| By J. Robert Parks | Unless scientists change the course of history (Galileo, Albert Einstein) or are fortunate to have a discovery that gets named after them (Werner Heisenberg, Daniel Bernoulli), few of them become household names. So it’s not surprising that even highly educated people might not have a clue who Donald C. … Read more
| By J. Robert Parks | China has cultivated a civilization that sees itself in historical terms, and its leaders often justify their decisions by recalling the country’s history. That history stretches over millennia, but the People’s Republic of China was only founded seventy-five years ago this week, on October 1, 1949. Educators and librarians … Read more
| By J. Robert Parks | The country of Haiti has been independent for more than two centuries, but for much of that time its people have suffered tremendously. They have been victims of hurricanes, earthquakes, foreign occupiers, dictators, and possibly worst of all, political chaos. In 1994, Haiti was in the midst of such … Read more
| By J. Robert Parks | Annelies Marie Frank, better known as Anne Frank, has become one of the most famous if not the most famous victim of the Holocaust. In August 1944, however, she was just a fifteen-year-old Jewish girl hiding with her family in the concealed rooms of an Amsterdam building, hoping against … Read more
| BY J. Robert Parks | The Turing test and the Turing machine are often mentioned in the history of computers and technology. Alan Turing, the inventor behind those ideas and many others, is less well known, however. This week marks the seventieth anniversary of his death at the young age of 41, when Turing, … Read more
| By J. Robert Parks | Ludwig van Beethoven’s final Ninth Symphony is one of the most famous works of classical music. Its fourth movement in particular, which includes the stirring choral arrangement of Friedrich von Schiller’s “Ode to Joy,” has become a hallmark of movies, commercials, and even ringtones. The symphony was first performed … Read more
| By J. Robert Parks | The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, better known as NATO was founded seventy-five years ago this week, on April 4, 1949. A response to both World War II and the growing Cold War, the organization was designed to bind Europe and the United States closer together and to provide a … Read more
| By J. Robert Parks | Many of the great archaeological finds are made through careful planning, as researchers and archaeologists determine where they are likely to find something and then explore and dig until they do. Other finds, however, happen through sheer happenstance. Such was the case with one of the greatest archaeological discoveries … Read more
| By J. Robert Parks | Although George Washington may be known as the father of his country, Simón Bolívar is known as the liberator of his continent—South America, in his case. It was 200 years ago this week, on February 10, 1824, that Bolívar became Peru’s ruler after liberating it from Spanish colonial control. … Read more
| By J. Robert Parks | Nelson Mandela was one of the most important figures of the twentieth century. As one of the leaders of the African National Congress (ANC), he pushed for an end to the racist system of apartheid in South Africa. Then, as a political prisoner for 27 years, he continued to … Read more