Curio Cabinet / Person, Place, or Thing

It was a national tragedy and remains one of the worst acts of domestic terrorism in American history. On April 19th, 1995, the Oklahoma City Bombing killed 168 people and injured almost 700 others. The bomber, U.S. Army Veteren Timothy Mcveigh, was sentenced to death on this day in 1997. Understanding how Mcveigh turned from soldier to domestic terrorist may help identify those at risk of radicalization today, and how Oklahoma City made a remarkable recovery in the wake of tragedy offers hope.
 

Prior to 1995, the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building was a federal government complex in downtown Oklahoma City. It housed regional offices for government agencies, including the Social Security Administration and the U.S. Secret Service. It was also home to a daycare center called America’s Kids. The building’s government offices made it a target for extremists. In 1983, a Christian militia group planned a rocket-launcher attack on the building, but called it off when the weapon they were constructing exploded early.
 

Unfortunately, 26-year-old Timothy Mcveigh had a more thorough and destructive plan which he had been hatching for years. In 1988, Mcveigh enlisted in the Army, where he rose to the rank of sergeant, fought in the Gulf War, and even won several service awards. While enlisted Mcveigh was reprimanded for buying a “White Power” shirt at a Klu Klux Klan rally and using racial slurs.
 

After leaving the Army with an honorable discharge in 1991, Mcveigh’s behavior became increasingly erratic. He told his friends that the Army had implanted a tracking device in his body and became obsessed with the idea of a second civil war. He wrote heated letters to local politicians and newspapers complaining about gun restrictions. In 1993, an event took place that solidified Mcveigh’s anti-government views and motivated him to seek revenge: the Waco siege.
 

The Waco siege or massacre was a 51-day standoff between the U.S. government and a religious sect called the Branch Davidians at their compound near Waco, Texas. The U.S. military and Texas state police were meant to seize illegal weapons from the Branch Davidians, before the armed standoff ensued. Eventually, a fire, the source of which is disputed to this day, broke out at the compound. 76 Branch Davidians, including 25 children and two pregnant women, were killed. For Mcveigh, the Waco siege represented a government attack against civilians which needed to be punished. Mcveigh moved in with his like-minded friend, Terry Nichols, at a farm in Michigan. The pair began making and testing homemade explosives, such as pipe bombs, and decided that they would work together to bomb the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.
 

Together, Mcveigh and Nichols constructed a bomb made from 5,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate and nitromethane and mounted it to the back of a rented Ryder truck. On April 19, 1995, just as the building was opening for the day around 9AM, Mcveigh drove the truck to the front of the building, lit the bomb’s fuse, and fled. At 9:02, a massive explosion tore through the building, completely destroying its north half. Of the 168 people killed, 19 were children from the daycare center on the building’s second floor.
 

Mcveigh quickly became the subject of nationwide manhunt. A rear axle from Mcveigh’s rented truck was traced by the FBI, and a sketch of him was shown on national television. While driving home from the bombing, Mcveigh was pulled over for having no license plate, and arrested for carrying an illegal firearm. When police realized who Mcveigh was, he was indicted on 11 federal counts, including conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction and eight counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of federal officers. In 1997, Mcveigh was found guilty on all counts. On June 13, he was sentenced to death–a sentence carried out on June 11, 2001. Although Terry Nichols wasn’t physically present the day of the bombing, he was sentenced to life in prison for his role in planning the attack.
 

Oklahoma City was widely praised for its community-based response to the attack. Beginning on the day of the bombing, civilian volunteers dug through rubble in search of survivors, gave blood to help the injured, and left heaps of flowers by the ruined building until it was demolished a month later. Today, the space is occupied by the Oklahoma City National Memorial. It includes a field of 168 empty chairs commemorating those who died, and a Survivor Tree–an Elm tree which was heavily damaged in the bombing, but survived. Federal offices now occupy the new Oklahoma City Federal Building, which stands as perhaps the best reminder of Oklahoma City’s perseverance in the face of overwhelming tragedy.
 

[Image description: a portion of the Oklahoma City National Memorial. Rows of bronze, chair-like sculptures stand in green grass. Each chair has a small American flag planted beside it. ] Credit & copyright: Olio in Iowa Blog

 
Written by: Maria C.

It was the largest joint naval, air and land operation in world military history, and its name is famous to this day, though few know exactly what that name means. D-Day, the day that Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy, France, has long been considered the turning point of World War II. Planning the massive operation necessitated cooperation across governments, development of new technologies, and more than a little espionage.
 

World War II was not going well for Allied forces in the spring of 1943. Adolf Hitler had successfully seized control of the majority of mainland Europe, among other areas. Hitler’s Wehrmacht was well-funded. It was clear that, to have any hope of staving off a near-global Nazi regime, Allied forces would have to invade and liberate some of the larger nations under Hitler’s control. But, although Britain, Russia and the U.S. had discussed such an invasion at different points leading up to 1943, such an operation seemed impossible, in practice. The best invasion point, the French coast, would necessitate amphibious vehicles which didn’t yet exist and would be difficult to create. Allied Governments would also have to collaborate and merge their militaries in a way that had never been done before.

 

Yet, in May of 1943, a strategic war meeting between the U.S. and U.K. governments (codenamed the Trident Conference) was held in Washington, D.C. Plans were laid to launch an Allied invasion the following summer, beginning on the coast of Normandy, in northwestern France. The project was codenamed Operation Overlord, and preparations began immediately. U.S. and U.K. tanks were retrofitted with longer-range guns, which would allow for further support of air troops. Others were converted, by British Army Specialists, into entirely new, specialized vehicles. These included the famous DD tanks, amphibious vehicles that allowed troops to reach shore after being launched from larger ships, several miles away. This new group of vehicles were nicknamed Hobart’s Funnies, after Major General Percy Hobart, British commander of the 79th Division. As invasion-planning progressed, American General Dwight D. Eisenhower and British General Bernard Montgomery expanded the scale of the invasion to include a total of 39 military divisions. The operation would take place under Eisenhower’s command and involve troops from the U.S., Britain, Canada, Poland, and France.
 

Expert planning and new technology wouldn’t be enough for success, however. Germany knew that an invasion was likely on the horizon. Extra German troops were deployed to guard coasts, and German spy campaigns were launched to learn where the invasion was to take place. Thus, allies devised Operation Bodyguard, a deception campaign designed to throw Germany off the invasion’s trail. False communications about non-existent Allied field armies were created, to be intercepted by the Germans. Fake documents claimed that Normandy was a ruse, meant to distract Germans from the real invasion, which would take place elsewhere in France. Operation Bodyguard succeeded, and Germany wrongly positioned most of its defenses in the Pas de Calais region of France.
 

Allied airborne troops dropped behind enemy lines just after midnight, on June 6, sabotaging railways and other strategic points to prevent a German defense. A few hours later, the invasion launched in earnest, with the largest amphibious military landing in history. Troops made their way through rough waters onto five separately codenamed beaches: Juno, Gold, Sword, Omaha and Utah. The most famous battle took place on Omaha beach, where German gunners, positioned on cliffs, reigned deadly fire on around 35,000 American troops. The Americans had lost over 2,000 soldiers by the time they successfully advanced up the cliffs, killing the remaining German gunners or forcing their retreat.
 

Although Germany had constructed a 2,400-mile span of obstacles known as the “Atlantic Wall," composed of anti-invasion mines, heavy artillery, and concrete bunkers, they were unprepared for the sheer number of Allied troops (around 156,000 in total). In the end, Operation Overlord was a success, leading to the liberation of Northwestern Europe. So why is the operation commonly remembered as “D-Day”, and what does the “D” stand for? Nothing, actually. D-Day was simply a military term used to indicate the start date for field operations. “D” was a placeholder that designated a specific day—June 6. However, since troops commonly referred to the operation by the name that their commanders used, “D-Day” stuck. Today, it is remembered as one of the riskiest yet successful military operations in history.
 

