The Hawaiian Game of Lu-Lu

Lu-Lu, or Hawaiian Dice, was an ancient Polynesian gambling game.

Hawaiian dice

Chicago’s “Owl Man”

Chicago is known as the “Windy City”. As any resident will tell you, the reference comes from a witticism aimed at the long-winded oratory coming from the city’s often-corrupt politicians, not from the weather. But in the year of 2017, according to some reports, a mysterious creature called the “Chicago Owlman” (or sometimes the “Chicago Mothman”—and some wags called it “Batman”) was using the city’s winds in quite a different way.

Harry S Truman Home, Independence MO

Harry S Truman never expected to be President. But he was suddenly handed the job upon the death of Franklin D Roosevelt.

Harry S Truman home in Independence MO

Icons of Aviation History: The B-47 Stratojet

The B-47 Stratojet was America’s first all-jet bomber, but it was plagued with issues.

B-47 bomber on exhibit at the Pima Air and Space Museum

Tocobaga Florida Bushcraft: Making Cordage From Palmettos

Like Native American tribes everywhere, the people who lived in Tampa Bay before European contact (the Tocobaga) had to meet all their needs from locally-available natural materials.

Icons of Aviation History: The Mosquito

The “Mozzie” was the most versatile aircraft of the war, fast and lightweight. Different variations served as interceptors, photo reconnaissance, light bombers, and ground attack.

Mosquito in American markings, on display at the US Air Force Museum in Dayton OH

The Founding of Savannah GA

In October 1728, a man named Robert Castell died in a debtor’s prison in England. Castell was an architect and a failed publisher, but he was also a friend of James Oglethorpe, a Member of Parliament. So Castell’s death led, indirectly, to the founding of the State of Georgia and the city of Savannah.

Ogelthorpe Monument, Savannah GA

Lake Missoula and the Great Glacial Flood

Around 10,000 years ago, a huge glacier lake broke through its ice dam and changed much of the landscape in the Pacific Northwest.

US Geological Survey of the Lake Missoula flood zones photo from Wiki Commons

Betty and Barney Hill’s Interrupted Journey

The “Hill Abduction” remains one of the most famous UFO cases in the US.

The Process Behind an RAF Nighttime Air Raid on Nazi Germany

By the end of World War Two, the British RAF had developed a well-practiced routine for air raids against the Third Reich.

RAF Lancasters on a nighttime raid photo from WikiCommons

Icons of Aviation History: F9F Panther

The Panther was the Navy’s first successful carrier-based jet fighter.

F9F Panther on display at the Naval Aviation Museum, Pensacola FL

The Lenape Game of Mamantuhwin

Mamantuhwin is a dice-type game played by the Lenape Native Americans from eastern Pennsylvania (also sometimes called the Delawares). Women and children played it for entertainment, while men used it for gambling.

Native American dice from Iowa, with dice bowl

William Howard Taft Boyhood Home, Cincinnati OH

William Howard Taft is one of the lesser-remembered of the US Presidents, who was mostly in the shadow of his much better-known contemporary Teddy Roosevelt. Today, most people probably remember Taft, if at all, for being … well … very fat.

William Howard Taft’s boyhood home

UNESCO And the Everglades

The Everglades National Park is one of 24 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the United States.

American Alligator in the Everglades

Icons of Aviation History: B-25 Mitchell

The B-25 medium bomber is most famous for its part in the Doolittle raid over Tokyo. But it was an extremely versatile aircraft that carried out multiple roles in every theater of the war, for the US Army, Navy and Marines as well as for the British and Soviet air forces.

B-25 Mitchell on exhibit with the Commemorative Air Force in Phoenix AZ