100 years ago today, Austria declared war of Serbia, sparking the First World War, which would be the deadliest war to that point and arguably the most deadly in history. (It depends how you count the war dead for WWII.) The first time I taught WWI, I asked how manyContinue Reading
I spent much of this last winter sorting through my grandfather’s collection of stamps. They come from a variety of sources. Some he clearly cut off envelopes. Some he probably purchased, as they are in glassine envelopes. Some were gifted to him by a cousin in 1935. I have zeroContinue Reading
Yesterday I introduced the billion mark stamp from 1923 Germany with a bit of background behind this truly absurd item. Today, I visited a stamp store (which the owner says now officially makes me a philatelist, rather than a person who just happens to have stamps) and had a lovelyContinue Reading
The poor state of history education in our primary and secondary schools has left many of my college students seeing history as nothing but distinct facts to be memorized, often in list form. I know I had to repeatedly memorize the major battles of the Revolutionary War and their dates.Continue Reading