The 30th Olympiad of the Modern Era, aka London 2012, is here! This is the third time London has hosted the Olympics. The first time was in 1908 (4th Olympiad) and the second was in 1948 (14th Olympiad). I thought it would be fun to examine how the Olympics have changed in the past 100 years , so I’m going to …
John Jacob Astor was born July 17, 1763, in Walldorf, Germany (near Heidelberg). He came to the United States after the American Revolution and began trading furs, shipping them to Europe via New York. Business was good, and Astor was well on his way to making his fortune when he got a boost with …
In 2010 Jennifer Harbster, my co-blogger, did a post about ice cream that mentioned the beginning of National Ice Cream Month in 1984, but I ran across this advertisement in Chronicling America that ran in the Washington Times on May 26, 1920. This was long before Ronald Reagan designated July as National Ice Cream Month …
Today’s post is by 2012 Junior Fellow Brian Horowitz of the University of Maryland, College Park. This is Brian’s third year with us (He is continuing his work on the Library’s large collection of Army Technical and Field Manuals). You can read about his work in Art of War…and of Sandwich Making and Stumbled upon in the …
This week I participated in the Science at Risk: Toward a National Strategy for Preserving Online Science meeting hosted by the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIPP). During this two-day meeting the Library’s recently-retired manuscript specialist Len Bruno took us on a journey through the scientific treasures of the Library’s Manuscript Division. On display were items …
Summer is here (in the northern hemisphere) and that means that many of us will be heading to an amusement park for some good ole’ fashioned fun. I am a traditionalist when it comes to the thrill rides in amusement parks. I prefer the roller coasters that allow me to sit facing forward. Riding backwards …
The Adams Building is often a topic of blog posts at Inside Adams and I thought it was time for a post about the building’s various names. When the Adams Building was opened to the public in 1939 it was called the Annex. This was its name until 1976 when it was given a new …
Today’s post is authored by Constance Carter, head of the science reference section. Connie has written for us before, see her posts - Food Thrift: Scraps from the Past and Celebrate with a Chocolate Chip Cookie. The LC Science Tracer Bullet is celebrating its 40th birthday this month! The idea behind the Tracer Bullet was to find …
The following is a guest post by Dr. Sten Odenwald, NASA/ National Institute of Aerospace, who presented a lecture on the Transit of Venus at the Library of Congress on May 8, 2012. You can view his lecture on our webcast page and Youtube channel. On June 5th, 2012 most people will have the opportunity …
In an earlier post I featured an April 1902 Washington Times article on how to get a book from the Library of Congress. While reading the article, a section about the catalog division – “one of the most remarkable departments in the conduct of the library” – also caught my eye. The function of a …