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The laser system of a CD-ROM drive.

From Manuscript to CD-ROM: A Longer Journey Than We Think?

… Books are dead. That is the provocative claim being made lately about the … copied by hand as late as the 18th century. The practice was especially common in monasteries, where book copying was … replaced. Things changed dramatically in the 19th century, when new, Industrial Revolution technology made mass …
General Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1945.

Second-Guessing Hiroshima?

… Second-guessing the necessity and morality of the atomic bombing of … forces in the Pacific, recorded in his diary that MacArthur was "appalled and depressed by this Frankenstein monster." … available to them in the summer of 1945. Keep this in mind when, on Hiroshima anniversaries, you hear claims that …
The 1999 impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton, Chief Justice William Rehnquist presiding

How Presidential Power Became Untouchable

… 35 articles of impeachment against George W. Bush to the House of Representatives. Yet Congress is no more likely … Control Act and the 1982 Boland Amendment. Nevertheless, when eventually exposed, this executive action was not punished with impeachment. The majority Democrats on …
President Biden, standing in front of a blue flag with an eagle emblem

First 100 Days of the Biden Administration: Insights from History

… Faculty experts from the Ohio State University Department of History hold a conversation about the first one hundred days of the Biden administration. Host: Margaret Newell, Professor, … respond to your questions. Many of you submitted questions when you registered—and we’ll answer some of those to begin …
Views of the White Tower in Thessaloniki, Greece.

A Postcard from Thessaloniki, Greece

The people of Thessaloniki, Greece embrace the enigmatic … Istanbul tells me all Turkish students learn that this city wasthe Ottoman door to Europe.” As such, the port became … “Greek.” This nationalist transformation occurred in 1912, when troops from Athens and other areas of the south beat …
John Trumbull's portrait of Alexander Hamilton.

This Won’t Be the Last Political Sex Scandal

… Another political sex scandal is in the news. It’s hard to keep … War-time newspaper articles rumored that George Washington had extramarital affairs. Thomas Jefferson was … fall from grace. In particular the stories pack a wallop when the individuals appear to be hypocritical — an …
photo of FDR.

Picking Up Where FDR Left Off

… As the economic crisis ripples through the world, some liberal … FDR thought about the New Deal in a global context, too. He was convinced that the United States could never prosper … in the UNÕs Universal Declaration of Human Rights.   When it came time to implement the Charter, U.S. policy was
Judge John G. Roberts, Jr. during a meeting with Senator Patrick Leahy on August 29, 2005

Give Roberts Some Breathing Room

There’s a whiff of religious intolerance swirling around as … Roberts what he would do if the law required a ruling that was in conflict with his Catholic values. Although abortion … a Maryland Catholic, was made chief justice in 1836, a time when the country was in the grip of anti-Catholic violence. …
Inside the National Veteran's Museum and Memorial - The NVMM's exhibits chronicle the stages of a veteran's experience.

The National Veterans Museum and Memorial

The National Veterans Memorial and Museum (NVMM) in Columbus, Ohio is the first national memorial or museum dedicated to honor all … of their service prior to being discharged—the moment when they each became a veteran. Despite its “national” … The National Veterans Museum and Memorial …
Cover of Patrick Henry: First Among Patriots by Thomas S. Kidd

Patriot or Pragmatist?

Review of Patrick Henry: First Among Patriots, by Thomas S. Kidd (New York: Basic Books, 2011)
Cover of Fears of a Setting Sun: The Disillusionment of America's Founders by Dennis C. Rasmussen

Such a Disappointment

Review of Fears of a Setting Sun: The Disillusionment of America’s Founders, by Dennis C. Rasmussen (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2021)
… Americans have always been haunted by the idea that the country is in decline. Underneath the … Hamilton (top left) , John Adams (bottom left) , George Washington (middle) , and Thomas Jefferson (right) . … nonpartisan harmony was already an exceedingly distant one when he stepped down from the presidency,” and by his last …
West Berliners stand amid the rubble of WWII and watch U.S. Air Force transport planes land at Templehof Airport during the Berlin Airlift in 1948.

