Did you know that:
- The Wright brothers were not the first humans to fly?
- A Malay slave is believed to be the first person to circle the globe, not the Spaniards of Magellan's Expedition?
- Major league baseball had black players sixty years before Jackie Robinson played for the Dodgers?
- The Russians reached the moon before the Americans?
- The fabled Pony Express operated for only a year and a half?
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Monopoly was originally created by a progressive socialist to teach children that capitalism is cruel and unfair?
If not, you haven't been reading This Week in History, now celebrating its twelfth installment. In the first dozen articles of the series, I've covered 43 events ranging from baseball to banana wars, from pre-history to the Information Age, and from the Sistine Chapel to the Supreme Court. Every single one interested me as a fascinating tale that I wanted to share with you.
Compelling stories are my goal in This Week in History; facts and dates are just the raw material to use in weaving a narrative that entertains as well as informs. The key event for the selected date doesn't stand alone—it has a backstory and an epilogue to put it in context—and sometimes there's even an unexpected plot twist.
See what you've been missing—I think you'll find some interesting tales to catch up on. Be sure to vote for your favorite story in each installment's poll. In January there will be a "Best of the Year" contest of the updated weekly winners.
TWiH insiders' secret: Every week there's a new and different quotation in the header—but most people never notice it.
An asterisk indicates the current favorite story (or stories, if tied) of the week according to the weekly poll.
TWiH (November 23-29): Soph, did ya hear the one about the beagle and the bananas?
- Sophie Tucker, the Last of the Red Hot Mamas *
- Darwin's Origin of the Species
- Banana wars in Central America
TWiH (November 2-8): No pagans allowed, madam governor, we're devout Monopolists
- First women governors in the U.S.
- Monopoly and the earlier game that was its origin
- Paganism banned in the Roman Empire *
TWiH (Oct 26-Nov 1): Popes, paintings, packets, protocols -- and 400 ponies!
- The Pony Express *
- ARPANET, the original internet, is created
- Michelangelo paints the Sistine Chapel
TWiH (October 19-25): Double-crossed, duplicated and double plays
- Black baseball plays the first Colored World Series *
- The man who invented the photocopier and gave away his fortune
- The Nazi ally who betrayed Norway in World War II
TWiH (October 12-18): I got rhythm, I got danish, who could ask for anything more than a balloon?
- America's first female ambassadors
- Ethel Merman's stunning debut on Broadway *
- First flight by humans (no, not the Wright brothers)
TWiH (October 5-11): Attention! The crazy train is now boarding...all aboard!
- Monty Python's Flying Circus debuts on TV *
- First train robbery
- Fox News begins broadcasting
- Confederacy exempts rich slaveholders from military draft *
TWiH (Sept 28-Oct 4): A cure for what ails ya, Nature's grandest temple, and justice shines brighter
- Discovery of penicillin *
- Yosemite National Park created
- First black Supreme Court justice sworn in
- SOS adopted as international signal for help
TWiH (Sept 21-27): Up in the wild blue yonder, back on terra firma, and what lurks beneath
- B-29 Superfortress bomber takes its maiden flight
- World's first stack interchange for freeways *
- Geologists begin searching for oil in Saudi Arabia
- First presidential debate on TV (Nixon-Kennedy)
TWiH (Sept 14-20): Aliens invade, a mouse thwarts the Russians, and a goddess laughs
- Russian probe makes first contact by mankind with an extraterrestrial body
- Marilyn Monroe's iconic photo
- Oklahoma land rush *
- Premier Khrushchev visits Hollywood and has a tantrum
TWiH (September 7-13): A new name for the USA, an electric speed demon, and a DUI for demon rum
- First automobile race on a racetrack
- Rebel colonies adopt the name "United States of America"
- First arrest for drunk driving
- Discovery of the Lascaux cave paintings *
TWiH (August 31-Sept 6): America's real birthday, the world shrinks, and money everywhere
- First ATM cash machine debuts
- USA recognized as an independent nation
- Geronimo surrenders
- Magellan's Expedition completes its journey around the world *
TWiH (August 24-30): A hoax, a dream, and huge explosions
- The Great Moon Hoax
- Eruption of Krakatoa
- Martin Luther King, Jr's "I have a dream" speech
- Soviet Union explodes its first atomic bomb
If you want to keep up with the series, just click #ThisWeekinHistory and bookmark the page. Check it every Monday to see the latest installment.
The very first installment of This Week in History, at the bottom of the list above, did not include a poll for readers' favorite story. If you would like to vote for a favorite for that week, please do so in the poll below and I will include the winner in the contest in January.