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08
Jun
The song is well known for its cryptic lyrics that have long been the subject of curiosity and speculation. Although McLean dedicated the American Pie album to Buddy Holly, none of the musicians in the plane crash are identified by name in the song itself. When asked what ‘American Pie’ meant, McLean replied, ‘It means I never have to work again.’
03
Jun
“The U.S. Camel Corps (possibly a retronym) was a mid-nineteenth century experiment by the United States Army in using camels as pack animals in the Southwest United States.
While the camels proved to be hardy and well-suited to travel through the region, the Army declined to adopt them for military use. Horses were frightened of the unfamiliar animals, and their unpleasant dispositions made them difficult to manage.”
pictured: a drawing of camels being unloaded along the Mississippi River.
22
May
Contrary to popular belief, Grant Wood intended the figures in his painting to be a father and his spinster daughter. Wood used his own sister and their family dentist as his models (pictured).
20
May
“When the nation’s chiropractors descended on Chicago for a weeklong convention in May 1956, they threw a beauty contest. The judges crowned Lois Conway, 18, Miss Correct Posture. Second place went to Marianne Caba, 16, according to an account in the Chicago Tribune. Ruth Swenson, 26, came in third.”
21
Apr
The Boston Terrier was the first American breed of dog admitted to the American Kennel Club (1893), making it the first breed of dog to have originated in the United States.
Click to see 50 adorable pictures of Boston Terriers!
16
Apr
In honor of doing one’s taxes.
15
Apr
Today is the 101st anniversary of the Titanic disaster. The official number of survivors was 710, the last of whom died in 2009.
Initial reports were confused, leading some newspapers to report that the Titanic was being towed to port.
(Source: Wikipedia)
24
Mar
On this day in 1958, Elvis Presley was drafted into the US Military.
“Fellow soldiers have attested to Presley’s wish to be seen as an able, ordinary soldier, despite his fame, and to his generosity. He donated his Army pay to charity, purchased TV sets for the base, and bought an extra set of fatigues for everyone in his outfit.”
17
Mar
![On this day in 1973, “The Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph Burst of Joy [was] taken, depicting a former prisoner of war being reunited with his family.”
Burst of Joy is a Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph by Associated Pressphotographer Slava “Sal” Veder, taken on March 17, 1973 at Travis Air Force Base inCalifornia.[1][2] The photograph came to symbolize the end of United States involvement in the Vietnam War, and the prevailing sentiment that military personnel and their families could begin a process of healing after enduring the horrors of war.
POWs leaving the prison camps in North Vietnam left on the American Lockheed C-141 Starlifter strategic airlift aircraft nicknamed the Hanoi Taxi. On March 17 the plane landed at Travis Air Force Base in California. Even though there were only 20 POWs aboard the plane almost 400 family members turned up for the homecoming. Veder was part of big press showing and remembers that, “You could feel the energy and the raw emotion in the air,” he said.[3] Veder then rushed to the makeshift photo developing station in the ladies room of the Air Base washrooms, United Press International were in the men’s.[3]
The photograph depicts United States Air Force Lt. Col. Robert L. Stirm being reunited with his family, after spending more than five years in captivity as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam. Stirm was shot down over Hanoi on October 27, 1967, while leading a flight of F-105son a bombing mission, and not released until March 14, 1973. The centerpiece of the photograph is Stirm’s 15-year-old daughter Lorrie, who is excitedly greeting her father with outstretched arms, as the rest of the family approaches directly behind her.
Despite outward appearances, the reunion was an unhappy one for Stirm. Three days before he arrived in the United States, the same day he was released from captivity, Stirm received a letter from his wife Loretta informing him that their relationship was over…All of the family members depicted in the picture received copies of it after Burst of Joy was announced as the winner of the Pulitzer Prize. They all display it prominently in their homes, except the Stirm patriarch, who says he cannot bear to look at it.”](http://24.media.tumblr.com/ee4f212b04348239f43494510724b7bb/tumblr_mju36jG71K1qbfo0do1_400.jpg)
On this day in 1973, “The Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph Burst of Joy [was] taken, depicting a former prisoner of war being reunited with his family.”
Burst of Joy is a Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph by Associated Pressphotographer Slava “Sal” Veder, taken on March 17, 1973 at Travis Air Force Base inCalifornia.[1][2] The photograph came to symbolize the end of United States involvement in the Vietnam War, and the prevailing sentiment that military personnel and their families could begin a process of healing after enduring the horrors of war.
POWs leaving the prison camps in North Vietnam left on the American Lockheed C-141 Starlifter strategic airlift aircraft nicknamed the Hanoi Taxi. On March 17 the plane landed at Travis Air Force Base in California. Even though there were only 20 POWs aboard the plane almost 400 family members turned up for the homecoming. Veder was part of big press showing and remembers that, “You could feel the energy and the raw emotion in the air,” he said.[3] Veder then rushed to the makeshift photo developing station in the ladies room of the Air Base washrooms, United Press International were in the men’s.[3]
The photograph depicts United States Air Force Lt. Col. Robert L. Stirm being reunited with his family, after spending more than five years in captivity as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam. Stirm was shot down over Hanoi on October 27, 1967, while leading a flight of F-105son a bombing mission, and not released until March 14, 1973. The centerpiece of the photograph is Stirm’s 15-year-old daughter Lorrie, who is excitedly greeting her father with outstretched arms, as the rest of the family approaches directly behind her.
Despite outward appearances, the reunion was an unhappy one for Stirm. Three days before he arrived in the United States, the same day he was released from captivity, Stirm received a letter from his wife Loretta informing him that their relationship was over…All of the family members depicted in the picture received copies of it after Burst of Joy was announced as the winner of the Pulitzer Prize. They all display it prominently in their homes, except the Stirm patriarch, who says he cannot bear to look at it.”
12
Mar
Times Square, NY. 1911.
