Washington & James Duke

James Buchanan “Buck” Duke and Benjamin Duke in 1920. Courtesy of Duke University Archives.

When we think of industrialists we always remember Carnegie, Rockefeller & Vanderbilt,  (just ask the History Channel) but you might not think of the Duke family. Father started the business and his son took it to new heights.

Here is a BBC article about James B. Duke (who was also known as Buck) and here's a video from the Duke Endowement about their namesake. As a Durhamite I realize the importance of this family to the community, but as a Tar Heel I have no official comment!

The "Wild West"

Welcome to the beginning of the semester! I found a few exciting websites with information about key people in the Wild West.

Nobody symbolizes the frontier more than Annie Oakley, the sharpshooter who became famous in the male dominated West. This is a video of her shooting, her biography and a video of a modern day sharpshooter attempting one of her tricks!

 Additionally, there are numerous famous gunslingers from this era like Billy the Kid, Jesse James & Butch Cassiday. Follow this link for more information on them. But there were also some famous black cowboys that are often overlooked in the Hollywood image of the Wild West.  Nat Love is probably the most well remembered because of his memoirs.

Enjoy!

Is Military Spending Broken?

The Pentagon's 15 trillion Mistake

Here's an interesting little video from The Atlantic about how we're spending too much, and more importantly, getting too little in return from that money spent. This calls into question the percentage of government spending on the military.

Documents and PPTs for American History 2

Click on the following units to be taken to the Google Drive page with all of the attached documents.

1.           The Frontier & Industrial America 

2.           Imperialism & Progressive Era 

3.           WWI, the Roaring ‘20s & the Great Depression 

4.           WWII & the Early Cold War 

5.           Social Movements 

6.           Crisis & the Reagan Revolution

7.           Modern America & Terrorism

Color Photos of Kennedy's Camelot

36-stunning-color-photos-of-kennedys-life-at-the-white-house

North Carolina ALMOST got blown off the map!

US Atomic Bomb Disaster Narrowly Averted-in-1961

The Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb

Here's a great website that gives a few arguments for and against using the atomic bomb. Some argue this action makes America the ultimate aggressor (since no other nation has ever used a nuclear weapon) while others maintain that it ended the world's most deadly war. You decide!!   http://www.authentichistory.com/1939-1945/1-war/4-Pacific/4-abombdecision/

Los Alamos First Test Bomb