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On this date in 1786 David "Davy" Crockett—hunter, frontiersman, politician, and soldier—was born in a rough-hewn cabin in Tennessee. It can be difficult to separate the myth from the man, including the famous story that he "killed him a bear when he was only three." His extraordinary life, however, hardly needs embellishment. He was a […]
While working on my etymological database, I looked through countless old journals and magazines. I especially enjoyed reading the reviews of etymological dictionaries published in their pages. Some were shockingly abrasive, even virulent; others delightfully chatty and unabashedly superficial.
Palm Islands Coordinates: 25° 18 N | 55° 20 E Dubai’s Population: 1,182,439 (2006 est.) As the relative ease of international travel increases, countries seeking to compete for tourist dollars have become more creative in their efforts to market themselves as unique destinations. The United Arab Emirates, to take one example, chose to adopt the […]
Oxford University Press sends its condolences to the family, friends, colleagues and students of one of our most esteemed authors, Kermit Hall, who died in a swimming accident on Sunday, August 13. Kermit Hall was the editor of The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court, The Oxford Companion to American Law, The Judicial Branch in […]
Here is a discussion of the music, biography and inspirations of the one-and-only James Brown; the legendary African American soul and funk singer – who has been invariably called the ‘Godfather of Soul’, ‘Soul Brother Number One’, ‘Mr. Dynamite’, and the ‘Hardest Working Man in Show Business’.
President Bush will read David Oshinsky’s Polio: An American Story.
Golden Gate Park was established in 1872 on a site of 410 hectares/1,013 acres, and is one of the finest city parks in the country. The long rectangular park has two distinct sections. The western section adjoining the Pacific Ocean is buffeted by fierce winds and salt-laden air, while the more sheltered eastern section is […]
Napa Valley Coordinates: 38° 30 N | 122° 20 W Area: 754 square miles (1,953 sq. km) Bavarian beer baths are fine for some, but the more sophisticated may prefer a Chardonnay massage–a truly intoxicating way to de-stress. Popular among the Parisian upper class in the eighteenth century, the long relaxing soak in a barrel […]
By Anatoly Liberman The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) appeared thanks to the efforts of the Philological Society. Every May the society opened its “anniversary” (that is, annual) meetings with long presidential addresses, which also graced the early volumes of the Transactions of the Philological Society (TPS). Both the society and its transactions are still very […]
Norman J. Ornstein, co-author of The Broken Branch, is a Resident Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. Below is an except from his recent article at the Huffington Post:
Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. is the editor in chief of The Oxford African American Studies Center. In this New York Times op-ed, Dr. Gates uses a little-known story about the Revolutionary War to demonstrate the role of black patriots in the birth of our nation: ON June 11, 1823, a man named John Redman […]
Last year the Kansas State Board of Education adopted a new science curriculum that taught “intelligent design” as an alternative to Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. Last week the voters of Kansas threw out the board members that had pushed for this new unscientific approach to teaching science, virtually assuring that intelligent design will be stricken […]
By Cass Sunstein What happens when people deliberate with one another? Do they arrive at the truth? Do they go toward the middle? Can we predict the effects of deliberation? A few months ago, I tried to find out, collaborating with David Schkade (of the University of San Diego) and Reid Hastie (of the University […]
Frederick G. Kilgour, author of The Evolution of the Book (Oxford University Press | 1998) passed away on Monday, July 31st at his home in Chapel Hill, N.C.
In the mid-1970s the cultural shockwave known as hip hop emerged from the economic paralysis of New York City, especially the neglected neighborhoods in the Bronx. However, while hip hop music was born in New York, it speaks to a long line of black American and African diasporic cultural traditions.
Washington Park Arboretum Designed by James Dawson (1874-1941) of the Olmsted Brothers firm, and was founded in the 1930s with funds and labour from the Works Progress Administration, which provided relief during the Depression. Covering 93 hectares/230 acres in the heart of the city, and encompassing collections of Rhododendron, Cornus, Malus, Ilex, Magnolia, Camellia, Sorbus, […]