The Blue Gray Almanac

“Help[s] readers to examine this period in history with a more cultural perspective than other books have . . . clear, concise, and crisp . . . fascinating” (San Francisco Book Review). • During the final days of the war, some Richmond citizens would throw “Starvation Parties,” soirees at which elegantly attired guests gathered amid the finest silver and crystal tableware, though there were usually no refreshments except water. • Union Rear-Admiral Goldsborough was nicknamed “Old Guts,” not so much for his combativeness as for his heft—weighing about three hundred pounds, he was described as “a huge mass of inert matter.” • 30.6 percent of the 425 Confederate generals, but only 21.6 percent of the 583 Union generals, had been lawyers before the war. • In 1861, J.P. Morgan made a huge profit by buying five thousand condemned US Army carbines and selling them back to another arsenal—taking the army to court when they tried to refuse to pay for the faulty weapons. • Major General Loring was reputed to have so rich a vocabulary that one of the men remarked he could “curse a cannon up hill without horses.” • Many militia units had a favorite drink—the Charleston Light Dragoons’ punch took around a week to make, while the Chatham Artillery required a pound of green tea leaves be steeped overnight. • There were five living former presidents when the Civil War began, and seven veterans of the war, plus one draft dodger, went on to serve as president. These stories and many more can be found in this treasury of anecdotes, essays, trivia, and much more—including numerous illustrations—that bring this historical period to vivid life.

This book is an exact replica of the original Grays Sports Almanac as seen in the 1989 film 'Back to the Future Part II' and contains 155 pages of sports statistics spanning 50 years. The cover has been painstakingly created in high-quality crisp graphics using a genuine prop which was used for filming as a reference to make this an exact replica. With 155 pages containing 50 years of sports statistics from 1950 to the year 2000, including American Football, Basketball, Horse Racing, Ice Hockey, Major League Baseball and others. This is the perfect book for anyone who appreciates the Back to the Future franchise, movie props, 80's movies or just sport in general.

Base Ball in a River Town seeks to answer how our national pastime started in New Albany. Who were its founders? Who got the ball rolling across the New Albany fields? The answers to these questions open a window into the past-the lively and booming post-Civil War New Albany. From steamships to railroads, the first team experienced the end of one era and the start of another. The growth of baseball in New Albany also mirrors the rise of baseball across the country. From its infancy to national past time in no time. Learn about the first pitch thrown at the first official game on September 29, 1866, and join that unbroken line of young Southern Indiana men and women who have embraced our national past-time.

Presents lessons on using an almanac.

An Almanac for Moderns contains a short essay for each day of the year that contemplates a unique but factual aspect of unbridled nature. According to a review in Nation, this collection of essays manages to “appeal to the ordinary lover of nature . . . but the turn of Peattie’s mind is poetic and speculative.” The New York Times calls this book “a fine and subtle perception . . . rising at times to an intense lyric beauty . . . a book which the reader will deeply treasure, and to which he will repeatedly return.”

Covering everything from the arts to food and drink, religion, social customs, and technology, this two-volume set provides an in-depth, accessible look at the social, cultural, economic, and political aspects of the American Civil War. The American Civil War caused dramatic changes in every aspect of life and society, affecting combatants and noncombatants at all levels of the socioeconomic scale. The World of the Civil War: A Daily Life Encyclopedia offers an accessible and reliable reference for the major topics that defined American life during the nation's most tumultuous era. Taking a blended approach to history, this book covers the military and political history of the era and examines the social and human experiences of the war, thereby offering a comprehensive look at the Civil War era's most significant events, people, places, and experiences. The thematic organization of this encyclopedia helps readers to more readily explore related topics. The subject matter explored in some 250 entries includes religious beliefs and practices; rites of passage; soldiers' lives and experiences; rural and urban life; social structure of the Civil War era—aristocrats, landowners, and slaves; men's and women's roles and responsibilities; holidays, festivals, and other celebrations; tools, machinery, and inventions; and justice and punishment. Readers will come away with an understanding of many aspects of daily life during the Civil War era and gain appreciation for the vast differences between life today and 150 years ago.

Pilgrimages to wild places such as Death Valley help us connect to nature, to be sure. But what would it take for us to reestablish that connection right where we live day-to-day ... in the city? Ben Franklin would be proud. In the spirit of his Poor Richard's Almanac, Eric Utne, founder of Utne Magazine, presents Cosmo Doogood's Urban Almanac: Celebrating Nature & Her Rhythms in the City. It's an inspirational way for 21st-century urbanites, who now number over half the U.S. population, to connect with nature, live more fully, and celebrate each day of the year. Cosmo Doogood's Urban Almanac can help you connect to Nature and Her Rhythms wherever you are! This is an urban version of the old farmer's almanacs, like Ben Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanack. C O N T E N T S Introduction: "Courteous Reader" LOOK UP Sky phenomena, by Norman Davidson Developing the "Weather Eye," by Doc Weather (aka Dennis Klocek) LOOK OUT The Art & Science of Phenology, by David Lukas A Field Guide to Urban Flora & Fauna The Myth of the City, by Philip Cousineau The Joys of Walking, by Christopher Bamford Urban Eden Gardening, by Adam & James Caplin Foraging, by Martha Coventry Ben Franklin Day, by David Morris LOOK IN The Living Year, by Christopher Bamford THE CALENDAR How to Use this Calendar January 1 - December 31, 2005 ESSENTIAL MISCELLANY Conversational Gambits from Edison's Handy Encyclopedia of General Facts and Useful Information and other sources, like Gandhi's "Seven Deadly Sins," America's most creative cities; the answer to the question, "What is Lorem Ipsum?" and more