After the murder of Julius Caesar in 44 BCE, his adopted son Octavian (later called Augustus) and his supposed friend and general Mark Antony had to go deal with his killers, led by Brutus and Cassius, and their army in the eastern Mediterranean. But Octavian and Antony didn’t have enough […]
When Abraham Lincoln was running for the Illinois Legislature in 1832, according to Paul M. Angle, author of The Lincoln Reader, Joshua Speed handed him $200, raised by Whig supporters, to cover his campaign expenses. After the election was over, and Lincoln had won his seat, he handed Speed $199.25, […]
One her trip through Colorado in 1873, Isabella Bird finally arrived at her long-sought destination, Estes Park. She had hoped to climb “The American Matterhorn,” Long’s Peak, but it was late in the year and the weather seemed to be against it. But then the weather cleared and “Mountain Jim” […]
Another interesting section of Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond is the section on disease. As I mentioned, the whole of this hefty volume is dedicated to explaining “why different peoples ended up with disparate degrees of power and affluence,” and a big part of the answer relates to […]
It’s really fun to read Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond, but a lot of people, myself included, find it a bit much to take all at one go. It’s basically a comprehensive history of the human race. Every domesticated plant or animal is discussed and there are tables […]
It’s fun getting photos from all over the world. This one is by Daniel Gold, who bicycled from Cairo to Capetown in the Tour d’Afrique.
Back in 2002 David von Drehle was taking his baby out for a peaceful drive in Estes Park, Colorado, and on impulse he asked his mother-in-law, Marilyn Sue Mohler Ball, if she would like to go along. As they headed toward town, Marilyn pointed to a turn-off and David took […]
Thomas Hart Benton was an aide-de-camp to General Andrew Jackson during the War of 1812, but after the war, in Nashville, Benton and his brother Jesse got into a ferocious battle with Jackson and one of his brigade inspectors, Billy Carroll, over “a very obscure point of honor.” Jackson was […]
Here’s a passage from “A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains” by Isabella Bird, who traveled through Colorado in 1873. “…we entered a long gulch with broad swellings of grass belted with pines. “A very pretty mare, hobbled, was feeding; a collie dog barked at us, and among the scrub, […]
