Upscaled Film From WWI

Film footage from WWI that has been cleaned, upscaled, increased in framerate, colorized, etc.

Apologies if this is boring to you. I saw it and was struck, once again, at how close this is to time travel.

An Update on the Status of Jabez Rockwell's Powder Horn

 Ever since I reported Jabez Rockwell's powder horn as missing from Valley Forge, I know everyone has been on pins and needles waiting to hear where to find it. I now have an answer.

After being given a contact in the government(?) to ask, I sent an email. And after waiting for them to find my email in their SPAM folder and respond, I can report...

The Jabez Rockwell powder horn is currently on loan for the 250th Revolutionary War special exhibit, “Call to Arms: The Soldier and the Revolutionary War." This exhibit will run from June 14, 2025, through July 2027 and is being displayed in the National Museum of the U.S. Army (NMUSA) located at Ft. Belvoir, VA. National Museum of the United States Army.

That's bad news for me but good news for all the people in Virginia looking to view that particular item (maybe 1 person, maybe as many as 2). Well, June to July is a while but I can re-try sometime after July, maybe. Oh wait... July 2027.

Alright then. Enjoy it, Virginians.

If you'd like to learn the story of Washington and Jabez Rockwell, click here.

Happy Birthday Glenn Miller

  

Happy Birthday to Glenn Miller who was born this day in 1901.

When the G.I.s of World War II had a night on the town and filled the dance halls, they were dancing to Miller's "Moonlight Serenade" (above).

Glenn Miller was the first musician to make a gold record ("Chattanooga Choo Choo").

Having become a giant star, he served as a band leader in World War II. On December 15th of 1944 he boarded an airplane from London to Paris and was never seen again.

 

Happy Birthday George Washington

 

In my life I have visited Valley Forge countless times but one day it struck me that none of those visits had been in the Winter, and Winter is at the heart of the story of the place. Having decided to make my first Winter visit, I nonetheless kept putting it off until Winter lifted and I had missed my chance. Then I waited for next Winter and then Winter came and I continued to put it off.

But when it came to the point where George Washington's birthday was coming up on Saturday, I had to pull the trigger. Visiting in the Winter on George Washington's birthday was too fitting. So I visited Valley Forge and, for the first time, visited George Washington's headquarters. The people there tell me the wood railing on the stairs is still original so I've now used a railing that George Washington also used.

Aside from visiting in the Winter and honoring the birthday, my other goal was to see the powder horn of Jabez Rockwell. I did a few laps around the museum and didn't see it. When I asked the Park Rangers where it was, they looked at me like I had two heads. No one knew where it was and so that objective ultimately failed. Turning to AI to locate it, it seems to be one of those cases where you get a completely confident answers that are nonetheless completely wrong. One AI answer does tell me this though:

The horn maintains an honored place within the historic collections of Valley Forge National Historical Park.

Oh, does it? Ok, show me. Searching for the horn on the park's website doesn't even return any results. A famous artifact that's nowhere to be seen and not worth mentioning? A "National Treasure" level heist is afoot.

So the final twist of this story is that the Park Rangers actually gave me contact info in case I want to actually call some people up to track this mystery further. Very strange. I may be enough of a loser to do that.

If you'd like to read the story of George Washington, Jabez Rockwell and his powder horn, you can do that here.

Jean Shepherd - History is All Around You

 

Why Do Americans Drive on the Right Side of the Road?

Why do Americans drive on the right side of the road? Because it's convention.

Why did it become convention? Because the American highway system is based on, and originated from, the Pennsylvania Turnpike in the 1700s and 1800s.

Why did people on the Pennsylvania Turnpike drive on the right side of the road in the 1700s? Because they were predominantly the Pennsylvania Dutch driving Conestoga wagons - Conestoga wagons were invented by Mennonites and get their name from the Conestoga River).

Why would using Conestoga wagons cause driving on the right side? Conestoga wagons were designed to have a large lever, a brake, on their left side. "Teamsters" would walk along the left side next to the handle or stand on a pullout board with the handle in close reach. Naturally, being on the left side of the wagon, the convention was to drive on the right side.

Why was the lever on the left side of the wagon? I don't know that we can know that. It seems there are two likely possibilities here: it's either because controlling a team of horses/oxen from the left side was already convention (because most people are right-handed and it's easier that way) or it's because most people are right-handed and it's easier to operate the brake lever that way.

So there you have it: Americans drive on the right side of the road because the brake on the Conestoga wagon was on the left side in the 1700s and 1800s.

It is interesting to note that after 200 years of history, after all the technological innovation of the Industrial Age, we are still operating a large brake lever with our right hand, now known as the emergency brake.

The Johnstown Flood

In 5th grade, for some reason, we did an entire history module on the Johnstown Flood. I remember it being harrowing, dark and depressing. And it was morbid. And depressing. I mention "depressing" twice because depression was a new phenomenon in 5th grade so it has particular noteworthiness. I have no idea why we did it except to say that in the 5th grade, any topic is as valid as any other so why not?

It should therefore come as no surprise that I officially have no particular interest in the Johnstown Flood. But being a huge fan of author David McCullough, I read his book "The Johnstown Flood" and it IS great. That McCullough can sure spin a yarn and particularly the way he synthesizes huge amounts of research into a digestible story is so impressive.

If you're curious about the subject or are looking for a good book, I recommend it.

Sullivan Ballou's Letter

 Read a letter by Civil War soldier, Sullivan Ballou to his wife as he departed for battle. Ballou would die a week later at the Battle of Bull Run.

A Brief History of Ice

The Last Words of Presidents

The last words of every president.

Serious Jibber-Jabber - Ken Burns

Conan sits down and talks to Documentarian Ken Burns ("The Civil War", "Baseball", "Lewis and Clark", etc.) about speeches, Lincoln, Presidential History and the history of our nation.

I've said this about other interviews in the past but I'll say it again because it's true.... an hour-long interview with a Documentarian is a big commitment but it really is worth it. It's a great interview.

The Nerdiest Moment Ever

I was lying on the couch watching (I think) the History Channel over the weekend when a commercial came on for an upcoming special. "Did you know two U.S. Presidents were avid skinny dippers?" To which I replied (yes, I spoke out loud to the television), "John Quincy Adams and Theodore Roosevelt".

Now, I wasn't making a joke (to my tv) and I wasn't venturing a guess. I knew the actual two presidents to which they're referring. That's extreme nerdity (good or bad). Nobody should really know that offhand.

But I've come this far so I might as well go all the way....

I object to the term "skinny dipping" in this instance. It's a bit misleading. "Skinny dipping" is something high school kids do during games of "Truth or Dare"; it's something "Stiffler" would do in "American Pie 8: The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull". John Q. Adams and Teddy Roosevelt swam nude outdoors for exercise and health (it was believed that the shock of cold air and/or cold water was invigorating and good for one's constitution). Let's not degrade their legacy with stupid terms. Next they'll be saying that Archimedes yelled, "Eureka!" and went streaking.