William Burt patents the "Typographer" the first typewriter! (July 23, 1829) Then the Solar Compass and Equatorial Sextant!

On this day in 1829 William A Burt patented the “Typographer”, which was a predecessor to today’s typewriter. According to Burt, the typographer was the first constructed and operating typewriter in the world. Through the years Burt has been referred to as the “father of the typewriter” Burt’s great-grandson Austin …

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Remembering S.I. Hayakawa (July 18, 1906 – February 27, 1992) and the San Francisco State College Strike!

When I started reading Subversives by Seth Rosenfeld, I read that Clark Kerr was the president of the University of California, which started me thinking where did S.I. Hayakawa fit into the picture. I remembered him being involved in student demonstrations in California.  I even went to the index of …

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Listen Up -What's Your Favorite Song with Onomatopoeia in the title?? (Video)

Ok, so last night I thought would be clever and ask what was your favorite song, that uses the word Onomatopoeia in the title figuring that John Prine, ever the original, was the only one who used the word in the title of a song! Wrong!! I went to Spotify and there I found several songs using the word in the title. Now, I will ask in all seriousness; “What is your favorite song with “Onomatopoeia” in the title!!

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The Iraq Crisis – Can Iraq save Itself? Ramblings of an Old Political Science Major!

So from the moment that the US began the invasion of Iraq, I thought that it was wrong! To me, it was obvious from everything that I read that the country was deeply divided between the Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds and that the lynch pin holding everything together was brutal regime of Saddam Hussein, so that once the pin was removed the country would explore just like a grenade!….

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This Day in History -Trooping the Colour Day, Flag Day, Have some Bourbon….music by John Lee Hooker!!

Today is Trooping the Colour Day in the United Kingdom, as well as, the Official Birthday of the Queen from Wikipedia….
Trooping the Colour is a ceremony performed by regiments of the British and Commonwealth armies. It has been a tradition of British infantry regiments since the 17th century, although the roots go back much earlier. On battlefields, a regiment’s colours, or flags, were used as rallying points. Consequently, regiments would have their ensigns slowly march with their colours between the soldiers’ ranks to enable soldiers to recognise their regiments’ colours.
It’s also the day that the Continental Congress founded the First Continental Army. Coincidence?

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