[Image description: a black and white photo of U.S. Troops in an amphibious vehicle heading toward Omaha Beach, on D-Day ] Credit & copyright: Getty Images

 
Written by: Maria C.

If you’ve gotten the idea that American actress and singer Idina Menzel only became famous after voicing Queen Elsa in Disney’s Frozen, you’d better let it go! In fact, Menzel, born on this day in 1971, has been appearing on Broadway since 1995, and has been called one of the most prolific Broadway performers of her generation.
 

Menzel didn’t dream of stardom as a small child. She grew up in a small Jewish family in New York, with her therapist mother, salesman father and one younger sister. It wasn’t until age 15, after her parents divorced and Menzel began working as a wedding and bar mitzvah singer, that she realized her musical talent. Embracing her love for the stage, Menzel earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in drama from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in 1992. After graduation, she performed in a number of plays and musicals. In 1995, she auditioned for the role that would lead her to fame: the role of Maureen Johnson in RENT.
 

At the time of her 1995 audition, RENT was a relatively-unknown, Off-Broadway production. But the edgy rock opera, set in 1980s New York at the height of America’s AIDS epidemic, quickly became a hit. It moved to Broadway’s Nederlander Theatre in 1996, with Menzel playing the role of bisexual performance artist Maureen Johnson. That same year, she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical.
 

Although Menzel didn’t snag that particular Tony, audiences and casting directors alike took notice of her unique voice. Like many female Broadway singers, Menzel is a mezzo-soprano, with a wide vocal range extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above. What makes Menzel’s performances unique, however, is the power and clarity with which she belts. Belting is a technique in which a professional singer sings soft high notes using the power of their “chest voice," usually reserved for middle-range notes. Menzel became known as a singer whose voice could fill a theatre without losing any of its precision. Her reputation for vocal power ultimately led to the Broadway role for which she is still best-remembered.
 

Wicked is a musical based on the 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, which paints The Wizard of Oz’s Wicked Witch as a misunderstood protagonist named Elphaba. Menzel was cast as Elphaba for the musical’s opening in 2003, and immediately garnered critical acclaim. Her performance of the show's key song, Defying Gravity, showed off the signature strength of her voice and made her instantly popular. Many critics credited her for the new musical’s success. In 2004, Menzel won her first and only Tony Award for her role as Elphaba. Unfortunately, her exit from Wicked was marred by injury. In 2005, during what was supposed to be her penultimate performance, Menzel fell through a trap door during a stunt scene and cracked a rib, making it impossible for her to play the entire role at what should have been her final performance the following night. However, she did make a special appearance at the final show, appearing in plain clothes to sing one final song and receive a five-minute standing ovation. In 2006, she resprised her role as Elphaba one last time, during the West End production of Wicked at London’s Apollo Victoria Theatre. At the time, she was the highest-paid female performer in the West End, making around $30,000 per week.
 

Though Menzel’s post-Wicked career is largely defined by Frozen (2013), the blockbuster Disney hit that made her a household name even in non-theatre-going homes, she has continued performing on stage and in the studio. In 2014, she was nominated for another Tony Award for her role in the musical If/Then. Menzel has released six solo studio albums, the most recent in 2019, and has reprised her role as Elsa in Frozen shorts and the 2020 sequel. For those who have loved Menzel since she first began making headlines on Broadway, watching her defy gravity in this new phase of her career must be especially thrilling.
 

Below, Idina Menzel performs on the Letterman show.

[Image description: Idina Menzel stands in front of a Frozen II banner on the red carpet for the Frozen II World Premiere. ] Credit & copyright: Getty Images/Michael Tran

 
Written by: Maria C.

They’ve been the subjects of movies, books, documentaries and songs ever since their deaths, on this day in 1934. The infamous criminal couple Bonnie and Clyde—Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow—captured the imagination of depression-era Americans with a crime spree that lasted two years and covered four states. However, the duo’s real-life exploits were far less glamorous than Hollywood would lead one to believe.
 

Bonnie and Clyde led difficult early lives. Bonnie Parker was born in 1910, in Rowena, Texas. Her father died when she was one, so she and her siblings worked to support the family. Just before her 16th birthday, Bonnie married fellow highschooler Roy Thornton. However, Thornton was arrested for burglary. The couple never officially divorced, but never saw one another again (though Bonnie wore Thornton’s wedding ring until her death). Clyde Barrow was born in 1909 in Ellis County, Texas, to a family of poor farmers. At age 17, he was arrested for the first time after refusing to return a rental car. Over the next few years, Clyde performed minor robberies while holding odd jobs. However, everything changed in January 1930, when 19-year-old Bonnie and 21-year-old Clyde met through a mutual friend and began dating.
 

When Clyde was arrested and sent to Eastham Prison Farm, in April 1930, Bonnie smuggled a gun to him, her first foray into crime. Clyde used the gun to escape, but was soon recaptured. Clyde was repeatedly sexually assaulted while in prison, and eventually beat his attacker to death with a pipe. It was the first, but far from the last, murder Clyde ever committed. A fellow prisoner, who was already serving a life sentence, took responsibility for the killing. In 1932, Clyde’s mother successfully petitioned for her son’s release, but Clyde’s hatred of Eastham and desire for revenge became a driving force in his life.
 

After reuniting with Bonnie, Clyde, along with his friend Ralph Fults, began robbing Texas businesses in hopes of stealing enough money and guns to launch a prison break at Eastham. They formed the Barrow Gang, with Bonnie serving as getaway driver. She was arrested after a failed robbery in April, 1932, but only served a few month’s time. On August 5, 1932, Clyde and his friend, Raymond Hamilton, shot and killed a police deputy after they were caught drinking moonshine. Thus began the most infamous chapter of Bonnie and Clyde’s life: their time on the run. The pair began robbing their way from Texas to Oklahoma to New Mexico to Missouri, sometimes by themselves and sometimes with other members of the Barrow Gang, eventually killing nine police officers and around 4 others.
 
It was far from a glamorous life. Unable to stay in one place too long, Bonnie and Clyde ate from cans, drove through the night, and hid out with friends and family. In March of 1933, police descended on Bonnie and Clyde while they hid with Clyde’s brother and sister-in-law, in Joplin, Missouri. All four criminals escaped in the ensuing shootout, which killed two officers. Police later discovered photos of Bonnie and Clyde at the hideout, in some of which Bonnie playfully posed with guns and a cigar. When the photos were released in newspapers, they had an unintended effect: they glamorized the couple in the minds of Depression-era Americans, who resented the banks which Bonnie and Clyde were known to rob.
 
But the couple’s good luck didn’t last. Public opinion turned against them after they orchestrated a prison break at Eastham in January, 1934. A team of police, led by former Texas Ranger Captain Frank Hamer, devised a plan to stop the Barrow Gang. After tracking the pattern of Bonnie and Clyde’s movements, a police posse of 6 officers staked out a rural road in Bienville Parish, Louisiana. Officers convinced Ivy Methvin, father of Barrow gang member Henry Methvin, to park his truck on the shoulder of the road, to spark Clyde’s interest. On the evening of May 22, officers hid in the bushes along the road. When Clyde drove by slowly, the next morning, police fired around 130 rounds into Clyde’s Ford V8, killing him and Bonnie.
 
In the years that followed, the couple’s car was exhibited at fairs around the country, their photos and weapons sold to collectors. Today, Bonnie and Clyde are remembered as complicated, tragic figures from a time when Americans were desperate for (anti)heroes.
 
[Image description: A black and white photo of Bonnie Parker posing with a pistol pointed at her partner in crime, Clyde Barrow. ] Credit & copyright: AP

 
Written by: Maria C.

