Commerce
Today's amazing fact
The rivalry between shoemakers Adidas and Puma is based on a Nazi family feud. Who knew?
History
History
Tippecanoe and Tyler 2.0
Very old presidential candidate? Check. Campaign presents wealthy presidential candidate as a simple man of the people? Check. Campaign fetishizes presidential candidate's military experience? Check. Campaign focused on insults to the exclusion of issues? Check. Little-known vice-presidential candidate with uncertain party loyalties, chosen purely for balance? Check. William
History
GOP words of wisdom
For the 1916 presidential election, Republican leaders tried to find a candidate who could unite the party, after the Progressive split of 1912 had cost the GOP the presidency. The elders' first choice for a unifier was Elihu Root, who had won the 1912 Nobel Peace Prize and been
History
American freedom
[…] [People emigrated to America] largely to get away—that most simple of motives. To get away. Away from what? In the long run, away from themselves. Away from everything. That's why most people have come to America, and still do come. To get away from everything they are
History
Democratic unity
Tonight's Democratic National Convention lineup is scheduled to include Jimmy Carter and Ted Kennedy. To continue the theme: * Tuesday night will have Walter Mondale and Gary Hart * Wednesday night will have Michael Dukakis and Jesse Jackson * Thursday night will have Bill Clinton and Jerry Brown
History
Newspaper control
Newspapers have a much greater importance in America than they do in Europe. You must not conclude, however, that the press is more free in the New World than in the Old. With us it is the government that watches over and controls the newspapers; in the United States, the
Books
Henry Fairlie
In the post immediately below, I note how good British commentaries on the United States can be. One example: Henry Fairlie was a British journalist who worked in the United States from the mid-1960s until his death in 1990. If you like American political history and ever have the opportunity
Commerce
Old money, Part 2
I find these quotes from Bernstein fascinating because popular history books so often mention money, but so rarely describe what that money was. [The eight-real "Spanish dollar"], which flooded the European currency markets in the sixteenth century, was approximately the same size and weight as the Bohemian thaler—
Books
The effects of World War II
The two best books I have read so far this year are Cultural Amnesia by Clive James and Austerity Britain by David Kynaston. Both books deal at great length with the effects of World War II on their main subjects (for James, the culture of Mitteleuropa; for Kynaston, British daily
History
"Sputnik Mania"
I watched the documentary "Sputnik Mania" at the Hollywood Theatre this afternoon. Using contemporary audio and video clips, the film tells the story of how the United States responded to the launching of the two Soviet Sputnik satellites in 1957. The documentary is a skillful series of dated
Commerce
Old money
The basic unit of currency of the premodern world was remarkably constant: a small gold coin weighing approximately four grams—one-eighth of an ounce—and about the size of a present-day American dime, appearing in various times and places as the French livre, Florentine florin, Spanish or Venetian ducat, Portuguese
History
First as tragedy, then as farce
Many warbloggers and other assorted Iraq-war supporters fancy themselves to be followers of Winston Churchill. And one of the most widely read biographies of Churchill is the two-volume hagiography by William Manchester. (As a boy, I read the first volume. For boys, it's a good history.) I had