There once was a guy named George Pullman. He invented the railroad sleeping car synonymous with his name. It was the perfect idea for right after the Civil War, when the American railroad system was exploding. The Pullman Car was literally a ‘hotel on wheels’ which offered fine dining, sleeping…

On the afternoon of August 27, 1776, along the east bank of Gowanus Creek in Brooklyn, approximately 400 American colonial soldiers stood witnessing their country being overrun by 20,000 soldiers of the British Empire. These men were part of the First Maryland Regiment, which had been raised by that colony…

Who of you is still doing the New York Times crossword puzzle on Sundays? Good on ya, and good luck with that.  But have you ever thought about creating one? Herewith an insider’s guide to getting one published: To increase your chances of getting accepted by puzzle master Will Shortz, include…

The headline is not a typo… In the 1920’s, Henry Ford changed the face of industry with the assembly line. By automating the manufacturing process, he was able to turn out automobiles at an astounding rate, and produce cars that were affordable to the average family. But he also created…

Yesterday was the anniversary of the signing of the 14th Amendment in 1868. It’s in the news because it’s the law that established birthright citizenship in the United States. But it’s also important for several other things it did in the wake of the Civil War to address the legacy…

On June 28, 1776, five men from the New Jersey colony arrived in Philadelphia. They were Abraham Clark, a lawyer and surveyor from Elizabethtown; John Hart, a large landowner from Hunterdon County; Francis Hopkinson, a lawyer and musician born in Philadelphia; Richard Stockton, a lawyer from Princeton, and John Witherspoon,…

On June 28, 1776, five men from the New Jersey colony arrived in Philadelphia. They were Abraham Clark, a lawyer and surveyor from Elizabethtown; John Hart, a large landowner from Hunterdon County; Francis Hopkinson, a lawyer and musician born in Philadelphia; Richard Stockton, a lawyer from Princeton, and John Witherspoon,…

The latest headlines got you feeling blue? Well, I’ve got a very small bit of good news. It’s astronomical, political, etymological and cultural. Ready? You may recall from a previous post the tortured history of what today we call a “Blue Moon,” and it involves at least two definitions of…

On May 8, 1776, two massive vessels of the British Royal Navy, the HMS Roebuck and HMS Liverpool, entered the Delaware Bay. Between the two ships, they carried a total of 72 guns.   They also carried a lot of men. And those men needed a lot of water. Which…

I always knew my stepfather Tony was a bit nuts. He entered our lives in 1972, when he married my mother and took responsibility for raising six school-aged children and paying two expensive mortgages in Westchester County. But just two years into this arrangement, he bailed on his high-paying Manhattan…