You don't earn the nickname "the Simone de Beauvoir of the Arab World" without ruffling a few feathers. The Egyptian feminist and physician, Nawal El Saadawi, passed away last month. She was a deeply controversial figure at home, and while her political detractors made violent attempts to silence her, she nonetheless left behind a staggering legacy of feminist and anti-imperialist activism and literature.
 

Nawal El Saadawi was born on October 27, 1931 in the town of Kafr Tahla, Egypt. Her father Al-Sayed El Saadawi was a government official in the Egyptian Ministry of Education who was exiled for protesting against British rule. He was considered fairly progressive and encouraged his daughter to pursue an education. Nawal El Saadawi's intellectual independence clashed with many of the cultural expectations put upon her gender: at the age of six, she was abducted at night by people she knew, and forced to undergo a female genital mutilation ritual (FGM). At age 10, she was arranged to be married, though she avoided it through her protestations and mother's support. When her parents passed away, she was left with the burden of providing for her six younger siblings—even as her grandmother made snide remarks like "a boy is worth 15 girls at least... Girls are a blight."
 

In spite of her difficult upbringing, El Saadawi managed to graduate from medical school at Cairo University in 1955. Her work as a doctor took her to rural villages where she advocated for sanitary medical practices and the mental and physical health of poor women. She was eventually shunned from the villages for speaking out against domestic violence and FGM, and her critics would claim she “incited women to rebel against the divine laws of Islam." Her work as a physician was so highly regarded that she eventually became the Minister of Public Health to the Egyptian Medical Association, and would found the Association for Health Education.
 

After the publication of her work Women and Sex in 1969, El Saadawi was removed from her government post and her magazine Health was banned by President Anwar Sadat's regime. In the 70s, she dedicated herself to researching neurosis in women at Ain Shams University in Cairo, and in 1979 would helm the United Nations Advisor for the Women's Programme in Africa and the Middle East. By that time, El Saadawi was a prime target of Sadat's regime. She was arrested in 1981 as a liberal conspirator—which was untrue, though she did publish a feminist magazine called Confrontation which must have equally irritated Sadat. While in Qanater Women's Prison she was denied writing utensils, and so began writing her Memoirs from the Women's Prison using toilet paper and a black eyebrow pencil.
 

After Sadat's death, El Saadawi was released from prison and experienced a decade of less hostility towards her work in Egypt. In 1982, she founded the Arab Women Solidarity Association. The relative peace did not last: in 1993, under the threat from Islamists extremists, she was forced to flee Egypt and took a position in Duke University's Asian and African Languages Department. While in the U.S., El Saadawi did not back down from criticizing the U.S. and its use of imperialistic war powers abroad, and propaganda to stoke Islamophobia at home. Even when she was able to return home to Egypt in 1996, El Saadawi continued to speak her truth in the face of opposition. In 2008, she successfully fought an attempt to ban her writings and strip her of her nationality because of the controversy surrounding her play God Resigns at the Summit Meeting. In her old age, she established the first Egyptian chapter of the Global Solidarity for Secular Society, citing a need for Egypt to divorce itself from Islam as the state's official religion.
 

In tribute to Nawal El Saadawi, the Egyptian-American journalist Mona Elthahawy recalled the first time she saw an interview with El Saadawi. When told she was a "savage and dangerous woman," El Saadawi replied, "I am speaking the truth. And the truth is savage and dangerous." She may not have swung swords or collected firepower, but Nawal El Saadawi frightened regimes by wielding truths that could topple their oppressive empires.
 

[Image description: Egyptian activist Nawal El Saadawi sits in front of bookcases, smiling with her white hair in a braided bun. ] Credit & copyright: The Economist

 
Written by: Esther P.

If Stephen Colbert agrees to write the forward for your debut book, you’re probably quite the comedian! In fact, Jen Spyra, whose book of comedic short stories, Big Time hit shelves in March, is one of the most prolific mainstream comedy writers alive today. Best known for her work as a staff writer for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert—where she also serves as announcer—Spyra has also worked as a comedic voice actor, a senior writer at famed parody newspaper The Onion, and an improv comedy performer. Her new release, Big Time is longer form comedy sketches, allowing readers to enjoy Spyra’s writing prowess in a whole new way.
 

Growing up in the 1990s, Spyra discovered her love of comedy during hours spent watching T.V. Because Spyra’s father was a fan of slasher and horror films, Spyra grew up watching them too, and would sometimes make up parody versions to avoid nightmares. From an early age, Spyra was an expert at finding comedic nuggets in places others might not even think to look. Among her comedic influences, she credits the noir fiction of Shirley Jackson and 19th and early-20th Century literature, including the works of Charlotte and Emily Brontë.
 

In 2007, Spyra earned a BA in English from Barnard College. She spent time honing her comedy skills as an improv performer before receiving her MFA in Playwriting and Screenwriting from Northwestern University. Soon, Spyra found herself working as a senior writer at The Onion, a publication she’d always admired. When she began heading the editorial video department as a director and producer, she gained prominence for her witty visual storytelling. It was these skills which led her to The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, where she worked as a staff writer for four seasons and became the show’s announcer. In her free time, Spyra began writing short stories, which allowed her to stretch her comedy muscles in a new way, free from oversight. "This was my first time being completely free, no rules, unchained. And the more I worked on it alone, the more I really enjoyed being my own artistic boss,” Spyra said, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
 

Big Time’s stories, like many of Spyra’s sketches, are both whimsical and dark. Several are parodies of children’s stories, like Frosty the Snowman. “I like to play within established genres because they have rules, so those are already set up for me, and I can subvert them to tell a different kind of story,” Spyra told Vanity Fair. Other stories from Big Time focus on modern issues, such as the book’s titular tale, in which a starlet from the 1940s is magically transported to modern Hollywood. Unfortunately, her outdated sensitivities on issues like race don’t serve her well, in the modern age. The Secret Meeting of the Woman’s Club, in which a secret society of famous women from Hillary Clinton to Taylor Swift meet to discuss plans for world domination, began life as a 2016 comedy sketch. In the original sketch, Hillary Clinton had just won the U.S. Presidency, and the women crossed it off their list of goals before moving on to more frivolous matters. Since the sketch was killed upon Clinton’s defeat, Spyra turned it into a short story. In her interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Spyra noted that it was a special thrill to be able to pick and choose which celebrities would appear in her work. “When you work in one of these late-night shows, it was a long shot anytime you pitched a sketch for a celebrity that they would agree to do it. So being a writer on The Late Show, getting to cast a fancy sketch with the most important women in the world — not all of whom are even living — that was so fun!” she said.
 

Whether or not Spyra’s sketches continue to appear on late-night T.V., her books will likely be on shelves for as long as there’s space in the comedy section. According to Spyra, Big Time helped her discover a new aspect of her comedic voice, and fans can expect more dark whimsy (and laughter) to come!

 
[Image description: Comedy writer Jen Spyra, wearing jeans and a green shirt, lounges on a leather couch in front of a large potted plant. ] Credit & copyright: Mackenzie Stroh

 
Written by: Maria C.

Few people are successful enough to create a country’s first (and only) Republic and hated enough to be disentombed and hung posthumously. Born on this day in 1599, Englishman Oliver Cromwell is one of the most complicated figures in British history. A military leader and outspoken politician responsible for the execution of a king and several brutal massacres, Cromwell is still revered and reviled, in equal measure, to this day.
 

Cromwell’s life wasn't remarkable until his 40s. In fact, little is known about his early life. He was born in Huntingdon, to a middle-class family. His father, Robert Cromwell, was a politician. His mother, Elizabeth Cromwell, was a descendent of Thomas Cromwell, a famous minister to King Henry VIII. By the time Oliver began making a name for himself as a member of Parliament in 1628, he was already a deeply religious Puritan, vehemently opposed to Catholicism and intolerant of those who practiced it.

