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Archive: June 2014 (10 Posts)

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Bringing the “Banner” to Light

Posted by: Erin Allen

The story of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” for many decades, seemed as murky as the smoky haze over Fort McHenry on the morning two centuries ago when Francis Scott Key wrote the lyrics that still inspire a nation. No one knew for sure who wrote the music. No one fully understood the circumstances of the tune’s creation (but, no, it wasn’t a …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Let’s Get Pinning!

Posted by: Erin Allen

Today the Library of Congress launched its own Pinterest account, continuing efforts to make educational, historical and cultural resources available to web users across many platforms. With Pinterest, the Library can share visual content with a wide audience, allowing them to also curate their own collections featuring the same content by creating and managing “boards” …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Pic of the Week: Octavia Spencer

Posted by: Erin Allen

  Schools were from at-risk communities, and Spencer shared her own personal story growing up with dyslexia in a very small town in Alabama. The actress won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Minny in the 2011 film “The Help.” “Randi Rhodes, Ninja Detective: The Case of the Time-Capsule Bandit” is …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

See It Now: Happy Bloomsday

Posted by: Erin Allen

Several years ago I took a whirlwind tour of Ireland, which included a few days in Dublin. One of my most memorable experiences was taking a literary pub crawl through the city. Throughout the evening, the actor tour guides led us in the footsteps of James Joyce, Samuel Beckett and Oscar Wilde, among others. While …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Rare Map on Display at Library Scored Some “Firsts”

Posted by: Wendi Maloney

Engraver Abel Buell “came out of nowhere,” at least in terms of cartography, when he printed a United States map in 1784. “He’d never done a map before,” says Edward Redmond of the Library’s Geography and Map Division. Nonetheless, Buell set records. He was the first U.S. citizen to print a map of the United …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

A Book Festival for the Bird(er)s

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

David Allen Sibley – yes, the author of the recently updated “Sibley Guide to Birds,” that indispensable handbook on all things feathered – will appear at this year’s National Book Festival, Saturday, August 30 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. In addition to this most highly respected ornithologist, we will also welcome Sally Satel, …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

InRetrospect: May 2014 Blogging Edition

Posted by: Erin Allen

Inside Adams: Science, Technology and Business Oh, Oology! Caliology and oology are the study of bird nests and eggs, respectively. In the Muse: Performing Arts Blog Best Buddies, or Just Goethe Friends? Tchaikovsky and Brahms share a birthday, among other things. In Custodia Legis: Law Librarians of Congress I Could Not Accept Your Challenge to …