Kenneth C. Davis's Blog, page 129

Don't Know Much About Salman Rushdie

Can you take pride in an anonymous book review? I do.

On today's date, August 15, in 1947, at midnight, India and Pakistan were born. The partition of mostly Hindu India and Islamic Pakistan created decades of war and mistrust.

But that moment also opens Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie's fabulous 1981 novel and one of the great books of our times –a tale of a boy born at the moment of partition, mixing a Dickensian life with magical realism, set against the story of modern India.

When I was st

The Gift of the Meter Maid

She was the town's meter maid. And yes, the Beatles had recently sung about "Lovely Rita." But this lady was not exactly lovely in her uniform. She was a plus-sized meter maid, and she was not "the most comely of maidens." All of that probably made her already unpopular job even more difficult.

But this meter maid also sang in my church choir when I was a teenager. And one day after choir practice, she handed me a book, saying simply: "I think you will like this."

I was about fourteen. And I did

TODAY IN HISTORY: The "Negro Riots" in Watts

It started with a "DWB"– "driving while black." On August 11, 1965, an all-too-frequent stop of a young black man exploded into one of the worst urban riots in American history.

It did not end with a shared beer at the White House.

Where: Watts was a rundown district of shabby houses built near the highway approaching Los Angeles International Airport. Ninety-eight percent black, Watts was stewing in a California heat wave. In the stewpot were all the ingredients of black anger. Poverty. Overcrow

America's Hidden History: A Road Trip

Headed to the usual tourist spots like Boston and St. Augustine? Don't miss these often overlooked landmarks just down the road.

With the summer travel season upon us, many families are gearing up for trips to historic hot spots. Gettysburg, Philadelphia and Mount Vernon are all crowd-pleasers, but there are many other interesting sites that don't always attract throngs. Some are in national parks, some off the beaten path and some in the shadow of more familiar landmarks — literally, just a few

Today in History: The Gulf Of Tonkin Resolution

When Presidents Lie, Thousands Die.

That is today's history lesson on the 45th anniversary of passage of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution by Congress on August 7, 1964. Since the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and Vietnam War might as well be the Punic Wars to some people, here is a quick refresher.

America was already twenty years into its Vietnam commitment when Lyndon Johnson and Kennedy's best and brightest holdovers decided to find a new version of Pearl Harbor. An incident was needed to pull Ameri

Don't Know Much About Hiroshima

"We have discovered the most terrible bomb in the history of the world. It may be the fire destruction prophesied in the Euphrates valley Ersa, after Noah and his fabulous Ark." (Harry Truman, from his diaries, as quoted in The Making of the Atomic Bomb).

Okay, Mr. President. Here's the situation. You're about to invade Japan's main islands. Your best generals say hitting these beaches will mean half a million American casualties or more. Based on horrific battle experience—from Guadalcanal to

"Loving" the 14th Amendment: A Videoblog

Today's videoblog is about the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. Ratified after the Civil War, the 14th Amendment is one of the three "Reconstruction" Amendments and it granted full citizenship rights to former slaves. It also established the very important judicial concepts of "due process of law" and "equal protection." Both of these clauses have been central to some of the most important Supreme Court decisions in recent history including Brown v Board of Education and Roe v Wade.

Here is a

The Exciting Launch of the Don't Know Much About Minutes

Got a minute?

Today I am launching a new venture in the Don't Know Much About series: the "Don't Know Much About Minute."

Starting with today's inaugural videoblog, these short videos are my way of starting a conversation. In just a few, short minutes, we'll bust some myths, reveal some "Hidden History," talk about books, geography, the Bible, holidays. Everything you need to Know! And More. I'll connect the past with the headline events that influence our lives. And we'll have fun doing it.

These

Pop Quiz: How's Your Literary IQ?

It's summer. Do you know where your IQ is?

For most school age kids, summer means vacation, camp, the pool. You know: A few months of fun. "No more teachers, No more books."

But that last part is not true. Summer also means the often dread Summer Reading List. Many parents spend the summer in an endless harangue, telling their kids to read.

But there is actually a good reason for that nag. A recent survey cited by New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof supports the summertime enforced reading co

Don't Know Much About the Brontë Sisters

"I lingered round them, under that benign sky: watched the moths fluttering among the heath and harebells;" (Wuthering Heights, 1847)

Happy Birthday, Emily Brontë! (Born July 30, 1818)

As children, the literary sisters Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë, along with their brother Branwell, created fantasy kingdoms with names like "Gondal" and "Angria," and made them the settings for elaborate, ongoing poems and stories.  This "juvenilia"—a fancy term for the work artists produce in their younger ye