Tag archives for history
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Three thousand people explored the Louisiana swamps during BioBlitz last weekend, but an exhibit in town reveals the deep roots of the naturalist tradition in New Orleans.
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When I was younger, I watched a lot of the Disney Channel. My favorite content was the old-school cartoons, featuring the likes of Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and gang, although the Goofy spots were my favorite. One time I caught a program about Disney’s propaganda films from World War II. Those animated shorts are rarely…
National Geographic and the National Parks: A Brief History
Posted by Alyson Foster on April 24, 2013 
April 22nd through April 28th is National Park Week. It’s a celebration of the more than 400 national parks in the U.S., including canyons, forests, beaches, historic houses and battlefields. While National Geographic can’t take any credit for these spectacular places, we do take pride in our long-standing connection to the national parks, a connection that stretches back all the way to the 1800s – before either the National Geographic Society or the National Park Service even existed.
Bieber’s Anne Frank Faux Pas Has Us Wondering: What Would You Write?
Posted by Alexis Manning on April 15, 2013 
Justin Bieber’s comment in the Anne Frank House guestbook has drawn condemnation for seeming to make light of the young girl’s tragic story, when other visitors’ messages pay solemn tribute to her memory.
Margaret Thatcher (1925-2013) passed away today after fighting illness for several years. She died in London, after having suffered a stroke, at 87 years old. Last December, she had undergone an operation to remove a growth from her bladder. Known as the Iron Lady for her toughness, Thatcher had served as the United Kingdom’s only…
One of my favorite vendors at D.C.’s Eastern Market sells illustrations of plants and animals. The intricate colored drawings harken back to a golden age of naturalism, when intrepid explorers headed out with little more than a notebook to chronicle the incredible biodiversity of our world. Of course, there are still many species yet to…
Ash “Wednesday,” “Lent,” and “February”: Surprising Word Origins
Posted by Andrew Howley of NG Staff on February 12, 2013 
This week, Christians around the world will mark the beginning of Lent. But what does that word even mean? Or, for that matter, where in the world did we get “February”?
National Geographic has long been known for photography, and National Geographic magazine has published its fair share of iconic images over its long, storied history. Of course, photography itself has a long, storied history. Did you know the first color photograph appeared in 1861? That 70% of activity on Facebook revolves around photos? Or that…
Henry Henshaw: The National Geographic Founder Who Helped Save America’s Birds
Posted by Alyson Foster on October 25, 2012 
A friend of Henry Henshaw’s described him as having an “innate shyness and personal dignity,” along with a “ready wit and a whimsical sense of humor [that] gave him a most attractive personality.” Along with his quiet charm, the ornithologist was a passionate advocate for America’s birds. When he resigned as Chief of the Biological Survey in 1916, he left as his legacy not only the Migratory Bird Bill, but also the Migratory Bird Treaty with Great Britain, the mother of all subsequent pieces of international conservation legislation. He also left nearly 70 bird sanctuaries.
$450,000 In Private Donations Will Allow Excavation Of Blackbeard’s Ship To Continue
Posted by Willie Drye on October 19, 2012 A spur-of-the-moment donation today of $32,500 allowed the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources to meet its fund-raising goal of $450,000 to continue excavating the wreckage of the Queen Anne’s Revenge, the flagship of the legendary 18th-century pirate Blackbeard. The contribution from Rita and Eric Bigham, a retired couple who divide their time between…
Why Don’t You Call it Scat, Meriwether?
Posted by American Prairie Reserve on October 16, 2012 
I have read numerous journals from 19th century explorers, fur trappers, and government officials for my research project with American Prairie Reserve this summer (previous posts here and here). The hope was that these sources would provide anecdotal insights into historic wildlife populations from Montana’s prairie ecosystem. In fact, these sources have been indispensable…
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Today, the 16th of October, is Ada Lovelace Day. You’d be forgiven for not having heard of Ada Lovelace, or of this celebration each October. It’s one of the more unusual dates, but if you’re one of the many (yet still minority of) women in science, this is a day you recognize, and…
John Russell Bartlett: An Admiral Turned Oceanographer
Posted by Cathy Hunter on August 23, 2012 
National Geographic founder John Russell Bartlett began his lifelong career as a naval officer when he was ordered into service at the beginning of the Civil War. But his legacy ended up being less military and more scientific. Accurate high-density soundings taken by his ship lead to the first modern bathymetric map, and the Bartlett Deep was named in his honor, a tribute to the man who had sounded its deepest depths.