 

Cromwell fought in the English Civil War (1642 to 1651), a series of conflicts between Parliamentarians, who wanted to form England into a constitutional monarchy, and Royalists, who supported the British monarchy’s absolute rule. He joined the Parliamentarians (sometimes called “Roundheads'' due to their short, Puritan haircuts). Despite having no formal military training, Cromwell was a skilled fighter. He used his clout as a politician to help form the Parlimentarian’s New Model Army. He served as its Lieutenant-General, second-in-command only to his friend, Sir Thomas Fairfax. Known for his fervent belief that God would lead him to victory, Cromwell earned the nickname “Old Ironsides'' for his battlefield prowess.
 

Cromwell’s military tactics, such as using close-order cavalry formations in which troops rode knee-to-knee, helped secure the New Model Army’s victories in the critical battle of Naseby in Northamptonshire, and the Battle of Langport near Bristol. With Charles I’s armies temporarily defeated, Cromwell led campaigns across the country to wipe out remaining Royalist supporters. Cromwell’s brutality in these campaigns was religiously motivated, as many of those he killed were Catholic. Charles I’s Royalists formally surrendered for the first time in 1646, but in 1648, the King tried to regain power. Now sole commander of the New Model Army, Cromwell handily dealt both with British and pro-Royalist Scottish forces. At the Battle of Preston, near Lancashire, Cromwell managed to defeat around 18,000 Royalists with an army of around 9,000.
 

In 1648, Cromwell became a fervent supporter of those in Parliament who believed that Charles I should be executed, arguing that the king’s death would prevent further war. The King was thus arrested and put on trial, where he was convicted of treason and sentenced to death. Even after sentencing, many in Parliament were hesitant to sign the death warrant until Cromwell urged them to do so. On January 30, 1649, Charles I was beheaded and the British monarchy was abolished. A new republic was declared, the Commonwealth of England, which included England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland. Cromwell would eventually be declared Lord Protector of this Commonwealth.
 

Charles I’s execution only led to further bloodshed. That same year, in what is sometimes called the Cromwellian Conquest of Ireland, Cromwell began massacring Irish Catholics, stealing land, and selling it off to wealthy landlords. On September 11, 1649, Cromwell led 12,000 troops to the coastal town of Drogheda, which was fortified by the Irish Catholic Confederation and English Royalists. In what would come to be known as the Drogheda Massacre, one of the bloodiest massacres in Ireland’s history, Cromwell’s troops killed around 3,500 people, including around 800 civilians.
 

Although Cromwell led the Commonwealth until his death in 1658, the new government’s success didn’t last. Cromwell’s son, Richard, was forced to flee to France when Royalist sentiment reappeared in England. In 1660, Charles I’s son, Charles II, returned from exile and assumed the British throne. With the return of the monarchy came the booting of Cromwell’s body from its sacred resting place in Westminster Abbey. Charles II posthumously convicted Cromwell of treason, disentombed him, and hung his body from the gallows at Tyburn estate, in southeast England; a strange end to a violent legacy.
 

[Image description: a painting of Oliver Cromwell, a man with shoulder-length hair and a white collar against a brown background.]

 
Written by: Maria C.

It’s a beautiful place with a complicated history. The Island nation of Guam has been making headlines lately, after controversial U.S. lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene made remarks indicating that she didn’t realize that Guam is a U.S. territory. Green’s office was later visited by Guam’s Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives, Michael San Nicolas, and members of the Guam National Guard, who gifted her a box of the island’s famed Chamorro Chip Cookies. Outside of these rare circumstances, Guam typically doesn’t show up in mainstream American discourse. Many Americans don’t know the history of how Guam came to be a U.S. territory, or that its native people, the Chamorro, have a rich culture dating back at least 4,000 years.
 

Guam is the southernmost island of the Mariana Island chain, in the western Pacific Ocean. It is part of the Federated States of Micronesia, a country comprised of more than 600 islands, spread far apart from one another, across the western Pacific. Humans first settled in Guam around 4,000 years ago, likely sailing from nearby islands off of Southeast Asia, such as Taiwan. By 800 CE, a new culture had developed on Guam. Ancient Chamorro people were expert seafarers whose diets consisted largely of seafood. Evidence suggests that they may have also cultivated rice. Chamorro villages featured buildings supported by latte stones, two-piece stone columns which served as foundations to protect structures from the damp ground. These buildings often had tall, triangular roofs, to divert rain. Early Chamorro society was matrilineal, meaning that women played a leading role in its everyday functioning.
 

In 1521, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan (under the employ of Spain) became the first European to visit Guam in 1521. Magellan and his crew freely stole food, water, and other supplies from the Chamorros. When the Chamorros retaliated by taking whatever they could from Magellan’s ships, he dubbed Guam Isla de Ladrones, or the “Island of Thieves.” Unfortunately, Magellan’s expedition was far from the last to Guam. In 1668, Father San Vitores, a Jesuit missionary, came to Guam with a group of followers to convert the Chamorros to Catholicism. When Vitores baptized the daughter of Matå‘pang, a Chamorro chief, without permission, the Chamorro’s killed him. Outraged, the Spanish military launched an aggressive campaign to subjugate the Chamorro. The resulting Spanish-Chamorro War lasted for nearly 30 years, and by 1700, only around 5,000 Chamorro people remained.
 

It was through Spain that the U.S. eventually took possession of Guam. The Spanish-American War, which lasted from April to December of 1898, saw the U.S. supporting Cubans and Filipinos in their resistance to Spanish rule. When the U.S. eventually claimed victory, the Treaty of Paris was signed, granting Guam and several other Spanish colonies to the U.S. The Chamorro people’s population began to increase, although some of their original customs and even parts of their language were lost under Spanish rule.
 

Although Guam suffered greatly, during World War II, the island’s role in the war is rarely talked about outside of historical circles. For example, few Americans realize that Guam was bombed by Japanese forces just four hours after Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Japanese troops even seized control of Guam for almost three years during the war. Guamanians, including native Chamorros, were subjected to forced labor, internment, and other human rights violations. The U.S. recaptured Guam on July 21, 1944, yet Congress didn’t authorize a monument to commemorate those who suffered or lost their lives during the Japanese occupation until 1993. As Chamorro scholar Keith Camacho explained in his book, Cultures of Commemoration: The Politics of War, Memory and History in the Mariana Islands, U.S. military historians traditionally stick to “a body of discourse in which only Japanese and Americans constitute the agents of change and continuity in the region, erasing the agency and voice of indigenous peoples.”
 

Today, Guam occupies the same state of “limbo” as other U.S. territories, such as Puerto Rico. People born in Guam are American citizens, but cannot vote or run for President. Their representatives in Congress are non-voting. Around 65,000 people of Chamorro ancestry now live in Guam, and many cultural societies promoting Chamorro traditions, including language, dress, and cuisine, exist to maintain Chamorro customs and educate outsiders. As Americans increasingly seem poised to discuss possible statehood and other increased rights for those living in U.S. territories, it’s likely that Guam will be making more frequent appearances on the average American’s radar, in the near future.

 
[Image description: a group of adults and children from Chamorro organizations, including the Hurao Cultural Camp, perform a burial ritual in traditional dress, holding up long branches to create a “tunnel.”] Credit & copyright: Associated Press
 
Written by: Maria C.

It takes quite an author to successfully release a novel about travel during lockdown! Then again, bestselling Korean-American author Chang-rae Lee is known for his bold writing choices. Unlike the dystopian novel Lee released in 2014, My Year Abroad, released February 2, 2021, is so optimistic that the New York Times Book Review called it “a manifesto to happiness.”
 

