Sure, the idea of going back in the past has its temptations. Hobnobbing with a young Einstein. Enjoying the pleasures of Gay Paree. Killing off a certain Austrian street artist. But getting sick in the past is not one of them. Witness this 1905 German Naval method of transporting sick or wounded sailors from one… Continue reading Oh, Those Germans! Insane Method of Transporting Deathly Ill Sailors in 1905
Category: Things You’ve Never Heard Of
Decadent Monacracy: White House Secret Service Uniforms During Nixon’s Administration
In 1970, President Richard Nixon changed the White House Secret Service’s uniforms most dramatically. According to Richard Reeves’ President Nixon: Alone in the White House, Nixon felt that the present uniforms were “too slovenly.” An upcoming visit by Prime Minister Harold Wilson of Great Britain was a good excuse to upgrade the uniforms. The uniforms,… Continue reading Decadent Monacracy: White House Secret Service Uniforms During Nixon’s Administration
Forgotten Woodstock: Seattle Pop Festival, 1969
Drive through Woodinville, Washington and it has the glimmer of an Eastside Seattle suburb that is rapidly expanding. With its Target, brewpubs, and pricey housing developments, Woodinville is fairly unremarkable, a rural area reinventing itself as a wine-tasting destination. But on one weekend years ago, thousands descended on a rural and remote Woodinville to hear a… Continue reading Forgotten Woodstock: Seattle Pop Festival, 1969
True: Beverly Hilton Pocket Knife Surgery and Near-Resurrection of Harry “Parkyakarkus” Parke
A comedian who delivers “the most hilarious speech of his career” in front of 1,000 fellow celebrities at The Beverly Hilton, then collapses. An emcee who shouts for a doctor and “five physicians immediately run to the dais.” And then–get this–they cut open his chest with a pocket knife. And then–well, ya just gotta hear the… Continue reading True: Beverly Hilton Pocket Knife Surgery and Near-Resurrection of Harry “Parkyakarkus” Parke
When Jim Morrison of The Doors Stayed at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta
The Hyatt Regency Atlanta, built in 1967, is famous as one of the first–if not the first–example of a large atrium hotel. The inside of this 22 story is scooped out, with rooms facing each other and public spaces below. Built by John Portman, the Hyatt Regency–originally Regency Hyatt House–is an architecturally significant building that… Continue reading When Jim Morrison of The Doors Stayed at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta