Today is the 216th anniversary of the birth of Lysander Spooner, who was born in Massachusetts in the US. He was a controversial figure for his whole career. Maybe that should be “careers,” because in his 79 years he worked on a host of different things.  His first controversy was his first career itself. He… Continue reading

“The question is,” said Rabbit, “where is Christopher Robin?” Piglet hadn’t heard that Christopher Robin was missing, and he edged closer to Pooh. “Pooh,” he whispered, “is it true? Is Christopher Robin really Somewhere Else?” “Well,” said Pooh, “Christopher Robin might be Somewhere Else. But inside ‘Somewhere Else’ there’s a ‘Somewhere’ sitting quietly, just waiting… Continue reading

Everybody who enjoys movies should make a note that today is the birthday of Eugéne Augustin Lauste, who was born January 17, 1857, and had a lot to do with the early technology of moviemaking.  Lauste was born in Montmartre, France, and was a fast starter — by the age of 23 he held 53… Continue reading

On January 12, 1941, Fiona Soesan was born in a Scottish town called Troon. Her father was a barrister, and her mother worked for the local government, and there was some disagreement within the family about the value of education. Soesan’s father was dedicated to education, having completed a chemistry degree by attending night school,… Continue reading

Imagine that you’re back in 1985, but if you remember 1985, this is not that one. In this 1985, the Crimean War between England and Russia is a century old and still happening, cloning technology has progressed to the point where you can buy a kit and clone your own pet dodo at home (and… Continue reading

Today is Donald Knuth’s 86th birthday. If you stop by Stanford University, where he’s professor emeritus, you might even see him around. I don’t know whether he’s still active there, but he probably is — but he spends most of his time working at home on his huge writing project.  Knuth is the author of… Continue reading

Good morning! Back in 1939, there was a World’s Fair in New York City that featured two iconic structures: the Trylon and the Perisphere. They were huge, impressive, and had no function other than attracting people to attend the fair. The Perisphere was a big ball, and the Trylon was a spire, and they did… Continue reading

Everybody’s heard of superintendents. Among other things, they manage apartment buildings, at least in the US. But how about just plain intendants? They’re not underlings to the superintendents; they were government officials in the French, Portuguese, and Spanish monarchies, and Jean Talon was one of them. He was born January 8, 1626, and became the… Continue reading

What we now understand about daily life centuries ago is mostly based on the events that people wrote down in journals, letters, diaries, and the like. The journals of Samuel Pepys address the late 1600s. And decades earlier — but also in England — another diarist provided similar details about his own time. That was… Continue reading

In the US, at least, if you want to find an apartment to rent, somebody to paint a room in your house, a used computer to buy, or if you have any of those things (or more) to offer, you’re likely to use Craigslist. It’s a free service that’s available in practically every local area… Continue reading