Born July 29, 1965, in South Korea, Lee’s family immigrated to the United States when he was three years old. Although he earned a B.A. in English from Yale University in 1987, it wasn’t immediately clear to Lee or his family if he would choose to write professionally. In fact, following his graduation, he took a job on Wall Street as an equities analyst. It wasn’t until a year later that Lee decided the finance world wasn’t for him, and began working toward his Masters of Fine Arts degree in writing at the University of Oregon. The manuscript he’d been writing in his spare time became his thesis, and would eventually transform into his first novel, Native Speaker, in 1995. Realizing his passion for teaching, Lee became an assistant professor of creative writing at the very university he’d just graduated from. Over the following years, Lee would hold teaching positions at several universities, including Stanford and Princeton.
 

Lee’s novels often explore issues of identity and belonging, especially relating to the experiences of Asian-Americans. Lee’s first book, Native Speaker, focuses on the internal struggle of a young Korean-American man who is hired to ruin the reputation of a Korean-American politician in New York City. In A Gesture Life, released in 1999, an ethnically-Korean man, who was adopted by a Japanese family and served in the Japanese army, deals with haunting memories and struggles to break out of his routine in order to reconnect with his estranged adopted daughter. 2004’s Aloft features Lee’s first non-Asian-American protagonist, an Italian-American retiree who is forced to grapple with the fact that his life and family aren’t as perfect as he had always supposed. Lee’s 2011 novel The Surrendered, which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, tells the story of three characters who survived the Korean war and are reunited years later. On Such a Full Sea, published in 2014, takes place in a dystopian future-Baltimore. It’s Chinese-American protagonist works a dangerous job as a diver at a fish farm.
 

While many of Lee’s books focus on older characters, 2021’s My Year Abroad stars a young college student named Tiller, who describes himself as “twelve and one-half percent Asian.” Unlike the older, world-weary protagonists of Lee’s most famous novels, Tiller is portrayed as ordinary and relatively unremarkable. However, when Chinese-American business mogul Pong Lou brings Tiller along on a trip across Asia, a range of wild experiences open Tiller’s eyes to the wider world. Tiller also finds that, although his ethnicity causes him some difficulty fitting in, in the U.S., he is also considered foreign in Asia, leading him to question where he truly belongs. In an interview with NPR, Lee described My Year Abroad as a subversion of the typical American story, where a white protagonist travels abroad to expand their horizons. “We all know that story, of course. And it's essentially a colonial story. And I think we're all done with that story. And what we want is to find out a little bit more about ourselves, as we always do, as peoples everywhere do. But the ways in which we get that story isn't as easy and simple as it's been told to us before,” he explained.
 

My Year Abroad has already garnered praise from critics, many of whom see the novel as a lampooning of capitalism as well as an exploration of identity. As Tiller faces increasingly bizarre situations on his trip, sometimes fueled by expensive alcohol or drugs, the novel makes it clear that luxuries don’t always equate to a great time, and there is such a thing as too much excess. Readers who have been stuck at home for the past year, however, may well find My Year Abroad's wacky misadventures in far-flung locales a welcome break from the COVID-19 blues.

 
[Image description: Author Chang-rae Lee, wearing a blue shirt, sits at a table in an otherwise empty library.] Credit & copyright: Penguin Random House

 
Written by: Maria C.

Virginia Woolf spent her life refusing to be silenced. Despite a childhood marred by tragedy, a career met with constant opposition, and a lifelong battle with depression, she became one of the most famous novelists and essayists in modern history. Her feminist writings were a major source of inspiration to the women's rights movement of the 1960s, while her fiction popularized an entirely new narrative style.

 
Born to a wealthy family in London in 1882, Woolf and her sisters were homeschooled, while their brothers attended college. Despite this disparity, Woolf loved to read. She had constant access to literature thanks to her father's home library. Woolf's childhood was extremely difficult. Her parents were distant, and she endured sexual abuse at the hands of her stepbrothers. In 1895, when Woolf was just 13, her mother, Julia Prinsep Jackson, died. Woolf's grief led to a mental breakdown and she began suffering from severe depression, which would plague her for the rest of her life. Just two years after her mother's death, her beloved half-sister, Stella Duckworth, also passed away. That same year, Woolf went to study at the Ladies Department of King's College London. There, she made friends with several feminist students and began writing essays about women's rights.

 
Although Victorian-era women were discouraged from writing outside of women-specific publications, Woolf's father, Leslie Stephen, enjoyed her work and encouraged her to finish the novel she was working on at the time. Unfortunately, he died in 1904, leading Woolf to have another breakdown. Over the following decade, Woolf moved with some of her siblings to Bloomsbury, a neighborhood in London. There they formed the artistic and literary society, the Bloomsbury Group (or Set). Although Woolf was boisterous at such functions, she privately continued to struggle with mental illness, attempting suicide at least twice.

 
Woolf's mental health also suffered, for a time, due to the rejection of her first novel, The Voyage Out, by several publishing houses. Her life improved, for a time, after she married political theorist Leonard Woolf, in 1912, and together they founded Hogarth Press, which would publish most of her work. The Voyage Out, however, was published by her half-brother's imprint, Gerald Duckworth and Company Ltd. in 1915. The book, which focuses on a group of young, wealthy people on a ship headed to South America, was met with warm critical reception. Readers noted that its stream-of-consciousness narrative style, in which characters' thoughts didn't always match their spoken dialogue, made the story complex, lifelike, and unique. This narrative style would go on to define Woolf's fiction.

 
Woolf's three best-known novels, Mrs. Dalloway (1925), To the Lighthouse (1927) and Orlando: A Biography (1928), helped cement her place as one of the most important modernist writers of the 20th Century. Modernism, in Woolf's time, represented a break from rigid Victorian gender roles, and the belief that wealth was necessary for happiness. Mrs. Dalloway follows a day in the life of two characters: the wealthy Clarissa Dalloway, who is planning a party, and the working-class war veteran Septimus Warren Smith, who suffers from traumatic stress and eventually commits suicide. To the Lighthouse centers on the tensions of a family struggling with artistic blocks, sex discrimination, and war. Orlando: A Biography is one of Woolf's most unusual works. Inspired by her affair with bisexual author Vita Sackville-West, it follows the life of a poet who lives for hundreds of years and meets famous figures from English literary history. About halfway through the novel, the main character transforms from a man to a woman, making Orlando: A Biography the subject of much study among women's and gender studies scholars.

 
Woolf's most famous essay, A Room of One's Own, was published in 1929. In it, Woolf remarked on women's historical disenfranchisement, especially their forced dependency on men. Her famous assertion that, "a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction," made the essay an instant classic among those interested in women's rights. Even after Woolf committed suicide, in 1941, her feminist writing was quoted during the women's rights movement of the 1960s and 70s. Because of this, her work remains widely-read, and she is remembered as a woman determined to put her writing into the world in the face of overwhelming difficulty.

 
[Image description: A close-up portrait of Virginia Woolf with her chin resting in her hand.] Credit & copyright: New York World-Telegram & Sun Collection/Library of Congress

 
Written by: Maria C.

It's the most famous nuclear accident you have never heard of. On this day in 1979, the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station near Harrisburg Pennsylvania had a partial meltdown. Although no lives were lost as a direct result of the accident, its repercussions are still felt in the American power industry. In fact, many credit the accident for destroying Americans' confidence in nuclear power.
 

The purpose of nuclear generating stations, also known as nuclear power plants, is to create electricity. To do this, a nuclear reactor, containing a nuclear core, creates a fission nuclear chain reaction, turning uranian fuel into other radioactive materials. This process produces heat, which creates steam. The steam spins a turbine, making electrical power. Excess heat is wafted away through large cooling towers. However, in core melt accidents, commonly known as nuclear meltdowns, overheating damages a power plant's nuclear core, causing it to melt and release uranium and other radioactive materials into the atmosphere.

