Month: March 2019

Hailstones damage vehicles, aircraft, buildings, crops, and livestock. Roofs take the worst hit. A direct hit on the head (a rare event) can cause a concussion. Hailstones cover the ground and can knock out electricity. The storms can also create flash floods, down trees, and cause mud slides. They typically last 5-10 minutes, just long enough to wreak havoc. Read about a destructive Kansas hailstorm 100 years ago in Tazia and Gemma (see NOVELS).

British music halls were popular in WWI but declined before WWII as the prevalence of radios, gramophones, and the cinema grew. Bawdy songs did manage to survive, although many singers refrained from cursing on stage. They preferred double entendres or leaving out the last word of a poem such as “When roses are red they’re ready for plucking; when girls are sixteen they’re ready for _,” then chiding audiences for their dirty minds. Sentimental favorites also lived on, including “Nellie Dean,” a heartbroken singer’s recollection of dreaming by the old mill stream with his long-lost love. Read more about music history in A Brain. A Heart. The Nerve. (see NOVELS).

When firemen arrived at the site of the tragic 1911 Triangle Waist Company fire, the steel exit doors were locked, a common management practice to prevent unauthorized breaks and theft by workers. After the locks were finally broken, responders still could not enter the factory floor. The doors opened inward but the frantic employees were pushing them outward. In the end, it took half an hour to put out the fire, but by then it was too late for the 146 victims. Read more about the fire and one survivor in Tazia and Gemma (see NOVELS).