Nate Gillespie

Remember WWII

June 6 is D-Day. Or the 65th anniversary of D-Day, to be exact. It's hard to believe that that momentous day, when Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy and marked the beginning of the end of World War II, is now old enough to qualify for Social S... Read >

Hemingway & Fitzgerald

F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway: Both towering figures in the history of American literature, the two writers shared a complicated real-life relationship. At times they were friends, at times enemies; often they were drinking buddies, and alway... Read >

French & Indian War – the Start of US History

It's hard for us now to imagine George Washington as anything other than the stately, even regal figure staring back at us from the dollar bill or from the slopes of Mount Rushmore. But George Washington wasn't always a stoic visage carved in granite. H... Read >

National Poem in Your Pocket Day

April 30 may not (yet) be a national holiday on par with July 4 or January 1, but maybe it will be soon. Why? Because it's National Poem in Your Pocket Day.What's that, you say? Yes, it's National Poem in Your Pocket Day (and no, this isn't the punchli... Read >

April in the South

April is an important month in American history. The Civil War both began and ended in April; between the April of Fort Sumter and the April of Appomattox Court House, more than half a million Americans died on battlefields stretching from Pennsylvania t... Read >

Gatsby at the Crash

No one in American culture personifies boom times quite like Jay Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald's fictional scion of West Egg. When times are good, we all imagine ourselves crashing one of Gatsby's legendary parties, rubbing elbows with the rich and famous ... Read >

Blasts From The Past

Sometimes it seems that all is new in the world. New developments in science and technology roll out at a staggering pace, revolutionizing our day-to-day lives and enticing us with the promise of allowing us to boldly go where no man has gone before. (O... Read >

Obama's Hundred Days

April 29 isn't a date that would normally stand out on the calendar. This year it falls on a Wednesday, almost but not quite marking the end of the month. We suspect that most years, April 29 would slip by without most of us taking any particular notice... Read >

National Noodles With Peanut Sauce Month?

Did you know that March is National Women's History Month? If you didn't, you should; the month-long celebration is a federally sanctioned event, and each year the Library of Congress organizes a fabulous online exhibit designed to remind us of women's c... Read >

Inauguration in March?

This March marks the 76th anniversary of one of the most important turning points in American history. On March 4, 1933, new President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed to the world that "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." The president's wo... Read >

Daylight Savings

Anybody else sleep right through the shift to Daylight Savings Time this year? Anybody else find out they were supposed to have "sprung forward" only after showing up an hour late for Sunday brunch? (Sorry Grandma!)If it seems like Daylight Savings Time... Read >

We Are What We Read?

Sometimes it's tempting to think that a person's favorite book is the secret to unlocking his character. That's what makes Who Reads What â€" a directory of celebrities' favorite books assembled over a twenty-year period by Glenna Nowell of the tiny Gard... Read >

Black History Month

This February, we honor Black History Month for the 84th time since Professor Carter G. Woodson began the tradition as "Negro History Week" all the way back in 1926. In 2009, though, something about our national recognition of the African-American past s... Read >