The Emperor
Marcus Aurelius Maximus
- Messages
- 3,881
- Reaction score
- 2
For my college graduation, my mom's friend gave me Chronicle of the 20th Century. Frankly, I find the title humorous since the book only goes up to 1991; the authors jumped the gun in the early '90s and thought the century was over. I think the final nine years of the 20th century were very spectacular and worthy of mention.
Anyway, as I was browsing the book while eat leftover chicken tacos from Mena's Mexican Grill in Carrollton, I saw a couple of interesting vignettes in here that are relevant some 90 years later. Take a look:
U.S.-bred males are tall and vigorous
May 1926 The public is fascinated by a study released this spring showing the American man growing taller and stronger. Dr. Alex Hrdlicka, an anthropologist with the Smithsonian, compared Americans who have been here for three generations with more recent arrivals. He found the average "Old American" is 68.6 inches tall, has a high forehead, and an excellent brain capacity. Former President Theodore Roosevelt had offered to volunteer for the study.
Rudolph Valentino dies; fans desolate
Aug. 23, 1926 Thousands of women are sobbing next to their radios today, overcome by news that Rudolph Valentino is dead. The actor, thrilling them for the last five years with films like "Blood and Sand," "The Young Rajah," and "Cobra," was only 31 years old. A ruptured appendix and gastric ulcer hastened him to Manhattan hospital. There, he spoke his final words, a sad delirious babble of French and Italian. Women can't agree on how to honor his memory: Pola Negri has ordered 4,000 roses for his brier, and one fan has chosen to shoot herself.
Struggle ends for Socialist pioneer
Oct. 20, 1926 An era is American politics ended today, when Eugene V. Debs, perennial candidate for president on the Socialist Party ticket, died at age 71. Debs' passing comes at a time when the Socialist Party casts but a shadow of its former influence in the United States.
In 1900, 1904, 1908, 1912, and 1920, Debs ran for president. In 1912, touring the nation in his "Red Special" train, he told people, "Every capitalist is your enemy. Every working man is your friend." In 1920, campaigning from jail after having been convicted for wartime sedition, he got 919,799 votes, his highest total. Released in 1920, his health broken, Debs' dream of a socialist America was still a dream.
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To me, this next one is interested because it seems like we're always leading this category. It's also interesting because economic disaster was a mere three years away.
U.S. has highest living level ever
Nov. 28, 1926 Americans are enjoying the highest standard of living in the nation's history, says Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover. His economic picture was drawn in a government report stating that wages are up and unemployment virtually nonexistent except in some textile mills in New England and some of the nation's coal mines.
With both production and consumption at an all-time high, he said, the nation has never enjoyed so much prosperity. Hoover also said that the economic situation represented a remarkable recovery from the nation's losses after the war in Europe. And he added that economic conditions abroad have improved, too.
Films better made but plots childish
January 1927 The National Board of Review has finished screening work called "Thirty Years of Motion Pictures." It showed film's technological advances: high-speed photography, depicting movement of microscopic organisms; special effects, making the parting of the Red Sea in "The Ten Commandments" so realistic; and close-up photography helping surgeons to teach interns. But what of intellectual progress? Film today, one board member said, is designed for the mentality of a 12 year old.
Anyway, as I was browsing the book while eat leftover chicken tacos from Mena's Mexican Grill in Carrollton, I saw a couple of interesting vignettes in here that are relevant some 90 years later. Take a look:
U.S.-bred males are tall and vigorous
May 1926 The public is fascinated by a study released this spring showing the American man growing taller and stronger. Dr. Alex Hrdlicka, an anthropologist with the Smithsonian, compared Americans who have been here for three generations with more recent arrivals. He found the average "Old American" is 68.6 inches tall, has a high forehead, and an excellent brain capacity. Former President Theodore Roosevelt had offered to volunteer for the study.
Rudolph Valentino dies; fans desolate
Aug. 23, 1926 Thousands of women are sobbing next to their radios today, overcome by news that Rudolph Valentino is dead. The actor, thrilling them for the last five years with films like "Blood and Sand," "The Young Rajah," and "Cobra," was only 31 years old. A ruptured appendix and gastric ulcer hastened him to Manhattan hospital. There, he spoke his final words, a sad delirious babble of French and Italian. Women can't agree on how to honor his memory: Pola Negri has ordered 4,000 roses for his brier, and one fan has chosen to shoot herself.
Struggle ends for Socialist pioneer
Oct. 20, 1926 An era is American politics ended today, when Eugene V. Debs, perennial candidate for president on the Socialist Party ticket, died at age 71. Debs' passing comes at a time when the Socialist Party casts but a shadow of its former influence in the United States.
In 1900, 1904, 1908, 1912, and 1920, Debs ran for president. In 1912, touring the nation in his "Red Special" train, he told people, "Every capitalist is your enemy. Every working man is your friend." In 1920, campaigning from jail after having been convicted for wartime sedition, he got 919,799 votes, his highest total. Released in 1920, his health broken, Debs' dream of a socialist America was still a dream.
-------------
To me, this next one is interested because it seems like we're always leading this category. It's also interesting because economic disaster was a mere three years away.
U.S. has highest living level ever
Nov. 28, 1926 Americans are enjoying the highest standard of living in the nation's history, says Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover. His economic picture was drawn in a government report stating that wages are up and unemployment virtually nonexistent except in some textile mills in New England and some of the nation's coal mines.
With both production and consumption at an all-time high, he said, the nation has never enjoyed so much prosperity. Hoover also said that the economic situation represented a remarkable recovery from the nation's losses after the war in Europe. And he added that economic conditions abroad have improved, too.
Films better made but plots childish
January 1927 The National Board of Review has finished screening work called "Thirty Years of Motion Pictures." It showed film's technological advances: high-speed photography, depicting movement of microscopic organisms; special effects, making the parting of the Red Sea in "The Ten Commandments" so realistic; and close-up photography helping surgeons to teach interns. But what of intellectual progress? Film today, one board member said, is designed for the mentality of a 12 year old.