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Category: Learning

American History Explorations with: The War Lovers and The Imperial Cruise!

The War LoversSo yesterday found me in Barnes and Noble with a gift card from either last Father’s Day or my birthday  that sill had twelve dollars on it. So while I spent time looking at the new books, I knew that my purchases would probably come from the Bargain Books. I ended up with two history books that continue my explorations of the late 1800s and early 1900s. The two books are The War Lovers: Roosevelt, Lodge, Hearst, and the Rush to Empire, 1898 by Evan Thomas  and The Imperial Cruise by James Bradley. Of the two, The Imperial Cruise is to me the most interesting Read More

Today in History – 1883 – Jan Matzeliger Patents the shoe “lasting machine”

Jan MatzeligerSo this morning I read that on this date in 1885 – John Matzeliger of Suriname patented the shoe lacing machine. I thought that sounded interesting, especially since I had no idea what a shoe lacing machine did? Anyway, what I found when I googled the event was that in 1883 a young man named Jan Matzeliger, who was born in Suriname patented a “shoe lasting machine”. Matzeliger was born in Suriname of a Dutch Father and a black native of Suriname. At an early age Matzeliger showed an aptitude for machines and by the age of 10 he was working in a machine ship that his father supervised. By 1873 he moved to Philadelphia and then on to Lynn, Massachusetts where the shoe industry was booming. He became an apprentice in a shoe factory’. From MIT’s Inventor of the Week: Read More

This Day in History – The Start of Operation Iraqi Freedom

A few reads regarding the Iraqi War, which started on this date ten years ago. From History.com: Bush announces the launch of Operation Iraqi Freedom

On this day in 2003, President George W. Bush addresses the nation via live television and announces that Operation Iraqi Freedom has begun. Bush authorized the mission to rid Iraq of tyrannical dictator Saddam Hussein and eliminate Hussein’s ability to develop weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Operation Iraqi Freedom illustrated the Bush administration’s pledge to use unilateral, pre-emptive strikes if necessary against nations believed dangerous to American national security. Read More Read More

Quick Watch Robert Reich – Raise the Minimum Wage!!

So According to Robert Reich:

“Raising the minimum wage from the current rate of $7.25 an hour to $9 should be a no-brainer,” Robert Reich says. The labor secretary during the Clinton administration argues, among other points, that putting more money in the pockets of the country’s lowest earners is not only fair, it would also help boost the economy. Read More