Resultados Editorial "Charles River Editors" en América

The last days of the colonial era in America seemed to spawn a number of Renaissance men, unique individuals who were as comfortable in a log cabin as a ballroom and could write as well as they could hunt. George Rogers Clark was one of these men, and in many ways he was a paler, less-accomplished version of his illustrious neighbor, George Washington.

Few Americans have a reputation and legacy anything like Henry Ford's, the man whose name is still associated with one of the world's most famous car companies. Ford is unquestionably one of his country's most famous industrialists, and his use of an assembly line to mass produce automobiles was not only innovative but also made it possible for Americans to own cars en masse.

Before the United States of America even existed, the first American celebrity was Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790). In his career, Franklin was an author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat. After having his hand in all kinds of community service in Philadelphia, and inventing important devices like lightning rods, Franklin used his unique status as an international celebrity to become the colonies' best diplomat.

Despite the fact that the Civil War was fought nearly 150 years ago, it remains a polarizing topic for the country to this day. And nowhere is this more evident than in the life and legacy of Confederate lieutenant general Nathan Bedford Forrest, the war's most controversial soldier.

Just before midnight on April 14, 1912, the RMS Titanic, the largest ship in the world, hit an iceberg, setting in motion a chain of events that would ultimately make it history's most famous, and notorious, ship. The Titanic was neither the first nor last big ship to sink, so it's clear that much of its appeal stems from the nature of ship itself. Indeed, the Titanic stands out not just for its end but for its beginning, specifically the fact that it was the most luxurious passenger ship ever built at the time.

In early June 1863, the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia occupied Culpeper, Virginia, and after their victories at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville against armies twice their size, the Confederate troops felt invincible and anxious to carry the war north into Pennsylvania. One of the proudest was iconic cavalry leader JEB Stuart, who had filled in admirably for the mortally wounded Stonewall Jackson the previous month at Chancellorsville.

From the Trail of Tears to Wounded Knee and Little Bighorn, the narrative of American history is incomplete without the inclusion of the Native Americans that lived on the continent before European settlers arrived in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Among all the Native American tribes, the Iroquois are some of the most well-documented Native Americans in history. Indigenous to the northeast region of what is now the United States, and parts of Canada, they were among some of the earliest contacts Europeans had with the native tribes. And yet they have remained a constant source of mystery. The name "Iroquois", like many Native American tribal names, is not the name the people knew themselves by, but a word applied to them by their enemies, the Huron, who called them Iroquo (rattlesnake) as an insult.

Congress called for establishing a monument to George Washington as far back as 1783, but it wasn't until the 1830s that work on the world's tallest obelisk began in earnest. There were several issues that nearly prevented it from being a reality, including political arguments, costs, and lack of progress. Though it may be hard to believe, the Washington Monument was not dedicated until the 1880s, nearly half a century after an obelisk was first envisioned. By the time it was finished, however, it was clear that the wait was worth it.

The Apollo space program is the most famous and celebrated in American history, but the first successful landing of men on the moon, during Apollo 11, had complicated roots dating back over a decade; it also involved one of NASA's most infamous tragedies. Landing on the moon presented an ideal goal all on its own, but the government's urgency in designing the Apollo program was actually brought about by the Soviet Union, which spent much of the 1950s leaving the United States in its dust (and rocket fuel).

In 1860, New Orleans was just as unique a city as it is today. It was racially and linguistically diverse, with many French, German, and Spanish speakers, and a population of white, black, and mixed-race inhabitants. Louisiana's population was 47% slave and also had one of the largest numbers of free blacks in the country.

A lot of ink has been spilled covering the lives of history's most influential figures, but how much of the forest is lost for the trees? In Charles River Editors' American Legends series, listeners can get caught up to speed on the lives of America's most important men and women in the time it takes to finish a commute, while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known.

Sandwiched between the Revolution and the Civil War, the War of 1812 is one of America's forgotten conflicts, and the stalemated nature of the war (which resolved virtually none of either side's war aims) has also ensured that it is often given merely a cursory overview. One of the battles of the war inspired Francis Scott Key to pen the Star-Spangled Banner, which ultimately became America's national anthem. While the British horrified many Americans with the ease in which they sacked the capital at Washington, they faced stiff resistance around Baltimore.

From the Trail of Tears to Wounded Knee and Little Bighorn, the narrative of American history is incomplete without the inclusion of the Native Americans that lived on the continent before European settlers arrived in the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the first contact between natives and settlers, tribes like the Sioux, Cherokee, and Navajo have both fascinated and perplexed outsiders with their history, language, and culture.

When the American Film Institute ranked its top 50 screen legends of the 20th century, only one team of performers earned a collective spot: the Marx Brothers. Famous throughout the country for nearly half a century, several of the Marx Brothers performed together for over 40 years, and their nicknames - Groucho, Harpo, Chico, Gummo and Zeppo - are all well known today, especially Groucho.

The life of Joan Crawford is one of the most famous Hollywood rags-to-riches tales. While it is common to think of Hollywood as a land offering great opportunity to hardworking actresses, the Horatio Alger myth rarely applies in reality, but it applied almost perfectly to Joan Crawford. Joan Crawford's life and career also shed light on the treatment of women in pop culture and in cinema during the early 20th century. Her career was not only limited to film acting, as she acted in musical revues and was previously an unabashed flapper during the Roaring Twenties.

It almost goes without saying that nobody occupies a place in pop culture that remotely resembles the one in which William Shatner finds himself. As an actor who has been about as critically acclaimed as he has been lampooned, Shatner seems to relish every aspect of his image, whether he's making fun of himself and others on a celebrity roast or appearing in humorous commercials as a spokesman for Priceline.com.

For centuries, the Comanche thrived in a territory called Comancheria, which comprised parts of eastern New Mexico, southern Colorado, northeastern Arizona, southern Kansas, Oklahoma, and some of northwest Texas. Before conflicts with white settlers began in earnest, it's been estimated that the tribe consisted of more than 40,000 members. While the Comanche are still a federally recognized nation today and live on a reservation in part of Oklahoma, they have remained a well-known tribe due to their 19th century notoriety.

The USS Maine is one of the most famous ships in American history but for all the wrong reasons. A symbol of naval strength in the late 19th century, the Maine's tragic fate is taught to students across the nation not just because it was a disaster but because it is associated with the most notorious examples of yellow journalism in the country's history and ultimately brought about a war, despite the fact it's still unclear what caused the ship's explosion.

Of all the dramatic events that transpired during the Civil War, the end of the war in April 1865 brought perhaps the most remarkable of them all, and they came in such quick succession that it's still hard to believe nearly 150 years later.