Jacques of all Trades

Two weeks ago, I had the chance to meet George Mendonsa, the Kissing Sailor (from the famous Times Square Alfred Eisenstadt photo), at a book event for my Uncle Larry, whose book, The Kissing Sailor: The Mystery Behind the Photo that Ended World War II, will be released in two weeks (though you can preorder it now, as it’s already broken the top 5,000 in Amazon sales ranks!).  

I was excited to be at the event, and honored and humbled to get a personally-signed copy and a shout-out in the book’s acknowledgement section.  

I’m also really proud of my uncle, Larry Verria, who spent many years tracking down and engaging forensic experts to figure out who that couple really was, from all of the folks who have made claims over the years.  I think they nailed it this time, and he richly deserves the accolades, including the praise from Tom Brokaw that adorns the book’s back cover!

boston:

FROM THE ARCHIVES | PHOTOS

The Boston Common

- “From the Archives” is a new series that highlights scenes of the city from the Globe’s rich, 140-year history. The Boston Common, in the heart of the city, is a good place to start.

Opening Day appropriate, yes?

So Spaceballs pretty much had it right….

inothernews:

A computer lab at MIT in the 1960’s, where experts believe the first computer password came into use, and that it was “ABCDEFG,” and that it was written down on a Post-It and stuck to a wall in a highly-trafficked part of the office and also shared with the entire staff via email and also posted to Craigslist.

(via Wired)

Alfred Gregory, Hillary & Tenzing Preparing for the Summit, Everest, 1953

-outlying-:

Such a good look. #campvibes

And suddenly, we see where George Lucas got his inspiration for the Tusken Raiders (Sand People). Oh, those goggles!

(via 60gritbeard)

life:

Did you know? — On this day in 1884, the Washington Monument was completed.

It appears to be as simple and elegant a monument as you could find, but the record-breaking obelisk that dominates the Washington, D.C., skyline has a story that’s both complicated and even a little crude.

Pictured: On Dec. 6, 1884, the capstone was set and topped with the biggest piece of aluminum in the world, in the form of a 100-ounce lightning rod (aluminum was then as expensive and rare as silver). Workers tend to the tip of the monument in 1930.

(see more — Story of the Washington Monument)

(via jasencomstock)

A highlight from the weekend in Dallas: a visit to the Sixth Floor Museum at the old Texas Book Depository, site of Lee Harvey Oswald’s (or was it) fatal shooting of President Kennedy.

Let’s aim for no repeat of the Hurricane of 1938 this weekend.

blackandwtf:

1938

A wave from a hurricane strikes a seawall in New England.

Over a four-day period, the 1938 storm nicknamed “The Long Island Express” dropped an average of 11 inches of rain over a 10,000-square-mile area. Flooding inflicted major damage through Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, and Vermont, causing more than $300 million in losses. In all, 600 people died. Ten of those deaths were in New York City.

(via Live Science)

Amazing Historical Photos Of Washington D.C. Recreated Today (Click for more).

Too funny…@Historicaltweets.com

keylimeliving

App allows views into history

notational:layar:

With the help of a free app called Layar, users point their phone’s camera at an area along the canal and a three-dimensional model of the building appears on top of the modern day canal. The models are to scale, so the buildings grow bigger as the user approaches, and are placed nearly exactly where they stood more than 130 years ago. 

In Georgia, people can use Layar to view the “long gone buildings of the Confederate Powderworks”.

I hope much more of this will be coming. I will try to do my part to make it so.

Long before Stonehenge was built, well before the Dead Sea Scrolls were written, ancient artists painted life-sized figures on canyon walls in Utah, USA — but why? Nobody is sure. The entire panel of figures, which dates back about 7,000 years, is called the Great Gallery and was found on the walls of Horseshoe Canyon in Canyonlands National Park.

The humans who painted them likely hunted Mammoths. The unusual fuzziness of largest figure led to this mural section’s informal designation as the Holy Ghost Panel, although the intended attribution and societal importance of the figure are really unknown.

The above image was taken during a clear night in March. The oldest objects in the above image are not the pictographs, however, but the stars of our Milky Way Galaxy far in the background, some of which are billions of years old.

Credit & Copyright: Bret Webster

via lickypickysticky

(via lickystickypickywe)