 
The Three Mile Island nuclear accident began at 4 a.m. on March 28, 1979, when a pressure valve in one of the station's two nuclear reactors, the Unit-2 reactor, failed to close properly. Radiation-contaminated water leaked out of the valve, and without enough water to cool it down, the station's nuclear core overheated. Emergency water pumps began operating in response to the excess heat, but human error intervened. Confusing readings in the plant's control room caused operators to shut off the emergency pumps. They believed that there was too much water near the reactor, causing excess steam. The pump-shutoff caused more heat damage to the nuclear core, and within a few hours it had heated to over 4,000 degrees, around 1,000 degrees shy of a full meltdown.

 
By 8 a.m, radioactive gas had leaked throughout the station. The media took notice of the station's locked-down state, and rumors began to spread, despite insistence from the nuclear station's parent company that the incident was harmless to the public. Meanwhile, the station's core continued to dangerously overheat. It wasn't until 8 p.m. that the emergency water pumps were restarted and the core began to cool. Later, inspectors found that the Unit-2 core had come within about an hour of a full meltdown, which would have spread radioactive material through the atmosphere for miles.

 
The station's problems were just beginning. On March 30, a bubble of flammable hydrogen gas, leftover from the incident, was discovered in the reactor building. Inspectors realized that small, unnoticed gas explosions had been taking place, releasing radiation into the outside atmosphere—and no one was sure if more or larger explosions would follow. Pennsylvania Governor Dick Thornburgh ordered most residents to stay indoors, and announced that pregnant women and small children within a five-mile radius should evacuate. Panic ensued. Because the Three Mile Island station was located on the Susquehanna River, fears about drinking water safety ran rampant. Around 100,000 people fled the area.

 
It took a visit from the U.S. President to calm the public's nerves. President Jimmy Carter was a trained nuclear engineer. After visiting the Three Mile Island station and conferring with other experts, Carter announced that he didn't believe widespread radiation poisoning was likely. Station operators drained away the hydrogen from the reactor building, and surrounding residents returned to their homes. Although inspections showed that no one outside the station was exposed to harmful levels of radiation, the accident had spawned negative press that wasn't easy to bounce back from. In fact, the entire nuclear power industry faced setbacks, as a result of the Three Mile Island accident.
 

Of the 129 nuclear power plants that had been approved throughout the U.S., at the time of the Three Mile Island accident, only 53 were completed. Stricter Federal requirements for nuclear facilities were implemented, and citizens across the country balked at the idea of nuclear facilities being built near their homes. No new U.S. power plants were ordered for construction, after the Three Mile Island accident, until 2012. As for the Three Mile Island station itself, it's Unit-2 reactor was deemed too damaged to continue operating. It's Unit-1 reactor didn't begin operating again until 1985, but still runs today. Nearby, a historical plaque explaining the accident stands as a reminder of how significant the events at Three Mile Island were...and how much worse things could have been.

 
[Image description: A plaque stands in front of a cooling tower at the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station.] Credit & copyright: History.com

 
Written by: Maria C.

Woof! Dogs have been humans' best fuzzy hunting buddies for centuries. So it makes perfect sense that back in 1942, the U.S. Army participated in a doggie draft-like program to find out how the first K-9 Corps had become the gold standard for trust and loyalty on the battlefield.
 

Prior to the formation of the K-9 Corps, dogs operated in an unofficial capacity in the army as mascots or personal pets. That all changed during World War II. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941, a poodle breeder and New York socialite named Alene Stern Erlanger petitioned the Department of Defense (DoD) to use dogs in military capacities, just as other nations had done for centuries. The DoD agreed to work with Erlanger, who created the Dogs for Defense, Inc. group to begin training canines for the war effort.
 

Dogs for Defense sent their first group of 200 trained canines to the U.S. Army in early 1942, with many being deployed to supply depots. The dog program proved overwhelmingly positive. On March 13, 1942, Under Secretary of War Robert P. Patterson approved the creation of the first K-9 Corps. While American men were drafted, K-9 Corps joined with Dogs for Defense, the American Kennel Club, and the New York Sun newspaper to ask families at home to donate their pets to the army. 32 breeds were initially allowed, with final preference given to eight, including German Shepherds, Doberman Pinschers, Siberian Huskies, and Malamutes. The initial dog donations numbered 18,000, with some 8,000 initially dismissed for (good home doggo) traits like excitability, reacting to loud noises like gunfire, and poor senses of smell. Rejected dogs still managed to help the war effort: Home Guard programs allowed enrollees to enlist their pets as members of the armed forces for a small donation. Even President Franklin Roosevelt's Scottish Terrier Fala got in on the action!

 

The K-9 Corps who passed initial screenings were then moved on to the next round of training dictated by Technical Manual 10-396. The Quartermaster Corps led the basic training for dogs, which lasted about eight to 12 weeks. After basic training the K-9s were assigned specific training programs: sentries learned guard duties. Scouts investigated ahead of their handlers and warned of danger. Sledge dogs transported heavy loads, often across ice and snow. Messengers would pass through enemy territory to exchange messages between handlers. Pack dogs carried small supply loads through rough terrain. Casualty dogs were used by the medical corps to find wounded soldiers—though this program proved ineffective when dogs could not tell the difference between those without wounds, the wounded, and the dead.
 

The most famous K-9 member of the World War II team was known as Chips. The Husky, Shepherd, and Collie mix attacked a nest of Italian gunners, forcing them to surrender to the Allies. In a meeting with General Dwight Eisenhower, Chip became notorious for taking a nip out of the future president. Like Chip, many of the WWII donated dogs were returned to their owners after going through a rehabilitation program to ease them back into civilian family life. Thanks to their contributions, K-9 units are a standard part of military life. And it's about time they got their own motto too like "semper fido," or something equally catchy!

Anyone who was raised off-the-grid and goes on to obtain a PhD from Cambridge University surely has an amazing story to tell. American author Tara Westover did just that. In her 2018 memoir Educated, Westover recalls an early life without access to public school, vaccinations, or her own birth certificate. In the years since Educated debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list, Westover has pointed out that her experiences are indicative of the divide between rural and urban America, and could help explain the country's shifting political landscape.

 
On September 27, 1986, Westover was born at her rural childhood home in Clifton Idaho, with no doctor present. Her parents, who already had 6 other children, were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Her father, Gene, believed himself to be a prophet. Their specific church sect encouraged distrust in the federal government, education, and modern medicine, so Westover's family lived as survivalists or "preppers". The family grew their own food and stockpiled fuel and other resources for an upcoming apocalypse. Westover and her siblings were denied medical care, even when seriously ill or injured. Westover's mother, Faye, served as their only "doctor" and "teacher", treating them with alternative medicine and providing loose homeschooling, although Westover relied on an older brother to teach her how to read. Her home did not have a television, but did have a few textbooks, which she read by the time she was a teenager. Desperate to become educated, Westover obtained her freedom one piece at a time, saving up money to buy textbooks which she studied thoroughly enough to get a good score on her ACT exam. Even without a highschool diploma, Westover managed to gain admission to Brigham Young University, in Utah.

 
Adjusting to college life and the modern world was difficult. "One of my first lectures, I raised my hand and asked what the Holocaust was because I had never heard of it," Westover said, during an interview with NPR. Despite the rough start, Westover managed to get good grades, and graduated with honors in 2008. The following year, she traveled to the UK, became a graduate student at Trinity College Cambridge, and began writing what would eventually become her memoir. During her time as a graduate student, Westover became estranged from her family, since her manuscript detailed her abuse at the hands of one of her brothers, which her parents denied. Westover went on to earn both a Masters Degree and PhD in intellectual theory from Cambridge. In 2018, Educated was published to instant acclaim.

