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Posted by: Erin Allen
On this day in 1843, the Charles Dickens classic “A Christmas Carol” was published. Or was it? While researching the book’s history, there appeared to be some confusion over the date, with many sources confirming December 19 as the day Ebenezer Scrooge was introduced to readers. As it turns out, the book has a somewhat …
Posted in: Books, Collections, History, Today in History
Posted by: Erin Allen
(The following post is by Jeanne Theoharis, distinguished professor of political science at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York and the author of the award-winning “The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks.” A revised edition of the book has just been published with a new introduction drawn from the recently opened papers …
Posted in: Collections, History, Manuscripts, Photos, Today in History
Posted by: Erin Allen
This Thanksgiving, I’ll be celebrating “Friendsgiving” – a thankful gathering for those of us unable to spend the holiday with our families. The veritable smorgasbord of dishes everyone is bringing got me thinking about everyone’s food traditions, since Turkey Day usually revolves around sharing a meal. I imagine my friends’ dishes come from old family …
Posted in: Collections, Jewish American History, Today in History
Posted by: Erin Allen
Until 1897, the Library of Congress was housed in the U.S. Capitol Building itself. Librarian of Congress Ainsworth Rand Spofford (1864–97) was the first to propose that the Library be moved to a dedicated building. He also was instrumental in establishing the copyright law of 1870, which placed the Copyright Office in the Library and …
Posted in: Capitol Hill, Collections, Events, History, News, Newspapers, Thomas Jefferson Building, Today in History, Washington DC
Posted by: Erin Allen
America is full of weird and spooky places, and what better time to highlight some of them than Halloween! The Library’s collections have a wealth of materials on all kinds of topics, so it wasn’t hard to find places worthy of a frightful road trip! Zzyzx (pronounced zye-zex), located in San Bernadino County, California, was …
Posted in: Collections, History, Newspapers, Photos, Today in History
Posted by: Erin Allen
Jumping gigawatts! Today, the future has arrived! If you were around in 1989, Oct. 21, 2015, may have seemed light-years away, and you might have thought we would all be riding around in flying cars or something. Well, your imagination isn’t as far-fetched as you think. On this day, Marty McFly jumped through time to …
Posted in: Collections, Film, Photos, Today in History
Posted by: Erin Allen
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, monthly job gains averaged 235,000 over the last three months. Many of these jobs and industries didn’t even exist 10, 20, even 30 years ago – coder, software engineer, social media strategist, Zumba instructor, to name a few. But, just as new jobs are created, others become completely …
Posted in: Collections, History, Music, Newspapers, Photos, Podcasts, Social Media, Today in History
Posted by: Erin Allen
Editor’s note: This blog has been updated to remove an exterior website as a source of confusing information. This year marks the 150th anniversary of Juneteenth, the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. On June 19, 1865, Major Gen. Gordon Granger led Union soldiers into Galveston, Texas, with …
Posted in: Abraham Lincoln, Civil War, Events, History, Today in History
Posted by: Erin Allen
(The following is a guest post from Taru Spiegel, reference specialist in the Library’s European Division.) Today marks the 200th anniversary of the history-changing Battle of Waterloo in 1815. This engagement ended in the conclusive defeat of Napoleon and his French generals and was a costly victory for the Anglo-Dutch, Belgian and German forces. The …
Posted in: Audiovisual, Books, Collections, Events, History, Today in History, Video