I remember the morning after the primary election where Harold Washington won the Democratic nomination for Mayor of Chicago, becoming the first African-American man to do so. It was February 22, 1983 – 25 years ago. The white voters were split between then incumbent mayor Jane Byrne and Richard M. Daley, son of long-time mayor…
Born in Vinci, Florence, Italy in 1452, Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was the illegitimate son of a local notary and a peasant girl. He showed an early talent for art, and at the age of 14 he was apprenticed to the renowned Florentine painter Verrocchio. In 1472, at the age of 20, Leonardo…
Here’s a story about a comic book with a plot more interesting than most comics. Pal Korcsmaros was a Hungarian illustrator, who lived during World War Two and its aftermath, when the USSR ruled easter Europe. One of Korcsmaros’ endeavors was comic books, and particularly remaking classic tales, such as The Three Musketeers. According to…
The journalist David Hajdu’s new book, The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How it Changed America, has been billed as a retelling of the little-known inquisition against comics that nearly killed the industry in the 1950s. It does tell that story (and quite well), but perhaps more importantly it serves as one of…
On March 18, 3952 B.C., the world was created, according to the Venerable Bede. Bede was a Benedictine monk of Jarrow, a biblical scholar, and the first English historian. He lived from 673 to 735 and is best known for His Ecclesiastical History of the English People (H.E.), which he finished four years before his…
The National Gallery of Art opened in Washington, D.C. on March 17, 1941. Financier and art collector Andrew W. Mellon established the A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust just before his death in 1937, and it was this trust that worked with Congress to establish the art museum. John Russell Pope, who later designed the…
On this day in 1876, Alexander Graham Bell conducted his first successful experiment with his newest invention, the telephone. He used it to summon his assistant, Thomas Watson, with the now-famous words, “Mr. Watson—come here—I want to see you.” It’s been over 130 years since then, and we’re still addicted to calling people we could…
Did you know that in the English speaking world, there’s a tradition that women may propose marriage on leap years? Yep. Surprise! While it has been argued that the tradition was initiated by Saint Patrick or Brigid of Kildare in 5th century Ireland, it is dubious as the tradition has not been attested before the…
It seems only fitting that on the week the WGA strike comes to an end, it’s also the anniversary of another organization formed to protect the rights of artists. The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, also known as ASCAP, was created today in 1914 in New York to help protect the copyrighted musical…
Today in 1938, the Brits did television a mitzvah when the BBC created the first sci-fi TV show, an adaptation of a section of the Karel Capek play "R.U.R.", which coined the term "robot." For those of you who thought "The Matrix" was revolutionary, it was Capek who introduced androids that rebel against their human…
Newsarama has posted an interview with Matt Fraction about Thor: Ages of Thunder, his upcoming peek at the war-torn history of Marvel’s Norse Gods. Newsarama: Matt, what’s Ages of Thunder about, and how does it tie into the Thor mythos? Matt Fraction: It’s a Thor graphic novel, told in parts, that plugs the pure Stan-and-Jack…
Today in 1996, the largest one-day online event (to that date) occurred, called "24 Hours in Cyberspace." The professional photographers, editors and programmers who participated in the event aimed to to create a "digital time capsule of online life," explained Rick Smolan, a photographer who headed the event. Participants photographed, edited and collected images of…
