It ain’t easy creating your own nation, and here’s the history to prove it.
It ain’t easy creating your own nation, and here’s the history to prove it.
Tag: history
The United States of winners
“The United States of winners.”
We didn’t fight hard for our freedom on that summer day in 1776 so we could go ahead and be mediocre. We wanted it so badly because we had lofty goals to be a nation of winners, people who excelled at everything we tried. We wanted to become powerful and prosperous so that we wouldn’t have to rely on anyone else, ever again. And we knew that being prosperous would make us generous. We wanted to win at that, too.
And from there, we went on to win at all kinds of stuff, and we did it without apologizing. Charles Lindbergh didn’t land in Paris and apologize for getting there first. We didn’t have a space race with the Soviet Union to see who could get there last. Bruce Jenner doesn’t have an Olympic gold medal (and two inexplicable earrings) because he’s a loser.
Our desire to win has made us who we are.
And it is for this reason that, right now, the United States is about to develop multiple private companies capable of putting humans into space, while every other country in the world that has tried it can barely manage to come up with one option.
The map that named the New World
Librarians in Germany announced today the discovery of a lost copy of the map that named the New World, hidden between the pages of a book for 200 years.
Retired astronaut Alan Poindexter has been killed in a jet ski accident.
Tragedy: Retired astronaut Alan Poindexter has been killed in a jet ski accident.
It appears the Easter Island statues did walk the eleven miles from the quarry where they were carved.
It appears the Easter Island statues did walk the eleven miles from the quarry where they were carved — as believed by natives. With video.
Charting the relative economic strength of the world’s most powerful countries over the past 2000 years.
Charting the relative economic strength of the world’s most powerful countries over the past 2000 years.
The article cites 1800 and the beginning of the Industrial Revolution as a key moment in this history. I would also note that 1800 is about the time that freedom and Adam Smith’s ideas of economic liberty took hold in both North American and Europe.
Glass jewellery believed to have been made by Roman craftsmen has been found in an ancient tomb in Japan.
Glass jewellery believed to have been made by Roman craftsmen has been found in an ancient tomb in Japan.
The mystery for archeologists and historians now is this: How did this Roman jewelry get there?
A walk across the Brooklyn Bridge
An evening pause: This is something every visitor to New York should try to do. The first time I did it was back in the mid-1970s during my college days. It was around 2 am in the morning when we started from Brooklyn. We crossed to Manhattan, had a meal at a 24 hour Chinese restaurant in Chinatown, then walked back, watching the sunrise over Brooklyn.
Congress has pulled all funding for the Eisenhower memorial, the design of which is strongly opposed by the Eisenhower family.
Congress has pulled all funding for the Eisenhower memorial, the design of which is strongly opposed by the Eisenhower family.
Shuttle prototype Enterprise was damaged on Sunday while being transported by barge to its New York City museum home.
The shuttle prototype Enterprise was damaged on Sunday while being transported by barge to its New York City museum home.
A fascinating look at the space race and what the future held, written in 1959.
A fascinating look at the space race and what the future held, written in 1959.
The article, reprinted by Forbes, is amazingly detailed, optimistic, yet also cool-headed about the future. For example, consider this quote about the future of manned spaceflight:
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Something caused the Earth to bombarded with cosmic rays in 775 AD but scientists have no idea what.
Something caused the Earth to bombarded with cosmic rays in 775 AD but scientists have no idea what.