Tagged: history

St. Louis Skyline with Quake Logo 1

The St. Louis Earthquake of 1990

The Great St. Louis Earthquake of 1990 never happened. The New Madrid Fault Let me explain. Unbeknownst to many outside the Midwest, St. Louis lies near a fault zone, the New Madrid Fault. While...

Monopoly Houses with Teardown 4

The Ups and Downs of Teardown Houses

Real estate is expensive in Dallas, so the trend is to replace small old houses with bigger, newer ones. These teardown houses are a controversial subject in the Metroplex. From a preservationist standpoint, they...

Microsoft Windows MS-DOS Executive 9

Early Versions of Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows has been around for 30 years, and it’s still the dominant operating system for desktop PCs. Ever since the release of Windows 95, this venerable OS has dominated the desktop market, (especially...

Texan Question Mark 6

What Does It Mean to Be a Texan?

I had a discussion (argument) with a good friend about what it means to be a Texan. I said that, after 7+ years of living in Dallas, I felt I could call myself a...

Simpsons Kaiser vs Lenin 5

The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

You don’t often hear people talk about the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, at least not here in America. But even though the United States was not a direct party to this pact, the Treaty of...

Lord Kitchener Hearts You 1

Lord Kitchener Hearts You

One of the iconic designs of the 20th century is the poster of Uncle Sam that says “I Want YOU for U.S. Army”. Though it’s closely associated with World War II, it was first...

Smarch Calendar 3

The Lost Month of Mercedonius

We take it for granted that there are twelve months in the year, but this has not always been the case. The Roman-derived calendar that we use today has had anywhere from ten to...

KFC Honey Sauce Packet 4

Bean Counters and Brand Decay

Branding is not an exact science. In fact, is much more of an art. The most successful brands, like Apple and Starbucks, rely on emotions, rather than rational thinking. And like a personal reputation,...

Catalan Logo 3

Homage to Catalan

If you’ve ever been to Barcelona, you might know that they don’t speak Spanish. It comes as a shock to many first-time tourists, but the language spoken in Barcelona isn’t Spanish. It’s Catalan. I’ve...