Short posts about things I've learned or find interesting
April 23, 2024 I guess I had forgotten my American Civil War history. We were watching Manhunt last night, which is a show about the hunt for John Wilkes Booth after he assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. I started reading up on the history of the events in the show, and learned (relearned?) that Abe was actually a moderate Republican (the Republicans were the progressives at that time), and there was a Radical Republican faction within the Republican party that wanted an immediate, complete, and permanent end to slavery, with freed slaves receiving equality, voting rights, and civil rights after the war. They were responsible for the passing of the 14th amendment.
March 31, 2024 Did you know that Alexander the Great was a student of Aristotle? One subject he learned was botany, and later he employed several botanists to study the vegetation of the new lands that he conquered.
March 29, 2024 Did you know that in 1928 a man named Otto Rohwedder invented the bread slicing machine? He was forced to sell the patent during the depression, but the company that bought it brought him on as Vice President and Sales Manager. In 1930 Wonder Bread started selling sliced bread using their own machines, but the popularity helped increase the sales of Otto's machines as well, and by 1933 sliced bread accounted for 80% of all bread sales. And that is why we say something is "The greatest thing since sliced bread."