Many people are familiar with the famous quotation by President John F. Kennedy, “Life is unfair.” But few people today remember or know the context of this quote. It was…
“No rights which the white man was bound to respect.”
On March 6, 1857, the U.S. Supreme Court issued it’s controversial decision on Scott v. Sandford — generally referred to as “the Dred Scott case.” The plaintiff, Dred Scott, was…
“A little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing” for “the tree of liberty”…
In 1786, the new democratic government of the United States of America wasn’t quite working out like some Revolutionary War veterans had expected. Many had not been paid for their…
The origin of the slogan “Sisterhood is Powerful.”
In 1970, feminist leader and author Robin Morgan edited an anthology of articles about the growing woman’s liberation movement titled Sisterhood Is Powerful. The book quickly became a bestseller and…
“I have nothing to declare except my genius” – the famous Oscar Wilde quip that he probably didn’t say…
On January 3, 1882, the Irish poet and playwright Oscar Wilde disembarked from the ship that brought him from England to New York. It was the beginning of what would…
“Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition!”
On December 7, 1941 — which President Franklin D. Roosevelt would memorably name “a date which will live in infamy” on the following day — hundreds of Japanese warplanes made a…
Queen Elizabeth’s “Annus Horribilis” and it’s ancestor, the “Annus Mirabilis”…
On November 24, 1992, Elizabeth II gave a speech in London to mark the 40th anniversary of her Accession as Queen of England and “the Commonwealth realms.” The speech immediately…
“Your eyes are full of hate, Forty-one.” … In Ben-Hur, that's good.
Screenwriter, playwright and novelist Gore Vidal is linked to two famous quotations about whipping. One is a funny quip about the old form of corporal punishment called “birching” (whipping someone…
How “God Bless America” created a musical duel between Woody Guthrie and Irving Berlin
In 1917, during World War I, American songwriter Irving Berlin was drafted into the U.S. Army. He was already a successful songwriter at that point, known for huge hits like…
“Business as usual”
It’s not uncommon to see credible sources claim that the phrase “business as usual” was coined by Winston Churchill. For example, a glossary of World War I words and phrases…