The U.S. Library of Congress opens an incredible door to the past — One of oldest federal institutions in the United States is the Library of Congress, founded in 1800 as part of an act of Congress that relocated the national government from Philadelphia to Washington, DC. The sum of $5,000 was allocated for books for the use of Congress. In 1802, the…

He made thousands of recordings of living folk music — Legendary folk singer Pete Seeger called Alan Lomax “the man who is more responsible than any other person for the twentieth-century folk song revival.” Read on to find out why Lomax deserved such praise. A family affair In 1933, eighteen-year-old Alan Lomax, along with his father John Lomax, began to gather thousands of…

No, not 2016… it was 1968 that re-shaped the country — The year 1968 was one of the most chaotic in U.S. history. The war in Vietnam, inflation and racial tensions were raging. Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated. …

A TV comedy series that began 75 years ago gave birth to reality prank shows — If you’ve ever laughed out loud watching America’s Funniest Videos, Punk’d or similar reality shows, you can thank Allen Funt. After working as an advertising designer, Allen Funt got interested in radio. In 1947, Funt came up with a new radio show he called Candid Microphone. …

Damage was done long before the modern era — Climate change and its effects, particularly relating to wildly changing weather patterns, are dominating the news these days. But historically, climate change is nothing new. It may surprise you to know that climate change started long before the industrial revolution and the negative impact of burning fossil fuels. It may…

Teddy Roosevelt’s free-spirited daughter was one of a kind — The scandalous behavior of President Biden’s son Hunter doesn’t hold a candle to a past president’s child. President Theodore Roosevelt’s daughter, Alice, was arguably the most notorious offspring of any president. Here are the highlights of her colorful, often controversial life. A tragic beginning From the very start, Alice’s life would be different…

Today’s wealth inequality can be defined by yesterday’s idioms — The substantial gap between the extremely rich and everyone else is a global problem — but it is especially striking in the United States. Wealth inequality is a defining characteristic of American society. By the end of 2017, the country’s wealthiest 1 percent held over 38 percent of the nation’s…

A decades-long battle between Hasbro and Mattel has turned bitter rivals into frenemies — The competition between American toy makers Hasbro (HAS) and Mattel (MAT), dating back to the 1950s, is anything but child’s play. Just this year, major movies were released leveraging a Mattel toy (Barbie) and Hasbro toys (Transformers: Rise of the Beasts). The history of these two companies is filled with…

No, it wasn’t Mr. Rogers — Fred Rogers was indisputably a beloved children’s television personality. His show, Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, first aired nationally on U.S. public television in 1968 and ran for thirty-one seasons. Hosting over 900 episodes, Fred Rogers was heralded as a children’s television innovator. Thirteen years earlier, another individual, often overshadowed by Mr…