Celebrating Black History Month!

February is Black History Month.

Just before this photo was taken Malcolm said to me, "Charlie, you crack us up!"

Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X -- Two progressive thinkers who approached civil rights from different directions but who reached the same conclusions. Ahead of their times and their assassinations represent irreplaceable losses to our country.

-- Charlie X

In Space, No One Can Hear You Bark!

Well, February 20 marks the 48th anniversary of astronaut John Glenn's historic spaceflight where he became the first person to orbit the earth. He actually orbited the earth three times during the flight. After the first orbit, the spacecraft experienced "technical problems" and John flew the remaining three orbits using manual controls. What can I say, I really wanted to know what that red button did.

Some additional interesting facts you might not know include the fact that John was 40 years old when he made this flight in 1962. He was one of the oldest astronauts in NASA's Mercury space flight program. John made old guy history again when he became the oldest astronaut, and the first sitting US Senator, to fly in space. He was a member of the Space Shuttle Discovery crew that flew on mission STS-95 in October 1998.

See you next week!

-- Charlie

Happy Presidents' Day

On September 17, 1862, President Lincoln visited the battlefield of Antietam shortly after the Union Army narrowly defeated Confederate forces. Interestingly, northerners referred to this as the "Battle of Antietam" while southerners referred to it as the "Battle of Sharpesburg." Antietam Creek runs through the area and the town of Sharpesburg, Maryland is very close to the battlefield. Another interesting fact, that I'm pretty sure is true, is that Abe frequently kept a handful of dog cookies in the right pocket of his topcoat but you could never tell by his face whether he was going to give any out.

Enjoy your three day holiday! See you next week.

-- Charlie

Welcome!

Welcome to my Blog! Once a week, for the next 52 weeks, I'll be posting some of my favorite photos from history. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoyed putting them together.

Charlie