Have (many) drinks with: Thomas Fitzpatrick Hold my beer. Ask him about: air traffic control Just last month, a small plane made an emergency landing on a busy street in Washington state (apparently even managing, no small feat, to stop for a red light). These sort of landings are not uncommon, as unusual as they may…
Have a drink with: Astronaut Snoopy Houston? How about Petaluma? Ask him about: Getting NASA to the moon Tomorrow will mark fifty years since the splashdown of the Apollo 11 lunar mission (it’s easy to focus on the July 20th landing and next-day lunar walk, forgetting that the astronauts had to go through the equally…
Have a drink with: Claire Heliot “Sentimentalist and lion tamer.” Ask her about: herding cats In 1905, the New York Hippodrome opened its doors with a banner performance of A Yankee Circus on Mars, a freewheeling half-circus, half-opera in which the King of Mars, acting as an intergalactic talent scout of sorts, comes to Earth…
Have a drink with: The Liberty LoansSome drill, some till, and some produce the dollar bill. Ask them about: buying World War I for Christmas This season not only marks the centennial of the Armistice that brought an end to World War I, but also of the massive public investment campaign that made American involvement…
Have a drink with: The American Voter A high and important duty to perform. Ask: what’s your plan for voting? We’re not alone among the world’s democracies in this fact, but Americans don’t have a great record on voter turnout, particularly when midterm elections are involved. This is not unique to the modern era, either:…
Have a drink with: Presidential Hats Come at me, bro. Ask them about: how buff was Teddy Roosevelt? With the collective American mind very much on upcoming midterm elections, and with a host of new and nontraditional contenders running for office, one phrase pops up perhaps a little more than usual: the announcement that one…
Have a drink with: Sarah Winchester 40BR, 30BA; move-in ready! Ask her about: Extreme Home Makeover, Spectral Edition You’d be forgiven for thinking that the star of the recent suspense film Winchester is Helen Mirren. She is, after all, a certified badass; a superb actress; and well kitted out for the job in a dour…
Have a drink with: The Winter Olympics Faster, higher, stronger, colder. Ask about: Being young and full of sin Although technically the Olympic Games have been going on since centuries B.C.E., the modern Games as we now know them began in 1896, with the competition of 241 athletes in traditional track-and-field events, wrestling, gymnastics, shooting…
Have a drink with: Tom Petty Into the great wide open… Ask him about: Not backing down. Tom Petty recently achieved the feat, as far as the press was concerned, of dying twice in a single day. On Monday, October 2, news outlets began reporting in the afternoon that Petty had died following a cardiac…
Have a drink with: Bathing Suit Lizards Stockingless bathers! Ask them about: Beachy fun, pig roasts, union cosplay. If you’re thinking about ways to enjoy your summer, rest assured: the past can help. As it turns out, just like you, people in the early 20th century spent plenty of time thinking about things like bathing…