Should Conservation Look Back? Examining Historic Wildlife Populations of America’s Serengeti
Posted by American Prairie Reserve on August 15, 2012 
“Immense” was the word Meriwether Lewis used repeatedly to describe the abundance of wildlife on the prairie during his transcontinental expedition with William Clark from 1804 to 1806; “We saw immence quantities of game in every direction around us as we passed up the river: consisting of herds of Buffaloe, Elk and antelopes with…
Huffington Post Weird has a news item about Chase Brandon, a 35-year veteran of the CIA who claims to have seen a file with information about the reputed Roswell, New Mexico UFO crash in 1947–an event that happened 65 years ago. “It was not a damn weather balloon — it was what it was…
New Evidence Suggests that Amelia Earhart May Have Landed Plane, Lived as Castaway on Kiribati Island
Posted by Alyson Foster on June 6, 2012 
When the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard failed to find any sign of Amelia Earhart after she vanished on July 2, 1937, it was assumed that the famous pilot and her navigator died when their plane ran out of fuel and crashed into the Pacific Ocean. However, new details have emerged that suggest the story of Earhart’s disappearance may be different — and more tragic – than originally thought.
What Happened To The Titanic Survivors? One Of Them Wrote For National Geographic Magazine
Posted by Alyson Foster on April 10, 2012 
Helen Churchill Candee’s 1936 National Geographic article “Summering in an English Cottage” may not sound like the stuff of adventure, but its writer knew plenty about excitement. Journalist, Washington socialite, suffragette, globe-trotter, White House interior decorator — those were just a few of Candee’s accomplishments. And then there was that last-minute trip she booked on the RMS Titanic…
A National Geographic Love Story
Posted by Alyson Foster on February 14, 2012 
Mabel Gardiner Hubbard was only five years old when scarlet fever rendered her deaf for life. At the age of 17, she would meet a young Scottish speech therapist who was destined to shape her life. We know him better as Alexander Graham Bell. This is their love story.
The Living People in Charge of Dark Age Treasure
Posted by Andrew Howley of NG Staff on February 4, 2012 
A lively conversation among experts and the audience of an NG Live! event fills in the gaps and adds new life to the story of the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold ever found.
This week Facebook filed for their much anticipated IPO, seeking to raise $5 billion. So it’s perhaps fitting that Nowsourcing created this cheeky infographic for BusinessMBA.org, chronicling the evolutionary history of the businessperson. Perhaps more humorous than factually accurate (not every businessperson in the Roaring Twenties was a bootlegger), it’s the last part of…
By Renee Braden, NG Archivist–Happy birthday National Geographic! We’re 124 today, and as it happens, our founding day was a Friday the 13th as well. The founders, being of a decidedly scientific persuasion, rejected superstition and braved a cold, slushy night to arrive at the Cosmos Club to discuss the “advisability of organizing a society for the increase and diffusion of geographic knowledge.”
2012: The Truth About The End of the World
Posted by Jason Golomb on September 14, 2011 
Remember what life was like in 1999? Millennium fever was sweeping the world and scientists, regular folk, and the new-age-erati were focused on January 1, 2000. Y2K was coming and it was bringing with it a digital Armageddon. And when it finally arrived, we celebrated (and ducked) and nothing happened … except January 2. Something…
Poet, Environmentalist: Thoreau Continues to Inspire
Posted by Alyson Foster on July 12, 2011 
Today is the 194th birthday of Henry David Thoreau, American naturalist and writer. Thoreau couldn’t have known it back in 1845 when he moved to Walden, but the two years he spent living in a cabin in the woods, and his writing about what he saw there would inspire generations of environmentalists and adventurers who hadn’t even been born yet.
“Somewhat Beauty and Poetry”: Remembering Maria Mitchell
Posted by Alyson Foster on June 30, 2011 
This week marks the 122nd anniversary of Maria Mitchell’s death. This talented and unconventional astronomer not only discovered a never-before-seen comet, she helped blaze a trail for women who wanted a life in science.
NGS Celebrates 23rd Founders Day
Posted by Andrew Howley of NG Staff on May 26, 2011 On the centennial of National Geographic’s founding in 1888, the board of trustees designated the Friday before Memorial Day weekend “Founders Day” — an annual holiday for staff to honor the 33 people who founded the Society.
