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Showing posts from 2014

3 Odd Ball Things About Christmas

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The New York Knickerbockers helped create the modern Santa   The biggest influence on Santa's modern look and demeanor came more from a popular group of writers who drew inspiration from an Episcopalian saint. The Knickerbockers of New York wanted to reintroduce Saint Nicholas to society to provide a "cultural counterweight for the commercial bustle and democratic misrule of early nineteenth century New York." Contributors to the Saint Nicholas project included 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow' author Washington Irving, who wrote a Christmas story about giving and generosity for his fictional 'Bracebridge Hall' series in which he described Santa as a large man in a red suit smoking his favorite pipe. Clement Clarke Moore, a contemporary of Irving's, was inspired by this depiction of Santa for his 'A Visit from St. Nicholas' poem, in which he also described the traditional Santa we know today. How's Christmas celebrated i

10 Things You May Not Know About George Armstrong Custer

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DECEMBER 5, 2014   By  Christopher Klein PRINT CITE Facebook Twitter Google Born on December 5, 1839, in New Rumley, Ohio, George Armstrong Custer first achieved renown as a young Civil War hero before gaining everlasting fame a decade later from his spectacular defeat at the Battle of Little Bighorn. On the 175th anniversary of Custer’s birth, explore 10 surprising facts about the general who remains one of the most controversial figures in American history. 1. Four other members of the Custer family died at the Battle of Little Bighorn. Among the force of more than 200 men wiped out by the Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne warriors on June 25, 1876, were Custer’s 18-year-old nephew, Henry Reed, brother-in-law James Calhoun and two younger brothers, Boston and Thomas (a Civil War veteran and two-time Medal of Honor recipient). 2. His nickname was “Autie.” Custer’s mispronunciation of his middle name when he first began to speak was adopted by his family

15 HISTORICAL FIGURES YOU DIDN’T KNOW WERE BLACK

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By  Meg Butler BETTY BOOP They might have drawn Betty Boop white, but her history is black. The character was actually stolen from Cotton Club singer Esther Jones — known by her stage name “Baby Esther” and the baby talk she used when she sang songs like “I Wanna Be Loved By You (Boop- Boop-BeDoo). Her act later “inspired” cartoonist Max Fleischer to create the character Betty Boop and Esther tried to win the rights back to her character until the day she died. http://www.littlethings.com/real-betty-boop-baby-esther/ J. EDGAR HOOVER Hitler’s Jewish ancestry isn’t the strangest twist in racial history. FBI director J. Edgar Hoover — the man who plagued the black liberation movement from Marcus Garvey to the Black Panther Party — was known by his peers as a passing black man. His childhood neighbor writer Gore Vidal famously quoted, “It was always said in my family and around the city that Hoover was mulatto. And that he came from a family that passe

5 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Thanksgiving

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HAPPY THANKSGIVING How did the funny-lookin' fowl get stuck with the label "turkey?" Oh boy, this will take some explainin'. Back in the day, the Europeans took a liking to the guinea fowls imported to the continent. Since the birds were imported by Turkish merchants, the English called them turkeys . Later, when the Spaniards came to America, they found a bird that tasted like those guinea fowls. When they were sent to Europe, the English called these birds "turkeys" as well. A Tradition is Born: TV dinners have Thanksgiving to thank. In 1953, someone at Swanson misjudged the number of frozen turkeys it would sell that Thanksgiving -- by 26 TONS! Some industrious soul came up with a brilliant plan: Why not slice up the meat and repackage with some trimmings on the side?Thus, the first TV dinner was born ! Break out the Menurkeys: The first time of Hanukkah and Thanksgiving come together was in 1888 . Scientists say the conflue