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Cover of author Ainissa Ramirez's book, Spark: Jim West's Electrifying Adventures in Creating the Microphone, illustrated by Setor Fiadzigbey.

“Spark: Jim West’s Electrifying Adventures in Creating the Microphone” with Ainissa Ramirez on January 29, 2026

Posted by: Nate Smith

Join the Library of Congress Science Section on Thursday, January 29, 2026, at 2 p.m. (Eastern Time), for a virtual conversation with author, science communicator and past Kluge Chair in Science and Society, Ainissa Ramirez, about her new children’s picture book, “Spark: Jim West’s Electrifying Adventures in Creating the Microphone” (Candlewick Press, 2025).

Detail illustration of the interior of Pompeii ruins looking through an arch.

Endless Fascination: Charles-François Mazois’ Ruins of Pompeii

Posted by: Nate Smith

This post gives a brief description of the 79 CE eruption of Mount Vesuvius on the Bay of Naples, which destroyed several nearby cities. It goes on to focus on a four-volume work, one of first comprehensive studies of the site, which includes illustrated plates of sculptures and other artwork. This work also led to increased scholarship of and tourism to the area into the present day.

Image of Capitalsaurus Court street sign with autumn leaves in the background

A Dinosaur on Capitol Hill?

Posted by: Nate Smith

Washington D.C. has a limited but fascinating history of dinosaurs. The "Capitalsaurus" is a controversial dinosaur, which has been debated over for more than a century. But, why are there so few dinosaurs found in D.C. or on the East Coast generally?

Cover illustration from The Ebony Cookbook: A Date with a Dish, 1962.

(Re)Discovering Freda De Knight and Her 1948 Cookbook, “A Date with a Dish”

Posted by: Nate Smith

Many Black home cooks may have on their bookcase, or have seen in their mother's collection, a copy of "The Ebony Cookbook: Date with a Dish." This cookbook was the creation of Freda De Knight, who was the first food editor for "Ebony," and author of the monthly food column “A Date with a Dish,” which premiered in Ebony in 1946.