In an earlier post I mentioned that the bronze doors greeting our patrons depicted the history of the written word through the sculpted figures. Perhaps, like me, you wondered how those figures actually represented the history of the written word and whether they were mythological or real. While researching this building we ran across an […]
Yesterday I watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade from beginning to end for the very first time. I’ve always caught parts of it, but when I lived in California it just started too early for me. There were bits of trivia about the parade provided throughout the broadcast that piqued my curiosity so I went […]
At the Thanksgiving table, some reach for dark meat, others reach for white meat- my grandfather reaches for the neck! In the sprit of Thanksgiving, and for all the inquisitive minds out there, I thought it might be helpful to explain why turkeys have dark and white meat. Generally speaking, the meats we eat are muscles […]
No, not the financial crisis of 1869*, but what is considered by many to be the biggest shopping day of the holiday season! The day after Thanksgiving, often referred to as “Black Friday,” is a day that many retailers kick off their holiday sale season. One myth is that this day is when retailers begin […]
Have you ever wondered what the difference is between a sweet potato and yam? I have. I found myself in a market looking for fresh sweet potatoes for a sweet potato salad recipe. I searched the produce aisle, without success. So I asked the produce manager for help. He told me to use the garnet […]
I bet most people don’t know that an estimated 40% of the Library’s books and journals are science and business materials. The significance of this can be traced back to our founding father, Thomas Jefferson, who sold his personal library to Congress in 1815 for $23,950. Jefferson collected titles from around the world in all […]
In 1926 Congress passed a resolution for an annual observance of the end of World War I. Tomorrow, November 11, was initially known as “Armistice Day” and became a national holiday in 1938. The name was changed to Veterans Day by President Eisenhower in 1954 as a way to honor all who served in American […]
We regularly receive requests for federal statistics and knowing where to look can often be a daunting task! With so many agencies producing numbers you might ask: Where do I begin? Can I get them over a period of time? Whether it is population numbers for Livermore, CA for a business plan, or employment numbers […]
Parking! We city dwellers often ask, “Is there parking?” before even venturing out the door. For so many of us, the statement “a really great parking space can totally move you to tears” is right on spot. On Sunday (November 1, 2009) the Washington Post’ s Philip Kennicott reported (On the spot: Putting parking in its […]
Being new to the DC area and a new employee here at the Library of Congress, I have been very curious about the buildings, their architecture and history. This building, built as an annex, was completed and opened to the public in 1939. It was initially named The Annex building. On June 13, 1980 it […]