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Posted by: Meagan Snow
Using materials from the Geography & Map Division's Frederick Doyle Papers, this post explores the role NASA’s Apollo Transforming Printer played in creating maps of the moon from panoramic photographs.
Posted in: 20th century cartography, American History, Celestial Mapping, Geographic Information Science
Posted by: Meagan Snow
North of the Snake River in southeast Washington State sits the Palouse: a region of rolling hills, (somewhat mythical) giant earthworms, and fertile loess soils. This post discusses the unique geology of this region using maps found in the Geography & Map Division.
Posted in: 20th century cartography, American History, Physical Geography
Posted by: Meagan Snow
Learn about the development of the oscillating scan mirror (a key component of Virginia Norwood's multi-spectral scanner), which made Landsat I a success, changing the science of earth observation forever. The development of the oscillating scan mirror is documented in the "Virginia Norwood Papers," a new collection in the Geography & Map Division of the Library of Congress.
Posted in: 20th century cartography, Big Data and Visualization, Geographic Information Science, Physical Geography
Posted by: Meagan Snow
Learn about the early history of the Women's Bureau, including the maps they produced to make the case for establishing standards for women in the workplace.
Posted in: 20th century cartography, American History, Women's History
Posted by: Meagan Snow
Explore the fertile history of America's soil survey maps, which evolved alongside soil science over the course of the 20th century.
Posted in: 20th century cartography, American History, Physical Geography
Posted by: Meagan Snow
This post explores the history of a large spherical globe with only latitude and longitude lines in the collections of the Geography & Map Division.
Posted in: 20th century cartography, American History
Posted by: Meagan Snow
This blog post describes William "Buffalo Bill" Cody's attempt to irrigate Wyoming's Big Horn Basin through maps which detail the area.
Posted in: 19th century cartography, 20th century cartography, American History, Physical Geography
Posted by: Meagan Snow
This blog posts provides an introduction to some early maps produced from images captured by ERTS-1 (later known as Landsat I), the world's first earth-observing satellite.
Posted in: 20th century cartography, Big Data and Visualization, Geographic Information Science
Posted by: Meagan Snow
When Prohibition became law across the United States in 1920, legitimate businesses were no longer allowed to serve alcohol, paving the way for illegal speakeasies and related underground businesses. In Chicago, this meant that criminals like Al Capone and Johnny Torrio fought for control of illegal alcohol distribution within the city, sparking an infamous decade …
Posted in: 20th century cartography