by david allan van nostrand | Jun 30, 2025 | Fourth of July, Rituals, The Wayback Machine
Most people think the Chinese invented fireworks around 200 B.C. Technically, that’s not true because historians tell us it was an accident, not an invention. As it turns out, when the ancients tossed bamboo* sticks on the fire, they flickered and sputtered while they...
by david allan van nostrand | Jul 1, 2024 | Americana, Fourth of July, The Wayback Machine, The world around us
Who Is America’s Uncle Sam? Most of the Uncle Sam origin stories tell of Samuel Wilson, a contractor who supplied the Army with meat during the War of 1812. Wilson shipped his beef and pork to army outposts in large wooden barrels stamped with US, indicating...
