10 Lesser-Known Facts About Revolutionary-Era America-- Part 1: We're Taller, and We Can Read Better and Make Babies Better. Then There Is That Drinking Thing

From the July 4, 2018, ListVerse by Kevin Klatman.

Go to the site for pictures and a lot more information.

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10.  AMERICANS WERE TALLER THAN THE BRITISH

On average, the British stood at 5-foot, five inches, and Americans were three inches taller.

9.  AMERICANS HAD A HIGHER LITERACY RATE THAN THE BRITISH

Much of this because the Puritans in New England valued education for religious purposes.

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8  ONE IN THREE WOMEN  WHO WALKED DOWN THE AISLE WAS PREGNANT

Perhaps because of the practice of bundling.

7.  AMERICANS DRANK ... A LOT

Alcohol safer than water.  Go figure.

6.  SOUTH CAROLINA: ONE OF THE MOST TOLERANT AND CULTURED OF THE COLONIES

New England colonies were too Puritan to go much for the arts.

--CooterGiveMeABeer

Chicago's Mother of Black History, Vivian Harsh-- Part 2: 300 Essential Black Books

Using her $500 grant from Julius Rosenwald, Vivian Harsh visited libraries serving black communities in New York, Washington, D.C., Cleveland, Detroit and Newark, New Jersey.  From these, she drew up a list of 300 essential books for readers interested in black literature and history.

To acquire them for her Chicago library, she solicited donations and appealed to booksellers.  And, she continued adding volumes above that number.  When she retired in 1958, her library's Special Negro Collection had 2,000 books, plus newspaper clippings, pamphlets and manuscripts.  All this accomplished while she ran the library.

And, she was a neatness person.  En route to her desk each morning, she would stop and pick up even the smallest scrap of paper..  She was constantly telling her employees about the importance of keeping the premises neat and clean.

Sadly, she was extremely private about her personal life and never wrote anything about it.  That is why her archives are now being examined to piece together her life.

Deaths: Gene Wolf: Mr. Pringles and Science Fiction

GENE WOLFE (1931-2019)

From the May 2, , 2019, Chicago Tribune "Science-fiction writer with a literary touch" by  Harrison Smith, Washington Post.

"Gene Wolfe was an industrial engineer who helped devise the cooking  process  for Pringles, the stackable chip, then turned to fantasy and science-fiction writing to craft intricate, philosophically rich novels that explored faith, war and distant planets, died April 14 in Peoria, Illinois.  He was 87."

I never read any of his writings but am sure a fan of his Pringles.

He served as a combat engineer in the Korean War, an experience that left him shaken and startled by loud noises upon his return.

While working as an industrial engineer for Procter & Gamble, he developed the frying process for potato shingles that are used to make those delicious Pringles chips.  In time he came to resemble the cartoon figure on the cans, the broad-faced man with the bushy handlebar mustache.

A "Treasure House" for British Literature in Chicagoland

From the May 28, 2014, Chicago Tribune by Quan Truong.

The Marion E. Wade Center on the campus of Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois, is quite the research center for British authors.

In it, you can sit at the desk where J.R.R. Tolkien drafted parts of "The Lord of the Rings."  You can also touch the wardrobe on which a young C.S. Lewis is said to have climbed to tell stories.

There are no velvet ropes to keep visitors away. You are welcome to touch some mighty important literature places.

That wardrobe was carved by Lewis' grandfather and see an original manuscript or pull out a lesser-known book written by the author of "The Chronicles of Narnia."

The center was founded 50 years ago and the new building housing it opened in 2001.  About 9,000 visitors come to it a year.  And, there is a huge research collection from Wheaton College professor Clyde Kilby..  he had the foresight to collect C.S. Lewis' old letters and manuscripts and later expanded his collection to include other British authors.

The center also has 2,500 volumes from Lewis' personal library

Of course, because of the recent movies, "The Lord of the Rings," "The Hobbitt" and "the Chronicles of Narnia" have made these two authors extremely popular.

--Cooter

Boat With "Moby Dick" Connection Located

From the Feb. 13, 2011 Gather.com News "Moby Dick" Revisited After Sunken Ship Discovery in Hawaii."

The ship named Two brothers was found 600 miles northwest of Hawaii.  Of course, you may be asking what this has to do with the famous book?  Herman Melville's book was inspired by George Pollard, Jr., and his whaling vessel, the Essex, which was rammed and sunk by a sperm whale in 1820.  The survivors were adrift at sea for two months with the survivors finally resorting to cannibalism.

In 1823, Pollard got the Two Brothers which then hit a reef off Hawaii and sank.  This time Pollard and the crew were rescued the next day.

Melville finished the book in 1851, using another crew member's account.  After that, Melville met Pollard who was nothing like the crazed Captain Ahab of the book.

Divers have recovered the anchor, pots for melting whale blubber, whaling lances, harpoon tips and some rigging.  The Two Brothers rests off French Frigate Shoals.

Always Interested In Any Shipwrecks That Are Found.  --DaCoot