Year: 2015

  • The Suez Canal Opens

    On this date in 1869, the Suez Canal opened. Here are some things you may not have known about it. The Suez Canal links the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea, and cuts 4,300 miles off the shipping distance from Europe to South Asia. It’s a sea level canal, so unlike the Panama Canal there…

  • The Mad Bomber Strikes New York

    Today is the 75th anniversary of the first in a string of bomb-related incidents that terrorized New York City for 16 years. Here are some things you may not have known about “The Mad Bomber.” The first bomb was found on a window sill of a Consolidated Edison power plant before it went off. Inside…

  • 214: Edwin Booth, America’s Greatest Actor of the 19th Century

    Today is the birthday of the man, considered by some to be the greatest American actor of the 19th century, Edwin Booth. Here are some things you may not have known about him. Edwin Booth was born in Bel Air, Maryland in 1833. He was the illegitimate son of Junius Brutus Booth, who was also…

  • 213: Grace Kelly, Princess Grace of Monaco

    Today would have been the 86th birthday of actress Grace Kelly, later Princess Grace of Monaco. Here are some things you may not have known about Kelly and the Principality of Monaco. Grace Kelly was born to a wealthy family in Philadelphia. Her father won three Olympic gold medals in rowing and was a Philadelphia…

  • 212: Get Your Kicks on Route 66

    On this date in 1926, the United States Numbered Highway System was established. Here are some things you may not know about highways in the United States, including the legendary Route 66. The U.S. Highway system was the main network of roads across the country before the Interstate Highway System. The numbering system is fairly…

  • The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald

    Today is the 40th anniversary of the sinking of the Great Lakes freighter the Edmund Fitzgerald, which was immortalized in song by Gordon Lightfoot. Here are some things you may not have known about the ship, its sinking and the song. When it was launched, the Edmund Fitzgerald was the largest ship on the Great…

  • 210: Travel Like a President

    On this date in 1906, Theodore Roosevelt became the first American president to travel outside the United States while in office. Here are some facts you may not have known about presidential travel. Roosevelt visited Panama to inspect the construction of the Panama Canal. Of the 17 days spent out of the country, 14 of…

  • 209: First College Football Game is Played

    On this date in 1869, the first college football game was played between what is now Princeton and Rutgers in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Here are some things you may not have known about the early history of football. In addition to being considered the first American football game, some see it as the first…

  • 208: Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot

    Today marks the 410th anniversary of the failure of the Gunpowder Plot, an assassination attempt against King James I of England. Here are a few things you may not have known about what has come to be celebrated as Guy Fawkes Night. A group of English Catholics planned to blow up the House of Lords…

  • 207: The First (and Only) Flight of the Spruce Goose

    On this date in 1947, the Hughes H-4 Hercules made its first and only flight. Here are some things you may not have known about the airplane known as the Spruce Goose. Henry J. Kaiser and Howard Hughes teamed up in 1942 to build the largest aircraft of its time. Kaiser, a shipbuilder, wanted a…