In the modern world, with so many motorized options for getting around, it’s easy to take the human-powered bicycle for granted. However, for as quickly as the bicycle has been replaced by faster, fuel-powered vehicles, it’s easy to think it’s an ancient invention that has finally been phased out. But this two-wheeled vehicle has only …
People all around the world start their day with a cup of coffee. However, how they drink it can vary greatly. Some people prefer pour-overs, others love espresso machines and the French press, and some are fine with instant coffee. But there are many other ways to enjoy a cup of coffee, and most …
The United States of America has always had an obsession with guns. Images of patriots firing muskets at Redcoats, cowboys heading out on posses, hunters chasing down buffalo and Special Forces triumphing over extremists are common components of the collective American psyche.
This sets America apart from many other nations. Most Western countries strictly limit gun ownership, and having a gun is not nearly as culturally important for other nations. Why is this?
“…. And the new social system was finally secure. Yet the spirit of the ancient feudalism was not quite exhausted. “ – Lytton Strachey
A prominent critic wrote about her two centuries after her death. Bette Davis played her in a melodramatic movie nominated for five Academy Awards. Today, millions of people attend traveling fairs that attempt to re-create the era in which she lived. The third longest reigning queen of England, Elizabeth I is widely regarded as one of the world’s greatest monarchs; she is certainly one of the best known. Her life story reads like a sensational novel, much stranger than fiction.
On visiting the website of the Little House on the Prairie Museum lists, it lists the following caveat: “Due to an ongoing error with GPS technology, many GPS navigators and mapping services are unable to direct their users to our site. To avoid becoming hopelessly lost, please use the following directions.” An amusing comment, to be sure – but, surreptitiously or otherwise, an apt description of the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder and her devoted readers.
“Genius’ can be defined as the creation of something that afterwards feels like it was always here. While psychologists attempt to understand how genius occurs, history teaches that it flourishes in the strangest of situations. Such is certainly the case with the children of Patrick Bronte, an Irish cleric who married a Cornish woman and then moved to a tiny town in Yorkshire, far from the leading minds of the day. Bereft of influence and forced by circumstances to look out for each other, the resulting development of literary genius has yet to be matched. The three surviving sisters – Charlotte, Emily, and Anne — none of whom lived past the age of forty, left us with five incandescent novels – as well as a story that matches the dramatic intensity of the Bronte imagination.