 
Unlike many memoirs detailing an author's escape from a fundamentalist upbringing, Educated focuses on Westover's tenacious pursuit of an education as the thing which changed her life. That a woman raised by survivalists in rural Idaho could end up living as a bestselling author in London may seem unbelievable, to some. But according to Westover, her story has more to teach readers than just the ins and outs of her own life. In a 2019 interview with The Atlantic, Westover stated that the U.S.'s quality-of-life divide between rural areas and cities, which she has experienced firsthand, has led to the country's current political schism. People in rural areas, she explained, distrust the government due to the economic hardship they endure. Moreover, people in cities look down on those in rural communities. Westover refers to this state as "poor political hygiene," and cautions against making "caricatures" of people across the political aisle. "We think that because we know someone is pro-choice or pro-life, or that they drive a truck or a Prius, we know everything we need to know about them. Human detail gets lost in the algorithm. Thus humanity gives way to ideology," she explained. The only solution, as far as she is concerned? Empathy—especially for those living in places hit hardest by economic strife. "You look at where the holes are in Obamacare—they’re in rural areas. You look at where the opioid epidemic hit hard—it’s in rural areas. You look at educational outcomes for rural kids—they’re troubling, every report. These facts should be the foundation of our empathy, not of our contempt." Of course, only time will tell if the U.S. is interested in "cleaning up" its political discourse and achieving some level of unity.

 
[Image description: American author Tara Westover, wearing a black jacket and grey shirt, sits in front of a grey background.] Credit & copyright: Lauren Margit Jones.

 
Written by: Maria C.

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas...unless you become internationally renowned magicians! Such was the case with famed entertainers Siegfried Fischbacher and Roy Horn—the original Tiger Kings. Although Roy Horn passed away last year due to COVID-19, and Fischbacher died from pancreatic cancer just 8 months later, the duo's legacy is destined to endure. Together, they shared a career powerful enough to spawn its own T.V. show, and a personal relationship strong enough to endure a life-altering tragedy.
 

Siegfried and Roy were both born in Germany during World War II. They met in 1960 aboard the TS Bremen, a cruise ship where 17-year-old Siegfried worked as a performing magician and where 13-year-old Roy worked as a waiter. One night, Siegfried asked Roy to join him onstage as an audience volunteer. The young men quickly bonded over their love of exotic animals and their unhappy childhoods. Siegfried, the son of a homemaker and veteran, had grown up feeling distant from other children, and used his love of magic to cope. Roy, whose father had died in the war and whose mother had worked factory jobs to make ends meet, felt similarly lonely. Siegfried was overjoyed to learn that Roy had direct access to exotic animals, since his mother's friend was the founder of the Bremen Zoo. Together, they planned a magic act centered around animals. They were soon fired from the TS Bremen, however, for bringing a cheetah onto the ship.
 

For the next five years, Siegfried and Roy toured Europe's night club circuit to great success. In 1967, talent scout Tony Azzie offered them a job performing in Las Vegas, where they soon went from sharing billing with other performers to being a headlining act. In 1981, producer Ken Feld started the Beyond Belief show at the New Frontier Hotel and Casino. The show's name was a reference to the magic Seigfriend and Roy performed and also to the unbelievable relationship they seemed to share with their performing animals. By 1988, Seigfriend and Roy had rocketed to fame, become U.S. citizens, and bought a 100-acre estate in Las Vegas, where they raised lions and tigers. Though some animal rights groups criticized them for exploiting big cats, and for putting themselves in danger by performing with them, Siegfried and Roy maintained that their bond with the animals kept them safe. "Sleeping with lions and tigers means you don't need many pillows," Roy famously said, in one interview. "Their bellies are just as comfortable."
 

The grandiose and risky nature of Siegfried and Roy's act had a profound impact on Las Vegas entertainment, as other acts procured more elaborate costumes and sets to keep up. Like other celebrities, Siegfried and Roy lived under constant press scrutiny, and were hounded over the nature of their personal relationship. Although it is still assumed that the two were romantically involved, they never talked openly about their sexuality. Seigfriend and Roy's devotion to one another became all the more clear, however, after a career-ending tragedy in the early 2000s.
 

On October 3, 2003, just as a T.V. show based on their act, Father of the Pride, was beginning production, Siegfried and Roy's show at the Mirage Theatre went horribly wrong. When Roy held a microphone to the mouth of a seven-year-old white tiger named Montecore, the cat bit him on the arm. When Roy fell onto his back, the tiger attacked, biting Roy's neck and dragging him offstage. By the time rescuers reached him, Roy had suffered severe injuries, including a severed spine and major blood loss, which triggered a stroke (although Roy would later insist that he'd had a stroke beforehand, and Montecore had tried to get him to safety by dragging him offstage).
 

Roy survived his injuries and Father of the Pride went on to air from 2004 to 2005. However the attack ended Siegfried and Roy's career, other than a farewell performance, in 2010. Roy did not regain the ability to walk until 2005, and his speaking ability was greatly impacted. Siegfried was his caregiver until his condition improved. "He helps me every day to do my exercises," Roy said, in one interview. "Siegfried told me once, 'The one who is a hero is the one who can hang on just one minute longer.'" Although their career ended far less happily than they'd hoped, there's no doubt that Siegfried and Roy's impact on Las Vegas will be felt for years to come. Their 60-year relationship will also be remembered as one of the strongest in history between two famous performers.

 
[Image description: Wearing sequined jackets, entertainers Siegfried Fischbacher and Roy Horn pose with a white lion.] Credit & copyright: Carol M. Highsmith/Library of Congress

 
Written by: Maria C.

A passionate speaker who minced no words in his quest to empower Black Americans, Malcolm X is one of the most famous civil rights leaders in U.S. history , alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. However, he and King used very different tactics to fight the same injustices. Malcolm was tragically assassinated on this day in 1965, just three years before King's own assassination. He remains one of the most controversial figures of his time.
 
Born Malcolm Little on May 19, 1925, to activists Louise and Earl Little, he was one of seven children. Malcolm's parents were admirers of Jamaican civil rights activist Marcus Garvey. His father was outspoken about racial equality, and his family was under constant threat from white supremacists—the Ku Klux Klan and the Black Legion (a Klan splinter group) attacked their home on several occasions. In 1931, when Malcolm was six, his father was hit and killed by a streetcar. Though police called his father's death an accident, Malcolm's mother and other Black community members believed he was murdered. In 1938, Malcolm's mother suffered a nervous breakdown and was committed to a mental hospital. Malcolm and his siblings were separated and sent to foster homes.
 
In spite of the tragedies he'd faced, Malcolm excelled in school. He loved to read, and dreamed of becoming a lawyer. While attending Mason High School in Michigan, a white teacher told Malcolm he could never become a lawyer because he was black. Disheartened, Malcolm dropped out of school. He moved to Boston, then to Harlem, where, around the age of 21, he began committing crimes, including drug-dealing and robbery. When Malcolm moved back to Boston, in 1945, he was arrested for robbery and sentenced to eight to ten years in prison. Malcolm's incarceration proved to be a new beginning.
 

In prison, Malcolm read about the history of slavery and the United States education system. "You couldn’t have gotten me out of books with a wedge," he later wrote, in his autobiography. His reading guided him to the Nation of Islam, a religious and political movement for Black Americans led by Elijah Muhammad. Malcolm began exchanging letters with Muhammad. He also changed his name to "Malcolm X", later explaining that, "For me, my 'X' replaced the white slavemaster name of 'Little' which some blue-eyed devil named Little had imposed upon my paternal forebears."
 
After leaving prison on parole in 1952, Malcolm rapidly rose within the ranks of the Nation of Islam, becoming one of its best-known ministers. By 1954, he led the Nation's Temple Number 7, in Harlem. He became known to most Americans in 1957, after he and other Nation of Islam members marched on a New York police station where several of their members were being held. Although the F.B.I. began aggressively tracking Malcolm, his popularity only increased. However, as the American Civil Rights Movement came into full swing in the late 50s and early 60s, and Martin Luther King Jr. emerged as its leader, Malcolm's beliefs faced greater public scrutiny from Black Americans.
 
