Blaise Pascal (1623-1662), is famous for many achievements in his relatively short life. Many math students have been exposed to the triangle of coefficients known as Pascal’s Triangle. This mathematician and philosopher is also known for Pascal’s wager, the idea that the risks of not believing in God and being denied entrance into heaven are …
Continue reading “Blaise Pascal and the First Public Transit System”
The Lehigh Valley Railroad (LVR) went into service in 1846 in the northeastern US. Its main purpose was to transport anthracite coal from northeastern Pennsylvania to New York City and Philadelphia. By the end of the 19th century, the LVR wanted to get into the passenger train business. There was demand for a route between …
Continue reading “A Brief Overview of The Black Diamond Express”
By the mid-1850s, the city of New York was faced with severe traffic congestion. Engineers and city planners in the metropolis came up with a variety of different ideas to try to solve this problem. Last week’s blog covered an attempt to build a railway underground, an idea which would take several decades to come …
Continue reading “New York City’s 19th Century Elevated Railroad”
Within the US, women identify as liberal more often than men, and that gap is the widest among young men and women, with 44% of women age 18-29 and 25% of young men identifying with the term. Women have played critical roles in liberal movements such as environmentalism, peace, and labor. Nevertheless, many women have …
Continue reading “A Brief Look at Conservative Women’s Activism in the 20th Century”
Many Americans are familiar with the activities of the National Park Service, but there are several other major agencies in the US that oversee various aspects of the environment. One such agency is the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). The USFWS can trace its roots back to the late 1800s. In 1871, Congress created …
Continue reading “What Does the US Fish and Wildlife Service Do?”
In 1920, women earned the right to vote in the United States after a long 72-year fight that started with the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention. The Seneca Falls Convention spurred many other women’s rights conventions across the country, but the Civil War derailed many of the campaigns for a few years, since many of the …
Continue reading “Why Were Wyoming and Utah the First States to Give Women the Vote?”
The Navajo Nation is a Native American reservation that lies on a tract of land that is spread throughout Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico. In total, the nation takes up 71,000 square kilometers (27,413 sq mi) and has a population of around 174,000 based on 2010 census data. The area also contains something toxic: 500 …
Continue reading “Environmental Injustice: A History of Uranium Mining on the Navajo Reservation”
Two major times in US history when women’s movements fought to enact a significant change in women’s standing in society were the fights for suffrage and the battle over the Equal Rights Amendment. On both occasions, the passage of the constitutional amendment required a significant shift in the nation’s values. In addition, there were women’s …
Continue reading “Comparing the Movements for Women’s Suffrage & the Equal Rights Amendment”
A hundred and five years ago, the last captive Carolina parakeet died at the Cincinnati Zoo. This species of parrot was the only one native to the eastern United States. At one time in American history, flocks of 200-300 of these parrots could be seen in forests from Florida to New York. The parrot has …
Continue reading “Carolina Parakeet: Lost Parrot of the Eastern US”
Construction on the Panama Canal began in 1881 as a project directed by France, and was completed in 1914 by the US. This 51-mile (82 km) waterway has served as a major facilitator of trans-oceanic trade since its existence. But before there was the Panama Canal, there was the Panama Canal Railway, a form of …
Continue reading “A Brief History of the Panama Canal Railway”
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