Sacramento History Online

I like sites like this, with old photos. It's not my town, never been there, and don't recognize anything or anybody in the pictures, but that's not really important to me. They've got a few newsreel clips too.

U.S. National Archives and Records Administration

"Of all documents and materials created in the course of business conducted by the United States Federal government, only 1%-3% are so important for legal or historical reasons that they are kept by us forever."

"Those valuable records are preserved and are available to you, whether you want to see if they contain clues about your family’s history, need to prove a veteran’s military service, or are researching an historical topic that interests you."

These archives have joined with Google to make selected historical videos available to the public. History fans like me will have a party here will all the material. Whether you're researching, or just killing time on a lazy weekend, this is worth bookmarking.

I tried to view a few via Google, but kept getting a "video not available, try again later" message, but it's new, so give'em time.

Planetary Exploration Timeline

"The Mariner 2 spacecraft was the second of a series of spacecraft used for planetary exploration in the flyby, or nonlanding, mode and the first spacecraft to successfully encounter another planet."

But that just describes the photo, the page itself is a chronological listing of mans' space explorations ranging from 1957, through launches planned as far ahead as 2015. Each listing leads to more info about the mission, the craft, and (usually) a photo. Some pages, like the one for Apollo 11, give even more info.

If you grew up during the space race like I did, you'll know there was just something special about those early days we'll never see again. To be right there watching the developement of space flight, that had up till then been science fiction, was just amazing for young minds. I'm sure it was for adults too, but they had extra concerns like whoever would get command of space first, would be able to rain down atomic terror from space. A real Cold War fear, on both sides. But as kids, it was science fiction becoming reality.

While looking through the site, I tripped over something I'd totally forgotten. You may remember that the first space shuttle (that never went into space) was named Enterprise in honor of Gene Rodenberry, but do you recall that for the Apollo 10 mission, the Command Module was named Charlie Brown, and the Lunar Module was Snoopy? Yep, that's how big the Peanuts strip was back then. Having already been a Peanuts fan for years, I was hoping that Snoopy would get to actually land on the moon, but, he flew just one mission too soon. Oh well, I got over it, real quick, as we were only two months away from witnessing the first human footprint planted on another world.

Aaaah, those were the days....

Malcolm X

"The Official Web Site of Malcolm X has everything you want to know about this historical figure. Read his biography and read inspirational quotes from this talented speaker. Browse the photo gallery for pictures of Malcolm X throughout his life!"

On this date:

"February 21, 1965 Malcolm X is assassinated as he begins speaking at the Audubon Ballroom, New York."

Here's another site that has two MP3s and text of one of his speeches, with others listed at the bottom of the page:

Malcolm X: "The Ballot or the Bullet"

P.S. Both links in this post courtesy of Metafilter

Apache Death Cave

This is a tale out of the old west, that doesn't involve any cowboys. It's the story of a clash between Apache and Navajo that took place in the Arizona desert back in 1878.

This site presents the story as a scanned copy of pages from "Big West - True Stories of the Western Frontier" magazine, December 1967 edition. It may be a little hard to read, but maybe it's just me, my eyes aren't what they used to be. A couple of the pages have ads that brought back memories, like the '8 MM Motion Picture Projecter' for $9.97.

Anyway, check it out if you like "True Tales" of the old west.

Agatha Christie and Archaeology

"Agatha Christie (1890-1976) is still, more than 25 years after her death, one of the world's most successful authors. Her books are read in more than 100 countries and have been translated into 44 languages. But behind the famous name lies an unexpected story. In 1930 Agatha Christie married the archaeologist Max Mallowan (1904-78) and afterwards accompanied him on all his excavations in the Middle East."

This is a favorite author of mine, and these pages tell of her travels with her archaeologist husband through the Mid-East, that gave inspiration for many of her stories.

I don't have much time for novel reading anymore, but I must have at least a dozen audio books of her novels and stories that I've had for about 20 years, and still listen to. I never miss the TV adaptaions either, whenever they appear. If after checking out that site, you find you have a taste for a mystery, Here's an online text version of a story featuring that prissy little Belgian, Poirot.

"Agatha Christie begins the illustrious career of detective
extraordinaire Hercule Poirot in this 1920 mystery classic:"

The Mysterious Affair at Styles

Monty Python's Personal Best

"Monty Python’s Personal Best," a series of six outrageous one-hour specials showcasing the groundbreaking comedians with new footage and original clips, will premiere on PBS February 22, 2006."

"Each episode will include members of the original Monty Python troupe performing in favorite clips from their unorthodox television series, "Monty Python’s Flying Circus," repurposed with exclusive new material. Each of the five living Pythons — John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin — produced and wrote his own episode, and collaborated to create the sixth special in honor of deceased member Graham Chapman. The episodes will air over a three week period in two-hour blocks on PBS on February 22, March 1 and March 8."

Man am I glad to see them back on the air, even if it's only a limited run. I was crazy about these guys when they first aired here, several life-times ago. They were the ones that first introduced me to British comedy. I used to be able to recite all the words to their skits, though I had to do so to myself, as most of my friends at the time just didn't get the humor....oops, sorry, "humour".

With the success of the show on my local PBS station, they started airing others. Most I can no longer remember, except of course the late great Benny Hill. I wish they'd bring him back on the air too. It was a shame the British public began to consider his humour sexist, because it was his characters' parodied sexism that was always the butt of the jokes. But....that's another story. So, now for something completely different....

Three decades of Python

Monty Python Sound Files

The Complete Monty Python TV Scripts