At the time, the Nation of Islam held ideas that were troubling to many Americans, such as the idea that Blacks were superior to whites, and that they needed to form their own nation (an idea called Black Nationalism). Because the American Civil Rights Movement focused on integration, Malcolm took issue with it. In several fiery speeches, Malcolm simultaneously sought to empower Black Americans and tear down the idea of integration, even going so far as to call the 1963 March on Washington "the farce on Washington." Malcolm also disagreed with King's non-violent approach to Civil Rights. Nonetheless, in 1964, Malcolm broke from the Nation of Islam because he believed they weren't active enough in promoting civil rights.
 

In 1964, Malcolm took an extended trip to Africa and the Middle East which seemed to change his view of the American Civil Rights Movement. He later wrote, "the true brotherhood I had seen had influenced me to recognize that anger can blind human vision." Unfortunately, less than a year later, Malcolm X was shot by three Nation of Islam members as he tried to break up a scuffle at the Organization of Afro-American Unity, in Manhattan. Today, he is remembered as a man who spoke plainly about the violence facing Black Americans and the solutions he thought were appropriate, regardless of whether his beliefs made others uncomfortable.
 

Image credit & copyright: History.com

 
Written by: Maria C.

While names like Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and Malcolm X might be at the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement's history, other activists like the Reverend Howard Thurman played vital roles. Through his faith, writings, and travels, Howard Thurman was responsible for introducing nonviolent practices to young black activists, and giving them the tools to counter racism in the streets and at the ballot box.
 

Howard Thurman was born on November 18, 1899 in Daytona Beach, Florida and was raised by his ex-slave grandmother. Faith was integral to his upbringing—his family was part of the Mount Bethel Baptist Church. In the eighth grade, Thurman was sent to one of only a few high schools for black children in Jacksonville. At the train station, Thurman recalled learning he had to pay extra to have his trunk shipped with him. Penniless and alone, Thurman sat on the steps and cried—when he saw a black man in overalls walk past him and pay the shipping costs for the boy's luggage. The two never spoke, though Thurman would later dedicate his 1979 autobiography With Head and Heart to "to the stranger in the railroad station in Daytona Beach who restored my broken dream sixty-five years ago."
 

Thurman began his activism as a student and youth movement leader in the Young Men's Christian Association. In 1923 he graduated from Morehouse College as valedictorian, and two years later was ordained as a Baptist minister in Roanoke, Virginia. At his first pastorate in Oberlin, Ohio, he discovered the work of the Quaker mystic and leader of the Interracial Fellowship of Reconciliation, Rufus Jones. Thurman became philosophical about pacifism after encountering Jones' work, posing the question "How can we manage the carking fear of the white man's power…. and not be defeated by our own rage and hatred?"
 

Thurman's reputation grew, and he began travelling abroad to places like India. In 1936 a meeting with Mahatma Gandhi further challenged his beliefs. Gandhi challenged Thurman to find sources of pacifism and opposition to unjust power within Thurman's own faith. Thurman came home speaking of his encounter with Gandhi, and began a series of lectures that would eventually become Jesus and the Disinherited (1949), a theological study of Jesus Christ's New Testament gospel in accordance with nonviolent responses to oppression.
 

Thurman met Martin Luther King Jr. when the latter was just a boy. Thurman was often a guest in the young King's house, as the preacher was the same age as King's father, who was also a minister in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1951, King attended Boston University for his doctoral studies in systematic theology, where two years later, Thurman would become dean of Marsh Chapel and deliver several of his lauded sermons on nonviolence and activism; some years later, King would also invite Thurman to speak at his first pulpit in Montgomery, Alabama. Their most notable correspondence though was after King was stabbed and hospitalized at a 1958 book signing in New York City. Thurman encouraged King to extend his rest period by two weeks, recuperating physically and spiritually from the immense responsibilities of the Montgomery bus boycotts. King took Thurman's advice, and was known to keep a well-read copy of Jesus and the Disinherited in his pocket during the Montgomery boycotts.
 

While Howard Thurman's legacy of inspiring Martin Luther King, Jr. could be notable enough, his influence goes much further. In 1953, Life magazine named him one of the 12 most important religious leaders in the U.S. After his passing in 1981, the Howard Thurman Center at Boston University was founded, and Howard University, where he was once the dean, named the Thurman Chapel in the School of Divinity after him. No doubt too that in our time of great social upheaval, returning to Thurman's teachings is a great way to remind ourselves of the power of activism and nonviolence in working towards ending institutionalized racism.

 
Image credit & copyright: Emory University

 
Written by: Esther P.

Move over, Harry Potter. Step back, Star Wars. There's another multi-million dollar franchise full of colorful characters in town. Actually, it's been here far longer! First created in 1926, Winnie-the-Pooh is still generating new adaptations, from cartoons and movies to toys. The entire phenomenon began with one man: British author A.A. Milne, who passed away on this day in 1956. However, Milne had never set out to create some of the most beloved characters of all time. He had simply been looking for stories to tell his young, toy-loving son, Christopher Robin.
 

Born in Kilburn, London, Alan Alexander Milne attended the Henley House School, which was run by his father. Interestingly, one of Milne's instructors at Henley House was the famous author H.G. Wells. Wells was a great inspiration to Milne, but not in the subject of writing. At the time, Wells was not a published writer but a mathematics teacher. Milne went on to study at Trinity College, Cambridge on scholarship. During his studies Milne played cricket with other future authors, including J.M. Barrie (creator of Peter Pan), and Arthur Conan Doyle (creator of Sherlock Holmes). These friendships helped spark Milne's interest in writing, and, along with his brother Kenneth, he published and edited in the student magazine Granta. After graduation, he contributed to Punch magazine and later became an assistant editor for the publication.
 

Milne served as a second lieutenant during the Great War. Disillusioned by the suffering he witnessed, and endured, Milne sought solace in his family and writing.
He bought a country home in Sussex and, in 1913, married Dorothy "Daphne" de Sélincourt. The couple had a son, Christopher Robin Milne, in 1920. Miline began writing plays, some of which were well-received, such as Mr. Pim Passes By and The Dover Road. In 1924, Milne wrote his first book of children's poems, When We Were Young. Some of these poems were inspired by Christopher Robin's childhood pastimes, and, in 1926, Milne channeled that inspiration into the first of two books that would define his life (and the life of his son). Winnie-the-Pooh was a collection of stories about a fictionalized version of Christopher Robin and his (stuffed) animal companions. The main animal character was Winnie-the-Pooh, an absentminded bear whose name was inspired by Winnipeg, a black bear living at the London Zoo . Whimsical illustrations from artist Ernest H. Shepard helped make the book an instant hit. By the time Miline published The House at Pooh Corner (1928), he had become a household name.
 

Unfortunately, the young Christopher Robin had also become famous. Throughout his adolescence, Milne's son endured bullying from both children and adults, who often expected him to be cuter and more cheerful than he actually was. Ultimately, Winnie-the-Pooh strained the relationship between Milne and his son. The pair became largely estranged when, as a grown man, Christopher Robin chose to marry his first cousin, Lesley de Sélincourt. Only after Milne's death, in 1956, did Christopher Robin write a book of his own, The Enchanted Places, about his unusual childhood. He later stated that the book lifted him "from under the shadow of my father and of Christopher Robin, and to my surprise and pleasure I found myself standing beside them in the sunshine able to look them both in the eye."
 

For almost one hundred years, the characters from Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh books have inspired generations of children. In 1961, pioneering businessman Walt Disney gained licensing rights to Milne's characters, and the Walt Disney Company has since created several series of cartoons, a live-action T.V. show, and even amusement park ride based on Milne's works. In 2017, they even created a successful live-action Winnie-the-Pooh movie. It seems increasingly clear that no matter how advanced or fast-paced the modern world becomes, the simple lessons and lighthearted stories from Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh will continue to endure.

 
Image credit & copyright: National Portrait Gallery, London

 
Written by: Maria C.