John F. Kennedy, history, random, college applications: Two tidbits of interesting history.
For the inaugural ceremony, Kennedy asked Poet Laureate Robert Frost to recite either a new poem or “The Gift Outright,” a poem published in 1942 that Frost later called “a history of the United States in a dozen [actually, sixteen] lines of blank verse.” Frost did compose a new poem for the inauguration, but he was unable to read from his manuscript due to both the wind and the reflection of the sun hitting the snow-covered ground. Thinking quickly, he instead recited from memory “The Gift Outright” (“The land was ours before we were the land’s. . .”). The Library of Congress has scanned and posted on their website the typescript of the poem he had intended to read, “Dedication.”
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Harvard’s application in those days was all of three pages long, and Kennedy’s “essay,” date April 23, 1935, was a mere five handwritten sentences. (O’Connor comments, “Somewhere, a guidance counselor just burst into a maniacal fit of laughter.”) The future president wrote:
The reasons that I have for wishing to go to Harvard are several. I feel that Harvard can give me a better background and a better liberal education than any other university. I have always wanted to go there, as I have felt that it is not just another college, but is a university with something definite to offer. Then too, I would like to go to the same college as my father. To be a ‘Harvard man’ is an enviable distinction, and one that I sincerely hope I shall attain.
via Reader’s Almanac: Remembering John F. Kennedy on the 50th anniversary of his inauguration.
innovation, NASA: Really the program added a lot to our everyday lives.
Arguments over whether now is the time for the government to spend billions on sending people into space notwithstanding, the agency’s efforts to do so have generated a host of new technologies that influence our lives every day. Without NASA we wouldn’t have Dustbusters, Ziploc bags, or memory foam mattresses.
Apple:
Apple’s iPad business has only been around for 9 months, but it has already generated almost $10 billion in revenue for Apple.
Specifically, Apple shipped 14.8 million iPads last year, generating $9.6 billion in revenue. Last quarter alone, it shipped 7.3 million iPads for $4.6 billion in sales.
That’s amazing. And what’s more amazing is that it’s almost the same amount of revenue as Apple’s almost-27-year-old Mac business, which just put in its best quarter ever, generating $5.4 billion in revenue.
via CHART OF THE DAY: Just Like That, The iPad Is Almost As Big As The Mac.
Justice Kagan: Even a justice must report.
Kagan was not selected for a jury, and was released Thursday afternoon.
ORIGINAL POST: Even a Supreme has to report to jury duty.
Seen waiting in the jury lounge at D.C. Superior Court Thursday was the newest Supreme Court Justice, Elena Kagan.
Kagan, who assumed the bench in August after being nominated by President Obama in May, sat with dozens of others potential jurors Thursday morning waiting to see if her juror badge number would be called.
people, Al Capone, icons: He just looks like a gangster. Al Capone: The Original Gangster – Photo Gallery – LIFE.
business, Warren Buffet, changes: He’s winding down.
Warren Buffett, the investor whose guidance is considered gospel by many on Wall Street, is leaving his long-held position on the board of the Washington Post Company.Warren Buffett is leaving his position on the board of the Washington Post Company.Nati Harnik/Associated Press Warren Buffett is leaving the board of the Washington Post Company.The Post Company announced on Thursday that Mr. Buffett, 80, would not seek re-election to the board after his term expires in May. Mr. Buffett has been with the board for nearly 40 years, with the exception of an eight-year period when he stepped aside to serve on the board of Capital Cities, which was the parent company of the rival media company ABC at the time.
via Warren Buffett to Leave Washington Post Co. Board – NYTimes.com.
RIP, Reynolds Price, Southern literature: Rest in Peace, Mr. Price.
Reynolds Price, whose novels and stories about ordinary people in rural North Carolina struggling to find their place in the world established him as one of the most important voices in modern Southern fiction, died on Thursday in Durham, N.C. He was 77.
via Reynolds Price, a Literary Voice of the South, Dies at 77 – NYTimes.com.
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Reynolds Price, a writer who taught more than 50 years at Duke University, died Thursday afternoon. He was 77.
Price, the James B. Duke Professor of English, had a major heart attack early Sunday, according to a press release from Duke.
“With a poet’s deep appreciation for language, Reynolds Price taught generations of students to understand and love literature,” said Duke President Richard H. Brodhead in a statement. “Reynolds was a part of the soul of Duke. He loved this university and always wanted to make it better.”
via Author, Duke professor Reynolds Price dies – Durham County – NewsObserver.com.
education, learning: Another interesting study.
Taking a test is not just a passive mechanism for assessing how much people know, according to new research. It actually helps people learn, and it works better than a number of other studying techniques.
The research, published online Thursday in the journal Science, found that students who read a passage, then took a test asking them to recall what they had read, retained about 50 percent more of the information a week later than students who used two other methods.
One of those methods — repeatedly studying the material — is familiar to legions of students who cram before exams. The other — having students draw detailed diagrams documenting what they are learning — is prized by many teachers because it forces students to make connections among facts.
These other methods not only are popular, the researchers reported; they also seem to give students the illusion that they know material better than they do.
via Test-Taking Cements Knowledge Better Than Studying, Researchers Say – NYTimes.com.
economics, globalization, China: Blame game …
So what’s left? Well, China has turned to the blame game, accusing the Federal Reserve (wrongly) of creating the problem by printing too much money. But while blaming the Fed may make Chinese leaders feel better, it won’t change U.S. monetary policy, nor will it do anything to tame China’s inflation monster.
Could all of this really turn into a full-fledged crisis? If I didn’t know my economic history, I’d find the idea implausible. After all, the solution to China’s monetary muddle is both simple and obvious: just let the currency rise, already.
But I do know my economic history, which means that I know how often governments refuse, sometimes for many years, to do the obviously right thing — and especially when currency values are concerned. Usually they try to keep their currencies artificially strong rather than artificially weak; but it can be a big mess either way.
So our newest economic superpower may indeed be on its way to some kind of economic crisis, with collateral damage to the world as a whole. Did we need this?
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