It’s National Donut Day! While we hope you celebrate with a few tasty glazed treats, maybe refrain from celebrating with donut hole target practice. That’s right, the National Dunking Association celebrated the donut and its all-important hole at their October 1941 New York conference. Still taken from Universal Newsreel Volume 14 Release 38 (Local ID: … Continue reading Do-Nut Try This At Home: Celebrate Donut Day with the National Dunking Association
The Works Progress Administration or Work Projects Administration (WPA) was the largest New Deal agency. Created by the United States government in 1935, the agency provided jobs to unemployed workers during the Great Depression. During its tenure, the agency employed millions of job seekers to carry out public works projects such as constructing public buildings, … Continue reading The Federal Theatre Project Presents: “Voodoo Macbeth”
This week marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Fall of Saigon, as well as the fiftieth anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. With the last American combat troops withdrawing from Vietnam in March of 1973, Richard Nixon resigning his presidency in August of 1974, and the resignation of South Vietnamese president Nguyễn Văn … Continue reading Haste: Operation Frequent Wind and the Fall of Saigon
Still taken from 306.6536 We are continuing our celebration of National Library Week by highlighting films from our collection featuring stories about libraries. Check out Part One here and use this tool to help you find your local library. The films featured in this post were made for different reasons and audiences, but both highlight … Continue reading Happy National Library Week Part Two!
Still taken from H-HF-103 R. 2 First formalized and sponsored in 1958 by the American Library Association, this is a week dedicated to the promotion, use, and support for local libraries. Every year the week is given a theme; 2025 is Drawn to the Library![1] but today we are going off-theme to take a look … Continue reading Happy National Library Week!
This weekend marked the 60th anniversary of the Gemini III mission, which took place on March 23, 1965. The flight, while being one of many that would eventually lead to Neil Armstrong’s famous first steps on the moon, would itself establish many firsts that would define mankind’s traversal of the stars. Photograph of Gemini III … Continue reading Trials, Tribulations, and A Smuggled Sandwich: The Story of Gemini III
This month marks the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima. The American invasion, codenamed Operation Detachment, sought to capture Iwo Jima’s two airfields, South Field and Central Field. After five weeks of intense battle and considerable losses for both Japanese and American soldiers, the Americans secured the island. This provided the United States … Continue reading Link Roundup: The Battle of Iwo Jima
In 1945, the U.S. Government faced low morale and growing frustration over undelivered mail amongst those serving in Europe. It was decided the large backlog of undistributed mail would be dealt with by the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. The battalion, nicknamed the “Six-Triple Eight," was a multi-ethnic unit of the Women's Army Corps (WAC) comprised … Continue reading The Six Triple Eight Link Roundup
For over a century, school traditions, pride, and rivalries have fostered a sense of community within college football, contributing to its popularity and making it one of America’s favorite sports. As the popularity of college football grew in America during the interwar period, newsreels started covering the sport as part of their regular news releases. … Continue reading Spotlight: Go! Fight! Win! College Football in Universal Newsreel
The World Series gets underway this week as the New York Yankees face the Los Angeles Dodgers. Regardless which home team you root for during the regular season, anyone who enjoys history should enjoy the series between these two iconic baseball teams. They’ve played each other twelve times for the baseball world championship, beginning in 1941, … Continue reading Spotlight-1955 World Series: Dodgers and Yankees