The Berlin Airlift

… On May 12, 1949,  the Soviet Union officially lifted its blockade of  West … blockade, one of the earliest episodes in the  Cold War , was largely ineffective because of several factors, … Airlift began on June 26, only two days after the Blockade when the US government initiated “Operation Vittles,” the
Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Restoring Russian Support for the War on Terror

… In the hours after the planes struck the World Trade Center and … W. Bush to express sympathy for the victims of the attack was the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. Putin’s phone … equipment — and still owed the Kremlin more than $7 billion when he was overthrown by U.S. forces. With Saddam now on …
A Hawaiian man employing the spearfishing techniques described by Fagan, circa 1890.

Built Upon Bounty

Review of Fishing: How the Sea Fed Civilization, by Brian Fagan (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2017)
The history of fishing predates our own species . Preserved … began to hunt fish at least half a million years ago. This was not a haphazard operation, but rather a skilled … seasonal movements, and hunting techniques. Even when limited written records do exist, such as in the case …
Sylvester I and Constantine in a 1247 fresco.

Top Ten Origins: Popes Before 1500

The movie  Conclave has left us all wondering: Do cardinals … a book about popes and the papacy (before there really was a papacy, in fact!), I have a few answers.   As is … the Roman church during an especially tumultuous period, when the Lombards were seizing territory in Italy and the
A pro-union demonstration in Romania, 2009. The flag translates to "Moldova Our Sister"

Moldova and Romania: A Long and Complicated Relationship

… Both politically and culturally, Romania and the Republic of Moldova have never been closer. The … well in the 2020 elections. For some, Moldovan identity was created by the Soviet Union, a process that stripped … leanings was undone in 1918 and then reversed again when the region was occupied by the Soviet Union, which …
Marines from 1st Battalion 7th Marines enter a palace during the Battle of Baghdad.

Iraq War a Major Departure in American Foreign Affairs

The Bush Administrations decision to intervene in Iraq … have argued that Americas proactive intervention in Iraq was a return to the dominant diplomatic and military … intelligence and invaded Iraq, and this at a time when Osama bin Laden remained at large. The people of Iraq …
The Sherman M4-A2E8 Tank

12/3/2014: At the Movies: Fury

… Fury is the newest war film from director David Ayer. The movie … next day by American GIs. Ayer’s stated goal with the film was to challenge the conventional “good war” narrative.  He … soldier, the crew of “Fury” spend most of their time – when not in battle – committing atrocities. The film depicts …
A sign from a DC Women's March that reads, "70% anti-abortion leaders are men; 100% of them will never be pregnant."

Abortion, History, and the Beginning of Life

… “Life begins at conception.” “Abortion is murder.” Such is the basic pro-life argument against abortion, and it’s an … Supreme Court’s decision in that case to legalize abortion was a hideous mistake. In their view, the Court created a … and raped by a local king. According to the legend, when Kieran discovered that the nun was pregnant, “he made …
President LBJ's "Midnight Address" on the 2nd Gulf of Tonkin incident in 1964.

Remember the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

The Bush administration has increased pressure on Congress … asked for such a carte blanche — in 1964. The president was Lyndon Johnson. He got what became known as the Gulf of … were hoping for a quick capitulation by the North. When that did not occur, Johnson repeatedly escalated …
US propaganda leaflet used in Afghanistan, with bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri.

Fighting a Cold War Against Osama bin Laden

… Osama bin Laden has fired another rhetorical shot across America’s bow. His latest tape, … on threats. It’s worth remembering that the Cold War was won over the course of decades, not years. Like Stalin … but radical Islam will continue to pose a threat even when bin Laden goes, as the Soviet Union did after Stalin …
President George W. Bush delivers his remarks on the global war on terror during a visit Thursday, Sept. 7, 2006, to Atlanta

War and “The Law of Unintended Consequences”

… on terrorists and expressed his determination to smoke out the villains responsible for the terrible assaults of Sept. … results envisioned by some of the gung-ho strategists in Washington. Consider what happened in the past under what … by surprise, even though they might have known better. When President Lyndon B. Johnson escalated America’s combat …