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Posted by: Arlene Balkansky
In 1860, the 3rd edition of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass received a wildly varying reception in newspapers. At opposite ends of the spectrum, it was advertised as “America’s First Distinctive Poem” and reviewed as “armless, witless, pointless.” The advertisement was from the volume’s …
Posted in: Digitized Newspapers, Newspapers, Walt Whitman
Posted by: Megan Halsband
This is a guest post by Nathan Yarasavage, a digital projects specialist in the Serial and Government Publications Division. This week we celebrate an exciting milestone. Chronicling America, the online searchable database of historic U.S. newspapers, now includes more than 15 million pages! Since 2005, libraries, historical societies, and other institutions throughout the country have …
Posted in: Digitized Newspapers
Posted by: Amber Paranick
Cyclist Marshall W. “Major” Taylor was the fastest man on earth. He won thousands of dollars as a bicycle racer and became the most famous African-American in the United States. This was the golden age of cycling, and bicycle racing was a premier sporting event. Thousands of fans packed indoor velodromes to watch races and many …
Posted in: African American History, Biography, Digitized Newspapers, Newspapers, Sports
Posted by: Heather Thomas
Monkeys and woodchucks and cats, oh my! Discover all the critters great and small who made their contribution to the history of aeronautics. A gray tabby named Kiddo was the first cat to attempt to cross the Atlantic in 1910. The cat stowed away in a lifeboat on the airship America before takeoff, leading to the …
Posted in: Animals, Digitized Newspapers, Newspapers
Posted by: Megan Halsband
This year May the Fourth, a day to revel in all things Star Wars, coincides with Free Comic Book Day, an annual celebration of comic books! And on this May the Fourth, we’re particularly remembering Chewbacca actor Peter Mayhew who died on April 30, 2019. He made Chewbacca one of the best-loved Star Wars characters. …
Posted in: Biography, Comic Books, Crime, World War I