History Schmistory: November 20. MS-DOS this get easier?
Wednesday, November 20, 2024
1985: Microsoft Windows 1.0 is released. Laypersons rejoice!
History Schmistory: November 19. Four Score and Seven=
Tuesday, November 19, 2024
1863: US President Abraham Lincoln delivers the most important and enduring 2 minute speech in American history… Need a hint?
By Published by M.T. Sheahan, Boston, Mass. [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
History Schmistory: November 18. “How ya like them apples?”
Monday, November 18, 2024
1307: Brutal and outrageous meanie-head Hermann Gessler punishes William Tell for not bowing down to him. Williams’ bizarre sentence is to shoot an apple off of his own son’s head with a crossbow. After performing the task flawlessly, he sparks a rebellion against Gessler, leading ultimately to an independent Swiss Confederacy, and some sweet revenge for Mr. Tell… “How do you like them apples, Hermann?”
History Schmistory: November 17. Not your ordinary cat toy…
Sunday, November 17, 2024
1970: Douglas Engelbart successfully patents the computer mouse. His patent for computer cheese is still pending.

By SRI International (SRI International) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia CommonsBy SRI International (SRI International) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons
History Schmistory: November 16. Brand New State! Gonna Treat You Great!
Saturday, November 16, 2024
1907: Oklahoma becomes the 46th State in the US. And honestly. Where on Earth would we be without Oklahoma! ?
History Schmistory: November 14. Woah-Nellie!
Thursday, November 14, 2024
1889: Nellie Bly begins her trip around the world, aiming to accomplish the journey in 80 days, a span Jules Verne predicted in his work of fiction, Around the World in 80 Days. Get this, Nellie did it in 72 days. In your face, Phileas Fogg!
History Schmistory: November 13. Home.
Wednesday, November 13, 2024
1851: The Denny Party lands at Alki point, the first settlers in what would become Seattle, Washington, and the current residence of the one and only Marco Polo! …Just in case you were wondering.
History Schmistory: November 12. You hear the one about the exploding whale?
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
1970: The Oregon Highway Division learns exactly what not to do with a dead whale.
A Name You Should Know: Lincoln J. Beachy
Monday, November 11, 2024
Lincoln Beachy was known by many, including his competitors, as “The Man Who Owns the Sky”; “the Master Birdman”; “The Divine Flyer”; or quite simply “the Worlds Greatest Aviator”. Here’s a man whose aerial acrobatics drew the attendance of over 30 million people (17 million in 1914 alone) and yet we still had to look the guy up. This is a guy who built his own zeppelin and landed it on the White House lawn. A guy who decided to fill his tank and fly upwards until it ran out, to see how high he could get (nearly 12,000ft.) A guy who intentionally put himself in a desperate tailspin in order to show everybody how to properly get out of one. A guy who could do a break-neck vertical nose-dive and level out just in time to land on the runway. We could fill pages with more of his countless death defying feats, but we figure you’re already impressed. Not bad for a guy that crashed on his first two flights, eh?
History Schmistory: November 11. Coooold-snap!
Monday, November 11, 2024
1911: Apocalyptic expectations went wild the last time we saw an 11/11/11, as The Great Blue Norther, a cold snap that produced record highs and lows on the same day, barreled through the central US, leaving much of the bewildered population with contrasting habiliments.