Category Archives: history

We Have Capture

Posted on July 24, 2023 by smellincoffee

Tom Stafford is the last man of Gemini, having outlived all of his previous colleagues. Born in 1930 on the Oklahoma plains, he sought escape from poverty like many through the armed forces. Though too young for World War 2, … Continue reading →

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Carrying the Fire

Posted on July 22, 2023 by smellincoffee

Yet a higher call was calling, and we vowed we’d reach it soonSo we gave ourselves a decade to put fire on the moonAnd Apollo told the world, we can  do it if we try —There was One Small Step, … Continue reading →

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Forever Young

Posted on July 20, 2023 by smellincoffee

If ever the title “Mr. Astronaut” was given out, it would not go to John Glenn, despite his being the posterboy of Mercury; it wouldn’t even go to Neil Armstrong, who fifty-four years ago today became the first human to … Continue reading →

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Breaking the Chains of Gravity

Posted on July 18, 2023 by smellincoffee

Breaking the Chains of Gravity: The Story of Spaceflight before NASA© 2016 Amy Shira Teitel304 pages You know the story. The scene: 1950s America. Everyone is drinking on the back patio in suburbia, dressed in cardigans or pearls and pastel … Continue reading →

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First in Line

Posted on July 14, 2023 by smellincoffee

First in Line: Presidents, Vice Presidents, and the Pursuit of Power© 2018 Kate Anderson Brower327 pages The office of vice president was, for most of the 19th century, a near-superfluous one — but in the mid-20th century, the men holding … Continue reading →

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The Residence

Posted on July 13, 2023 by smellincoffee

The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House© 2016 Kate Anderson Brower336 pages They say that no man is a hero to his valet, but perhaps no man is properly a villain, either. Richard Nixon, despised by the … Continue reading →

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Redcoats , los presidentes, and medieval making-merry

Posted on July 10, 2023 by smellincoffee

Alllrighty, short rounds time, featuring: British Soldiers, American War; The Very Secret Sex Lives of Medieval Women; and The President’s Club: Inside the World’s Most Secret Fraternity. First up, British Soldiers, American War. This is an interesting volume in which … Continue reading →

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A Brief History of Motion

Posted on July 5, 2023 by smellincoffee

Tom, Tom, Tom. You know drinking and driving is a bad idea, but what did you do? You followed A History of the World through Six Glasses with this A Brief History of Motion: From the Wheel to the Automobile. … Continue reading →

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Of blood and brilliant butlers

Posted on June 22, 2023 by smellincoffee

Rose George has previously shared with readers her voyages across the world following cargo ships and movements to make sanitation both more eco-friendly and readily available to poorer communities. In Nine Pints, she dips into the circulatory system. The result … Continue reading →

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Billy Yank @ Johnny Reb Stadium: PLAY BALL!

Posted on June 15, 2023 by smellincoffee

That title is just a way of me combining two Civil War short rounds into one post. (Billy Yank wins the five-game series, 3 to 2, but in a show of terrible sportmanship, burned the stadium on their departure.) First … Continue reading →

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