By Brenna Hall Would you ever think that if you were in a war, trying to kill everyone that wasn’t on your side, that you would be friends with them for Christmas? That is how it was for some of the soldiers during World War I. At one point during World War I, in 1914, […]
By Bill Nelson The world’s first practical light bulb was invented by Thomas Edison in 1879, and it was to be only three years later that an associate of his, one Edward Johnson, electrically lit a Christmas tree for the first time. The tree was in the parlor of his New York home, located in […]
By Jeff Westover Clement Clarke Moore was one of New York’s wealthiest men. And clearly, one of it’s most highly educated. He was born in 1779 to Benjamin Moore, a patriot and and Episcopalian minister. His mother was Charity Clarke, a fiesty and ardent supporter of the American cause. He inherited from her side of […]
By Tomm Larson “Grandpa, why is there an orange in my Christmas stocking?” “Cause when I was a little boy. . .” “You were a little boy? That must have been a loooong time ago.” “It was, I was little way back in the thirties.” “What’s the thirties?” “That was a time called the Great […]
By Jeff Westover On August 22, 1741 George Frideric Handel sat down and began to compose music to Biblical texts compiled by his friend Charles Jennens. Handel was, by all accounts of the time, a typical creative eccentric. Known for varied mood swings, Handel was prone to excessive eating, a boisterous sense of humor and […]
By Jeff Westover As Martin Luther ushered in the Reformation, celebrations steeped in pagan rituals and holidays featuring religious feasts and riotous behavior were banned. In some places, such as Scotland in 1583, Christmas observance was outlawed altogether. As the political landscape in England changed, and those of Puritan ideals came to power, the very […]
By Anna Tatalin It was late in the Christmas season and if it got much later General William Booth would not be in time to send a Christmas greeting to his various command posts throughout the world. As the chief commanding officer of a very frugal organization, Booth, searched endlessly for the shortest message that […]
By Nicole Harms What was a new father to do? Recently married to a wealthy widow, George Washington had an ambitious shopping list for his new step-children that Christmas of 1759. He wanted to get them “A bird on Bellows, A Cuckoo, A turnabout parrot, A Grocers Shop, An Aviary, A Prussian Dragoon, A Man […]
Christmas of 1924 in the White House was a sad and glum affair. The new tradition of lighting the National Christmas Tree, started just a year earlier, was the last thing President Calvin Coolidge wanted to do. Though the event had enjoyed widespread publicity he simply lacked the heart to participate. It was only a […]
By Hollee Chadwick The American Revolutionary War, also known as the American War of Independence was fought between Great Britain and the thirteen British colonies between the years 1775 and 1783. The mutinous colonists declared themselves no longer allied with the crown and kicked off an eight year struggle against the political and economic policies […]
By Dr. George Johnson Editor’s Note: Dr. George Johnson is a Professor of Biology at Washington University in St. Louis. He’s the real deal — a scientist of the first order. This article is but one of many he writes for the St. Louis Post Dispatch. What do reindeer and little children know that we […]
10. Don’t hang your stocking. 9. Fill your own stocking. 8. Put someone else’s name on your stocking. 7. Sew your stocking shut. 6. Put mousetraps in your stocking. (CAUTION: Could backfire.) 5. Leave all your lights on to make Santa think you’re still awake. 4. Stay up late and plead for mercy when the […]