Kenneth C. Davis's Blog, page 125

Don't Know Much About Edith Wharton

Born today in New York City in 1862: Edith Newbold Jones, who achieved fame as Edith Wharton, the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1921 (for The Age of Innocence).

Romance, scandal and ruin among New York socialites—long before this was the stuff of People, and "Gossip Girl," it was the subject matter for Edith Wharton's most famous works. In such novels as The Age of Innocence (1920) and The House of Mirth (1905), Wharton painted detailed, acid portraits of high society l...

Don't Know Much About Roe v. Wade

On January 22, 1973 –37 years ago– the Supreme Court handed down its historic 7-2 decision in the Roe v Wade case, But the arguments have never stopped.

Coincidentally, President Lyndon B. Johnson died the same day. Here is the New York Times front page reports of both stories, with the text of the Roe v Wade story below.

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0122.html#article

Why did "Jane Roe" sue Wade? (Adapted from Don't Know Much About History)
There are few issues more...

Don't Know Much About George Washington

When I was a kid, we got two holidays: one for Lincoln's Birthday and another for Washington's. Now, we have to make do with a three day weekend in February for Presidents Day.

Think you know about the Father of Our Country?

This video contains a few things that might surprise you.

Want to learn a little more?

Here is the website for the National Park Service's Birthplace of Washington site:

http://www.nps.gov/gewa/index.htm

And here is the National Park Service website for Fort Necessity...

Presidents Day Videoblog #1

When I was a kid, we got two holidays: one for Lincoln's Birthday and another for Washington's. Now, we have to make do with a three day weekend in February for Presidents Day.

Think you know about the Father of Our Country?

This video contains a few things that might surprise you.

Want to learn a little more?

Here is the website for the National Park Service's Birthplace of Washington site:

http://www.nps.gov/gewa/index.htm

And here is the National Park Service website for Fort Necessity...

Don't Know Much About Ben Franklin

Today is the birthday of America's first international celebrity and most consistently interesting Founding Father. Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston on January 17, 1706.

With little formal education, he became a writer, printer, philanthropist, philosopher, political leader and scientist. Franklin, alongside Thomas Jefferson, was probably the best example of the American Enlightenment Man. And, like Jefferson and other men of his times, Benjamin Franklin was skeptical of organized...

Don't Know Much About Benedict Arnold

Why is there a statue of Benedict Arnold's boot?

Years ago, I was asked that question on a radio call-in show and honestly did not know the answer. Nor was I even aware at the time there was such a statue. But there it is — part of the Saratoga National Park in Saratoga, New York. The "boot" is actually anonymous, citing the "most brilliant soldier in the Continental Army." But there is no question it honors American history's greatest villain, born this day in 1741.

The "Boot Monument" is...

Don't Know Much About Jack London

In the appropriate chill of the day, it is worth noting that Jack London, a man who knew cold and wrote about it memorably, was born on this date in 1876. London was certainly one of the writers who got me hooked on books as a young reader.

In fact, in the early 20th century, many American readers went wild for a pair of books by Jack London (1876-1916). First, The Call of the Wild (1903) told the story of Buck, a dog who returns to the ways of his wolf ancestors. Then, London published the ...

A Year of Good Reading

My first post of this New Year is actually a Guest Post.

The very illustrious Bookclubgirl recently asked me to produce a year's worth of recommended Reading for Book Clubs. She posted my guest post on her blog today and you can find it here. I don't belong to any book club, but I am going to try and reread all of my own suggestions as well!

Have a great 2010!

http://www.bookclubgirl.com/book_club_girl/2010/01/kenneth-c-davis-offers-up-a-year-of-book-club-recommendations.html

12 Christmas Myths (12): Some Cold, Hard Facts

Okay. Here comes trouble. I have been writing about the traditions and legends that have grown around Christmas and many of their pagan roots. But here come some cold, hard facts about the Nativity story itself–
It is a comfortable and familiar tale, retold each year in countless churches and reenacted in Charming Christmas pageant tableaux. The birth of the baby Jesus in a rough wooden manger in a stable in Bethlehem, surrounded by Kings and Shepherds.
Only this simple story isn't so...

Twelve Christmas Myths (11): X Marks the Spot

Long before the current round of "War on Christmas" dust-ups began a few years ago, many well-meaning Christians bemoaned the fact that Christ was being "taken out of Christmas." Often they pointed to the use of the shorthand, "Xmas" as a vivid example of the secularization of a very significant day on the Christian calendar. In black and white, the name of Christ was being "crossed out."

But this is a somewhat modern myth or misconception about Christmas that doesn't require too much...