On Saturday, June 9, Americans will learn whether I’ll Have Another will be a Triple Crown winner when the horse participates in what is the granddaddy of the big three races for Thoroughbreds.
The Belmont Stakes: The Test of Champions Read More »
This fall I taught a class at the Osher Institute at UCLA; the class was called American Moments and one day I was talking about early automobiles and why gas-powered
When Gasoline-Powered Cars Were First Used, Where Did They Get Gasoline? Read More »
Though the Pony Express began in 1860 and only existed for eleven months, almost every American has heard about this early way of delivering the mail. However, here are some facts you probably don’t know:
Little-Known Facts about the Pony Express and the Mail Read More »
This weekend I had the opportunity to go on a behind-the-scenes visit to Grauman’s Chinese Theatre at an event sponsored by the Los Angeles Historic Theatre Foundation (LAHTF). We were led from lobby to basement to backstage and on up into the inner sanctum of the special VIP seating. It was quite a thrill.
A Behind-the-Scenes Tour of Grauman’s Chinese Theatre Read More »
Yesterday I walked over to my branch library and applied for my Los Angeles library card. I couldn’t leave without perusing the bookshelves, and there in the “973” category of the Dewey decimal system I found an illustrated book for adults called Frontier Living.
Call me “easy to please,” but I thought this was terrific! (I also loved the fact that the 1961 copyright pre-dated zip codes; the book was published in “Cleveland 2, Ohio.”)
Frontier Living: Cowhands Read More »
If asked to name a woman inventor, could you? They are out there but male inventors have dominated for years. Until about 1840, only about 20 patents were issued to women. One speculation as to why so few women received patents has to do with women’s legal status in the 19th century. Because they had few legal rights, they would not stand to gain from the sale of any patent; those who did have worthy ideas tended to take out the patent under the names of their husband’s or father’s.
