewart, a Baltimore shipping merchant who made his fortune importing Brazilian coffee to Baltimore. He bought the home as a summer house and expanded it for his large family and guests, who included the English novelist Charles Dickens, according to "The Green Spring Valley: Its History and Heritage," published by the Maryland Historical Society in 1978. Continued

Adopt-A-Manatee® this Mother’s Day

(Times Advertiser) ... Manatee gift adoptions cost $25, and are tax-deductible. The adoption package includes a manatee adoption certificate with a full-color photo of a real endangered Florida manatee, a biography, a fact-filled handbook and subscriptions to the official Club newsletter, The Manatee Zone, and to Paddle Tales, the Club's e-newsletter. Plus a personal message from the person adopting will be included. Or for a $35 tax-deductible donation, each new member who joins the Adopt-A-Manatee® program online also receives a colorful beaded bracelet with manatee charm, along with a plus 8-inch manatee. Give both to mom or keep one! Shipping is free in the United States. ... There are 33 real manatees to choose from for Mother’s Day in the Club’s three Florida adoption programs, including new East Coast adoptee, Ilya, rescued from cold waters near New Jersey in October 2009. Continued

Image: U.S. Department of the Interior, via Wikipedia

April 8, 1879: The Milkman Cometh … With Glass Bottles

1879 (Wired): Milk is sold in glass bottles for the first time in the United States. It’s a clear improvement in hygiene and convenience.
Until that time, people bought milk as a bulk item, with the seller dispensing milk out of a keg or bucket into whatever jugs, pails or other containers the customers brought. That practice left a lot to be desired on the cleanliness front. Continued

Photo: Library of Congess

Works Progress Administration (WPA)

(LoC) - On April 8, 1935, Congress approved the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935, the work relief bill that funded the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Created by President Franklin Roosevelt to relieve the economic hardship of the Great Depression, this national works program (renamed the Work Projects Administration beginning in 1939) employed more than 8.5 million people on 1.4 million public projects before it was disbanded in 1943. The WPA employed skilled and unskilled workers in a great variety of work projects—many of which were public works projects such as creating parks, and building roads and bridges, and schools and other public structures. The Federal Writers' Project (FWP) was one of several projects within the WPA created to employ people with skills in the arts. Other arts projects included the Federal Art Project (FAP), the Federal Music Project, and the Federal Theater Project. When these projects were created, they were known collectively as Federal Project Number One—or more informally, “Federal One.” Among the well-known writers employed by the Federal Writers’ project were Nelson Algren, Saul Bellow, Ralph Ellison, Zora Neale Hurston, May Swenson, and Richard Wright. Continued

Photo: John Collier

John McGraw

(Wikipedia) John Joseph McGraw (April 7, 1873 – February 25, 1934), nicknamed "Little Napoleon" and "Muggsy", was a Major League Baseball player and manager. Much-lauded as a player, McGraw was one of the standard-bearers of dead-ball era major league baseball. Known for having fists as quick as his temper, McGraw used every advantage he could get as both a player and manager. He took full advantage of baseball's initial structure that only provided for one umpire, becoming notorious for tripping, blocking, and impeding a baserunner in any way he could while the umpire was distracted by the flight of the ball. His profligacy in employing such tactics may have led to additional umpires being assigned to monitor the basepaths.
However, even with his success and notoriety as a player, he is most well-known for his record as a manager. Continued

Images: Library of Congress