As I mentioned earlier, I’ve been reading Leaders by Richard Nixon (Warner Books, 1982). It included an introductory chapter, chapters on Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle, Douglas MacArthur and Shigeru Yoshida, Konrad Adenauer, Nikita Khrushchev, and Zhou Enlai, plus a chapter on a collection of lesser leaders, like India’s Nehru and Egypt’s Nasser. Finally was
I thought this would be a fun subject to investigate, espceially since the Federal Reserve is considering raising interest rates. Our dollar sign most likely dates back to 15-century Spain. When King Ferdinand II of Aragon took Spain from the Moors in 1492, he added two ornate columns to his coat of arms because he
Early in World War II, a Royal Air Force pilot wrote an explanation for some of the mechanical glitches that plagued airplanes — they were being caused by little creatures called Gremlins. That pilot was Roald Dahl, later to be a famous children’s author. His tale came to the attention of Walt Disney, and pre-production work
I’m a Disney collector, and I’ll be first to admit we sometimes do strange things. Not that they seem strange then, but looking back in hindsight, they can seem, well, just kind of weird. For example, I attended the Official Disneyana Convention at Walt Disney World, September 6-10, 1995. If you never attended any of these conventions
Book collecting long predates the printing press. Egyptian papyri and ancient Greek and Roman manuscripts were prized by medieval collectors. Thomas Jefferson amassed a large library in the formative years of this country. If you find yourself being drawn to collecting books for the first time, here are some basic facts that can serve as
Friendship “Hello,” said she. “Who are you?” “I’m a pilot,” said he. “I fly big airplanes with lots of people on them all over the world.” “Where do you live?” said she. “I really don’t have a home,” said he. “Would you like to come live with me?” “Yes, thank you, I
Paris had the Eiffel Tower, the U.S. had… Well, there were some outlandish proposals, like a tower with cars attached to thick rubber bands, a forerunner of bungee jumping. Gustave Eiffel himself proposed an even bigger tower. The World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago was being planned without a central landmark. The architect in charge, Daniel
Earlier I had written about the dangerous chemical dihydrogen monoxide, which is actually a hoax to embarrass people about their ignorance of science — dihydrogen monoxide is the chemical name for water. (Do you remember from high school chemistry that di is two and mono is one? Thus two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom
I used to work for a publishing company, Tomart Corporation (www.tomart.com), that specialized in books and magazines on “contemporary collectibles” — items from the past 50 or so years. If that sounds different to you, you’re not alone. When most people think of collectibles, they think of antiques, coins, stamps, and other traditional categories. But
I have always been fascinated by astronomy. I had a modest telescope in high school, but all I could find in it was the Moon. As an adult, I tried again, buying a simple instrument for about $100. I think I saw Venus this time. I’ve investigated the more expensive telescopes that find celestial bodies