History

Houdini: Master Magician and Photoshop Editor?

Posted on February 25, 2011February 25, 2011 by James Marshall Spector in History, Magic

Have you seen this photo? Perhaps you’ve seen this version of it? No? How about the original? One of Harry Houdini’s greatest pieces of magic was making an elephant vanish on stage. A lesser known, but equally brilliant, trick involved making a group of passengers disappear from a photo. Nearly a century before magazine editors relied on Photoshop for every minor touchup, Houdini understood the importance of visuals. As you can see, the original photo was like any ordinary fan photo with a celebrity–an assorted group of people with former President Theodore Roosevelt and Houdini. Ever the publicity hound (and without the aid of photo editing software), Houdini edited the photo to remove the other people, create Roosevelt’s left arm,

The Economist, In 1843

Posted on January 26, 2011January 27, 2011 by Sam Kornstein in History, Links

Via Marginal Revolution, I came across this volume of “The Economist” from 1843. I’ve only skimmed it, but I usually enjoy reading old publications. On the Irish bullying Canadians: A few days ago, a party of Irish labourers, who had received, as they supposed, some offence from a few Canadians, at Beauharnois, attacked and nearly killed two respectable old inhabitants, who had nothing to do with the affair. That’s the most significant news from Canada that reached London that particular month?

The Dragon’s Awake

Posted on January 15, 2011January 20, 2011 by Sam Kornstein in History

The other day in a conversation, someone reminded me of a famous Napoleon quote: “Let China Sleep, for when the Dragon awakes, she will shake the world.” I looked it up to double-check. That was in 1803. And then this morning, via Chris Blattman, I read this: “When the presidents of China and the United States meet next week in Washington, neither will likely be aware that, measured in terms of purchasing power, it is Hu Jintao not Barack Obama who represents the world’s largest economy. Some time in 2010, the Chinese economy overtook that of the United States.” Somehow I think Hu Jintao is all too aware of his country’s economic position. And then while I was waiting for

A Cambodian’s Perspective on American Politics

Posted on January 13, 2011January 13, 2011 by Sam Kornstein in History

Earlier today I had a slightly serious, slightly humorous, but mostly enlightening conversation with a Cambodian man who’s been generous enough to spend the past two days teaching me about rural economic development here. Here’s what he had to say about American political history: He really likes John McCain and John Kerry because they fought communists. He thinks Bill Clinton won the presidency because he’s good looking and all the American women must have voted for him. But he’s glad that Clinton won, because he’s a good man and the economy grew while he was in office. He believes Ronald Reagan was a bit old to be President. In fact, he thinks John McCain is too old to be president too,