by david allan van nostrand | May 25, 2026 | The Wayback Machine, The world around us
Asparagus is a flowering perennial that is native to the area where Europe and Asia overlap. The young shoots are harvested and eaten as vegetables. The green tips with the clusters of tiny developing branches are valued for their tenderness and taste. If you’re going...
by david allan van nostrand | May 18, 2026 | Behind the curtain, origin story, The Wayback Machine
Harry Colebourn (1887-1947) was a lieutenant with the Royal Canadian Army Veterinary Corps. He was on a train taking him to the port where he would board a troop ship on its way to the fighting in Europe. When Colebourn’s train stopped for water in White River,...
by david allan van nostrand | May 17, 2026 | Americana, Human Behavior, The Wayback Machine
Daniel Webster was America’s most famous orator, statesman and congressman of the early 1800s. As a lawyer, he argued more than 200 cases before the United States Supreme Court. Old Dan’l’s oratory was so strong that it would last for hours and leave...
by david allan van nostrand | May 11, 2026 | Americana, Fads, Human Behavior, The Wayback Machine
In 1859, the Great Blondin crossed Niagara Gorge on a tightrope. Then he did it with a wheelbarrow, blindfolded, on stilts, and carrying his manager piggyback. In 1876, Maria Spelterini crossed the same gorge by tightrope, the only woman to do so. And in 1901, Maud...
by david allan van nostrand | May 4, 2026 | Americana, Human Behavior, Items in the News, origin story, The Wayback Machine, The world around us
After watching all day, Mork told Orson that today was Woman in Relation to Her Children’s Day. It’s an occasion where overfed Americans stand in line for hours to pay too much much money for a mediocre meal that took far too long to be served by frazzled...
