Our state song, “Utah, We Love Thee,” may have its inadequacies but are these sufficient to warrant displacing it as an official state symbol after all these years? Gov. Scott Matheson “occasionally has suggested,” according to a news story, “that somebody ought to come up with a more modern replacement.” Now, Dr. Steven R. Mecham,… Continue reading Changing Utah’s State Song
Year: 1984
Anniversaries Noted This Month
We have a lot of “special days” in the good old U.S.A. Besides the legal and patriotic holidays there’s a miscellany of anniversaries and occasions such as Groundhog Day, Inventors Day and Pickle Day. We even have an Underdog Day to salute the nation’s underdogs and unsung heroes. The degree of significance of any observance… Continue reading Anniversaries Noted This Month
Dec. 7, 1941, A Day of Infamy
It was a day never to be forgotten – in President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s somber words, “a date which will live in infamy.” Japan had taken the United States by surprise, tragically bombing Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941, while negotiations were going on in Washington. More than 350 planes had zeroed in on the harbor… Continue reading Dec. 7, 1941, A Day of Infamy
Thieves Steal Museum Items
Millions of dollars worth of artifacts and art, objects are stolen from museums each year in the United States – and the public is the big loser. When a valuable item vanishes, a piece of history is gone. This is in addition to its intrinsic value. Exact values are hard to establish but in 1978… Continue reading Thieves Steal Museum Items
14 Presidents Who Won Two Terms
“The person of the President – anyPresident – is touched with magic. The office illuminates the man. And as we meet the country’s leader, in person or by reading a good biography, we shake hands with history.” – Melville Bell Grosvenor. This column is about the 13 Presidents who were sufficiently “illuminated” by the office… Continue reading 14 Presidents Who Won Two Terms
Origin of Sweet, Sad Taps Sound
The sweet but sad bugle call known as Taps employs only four separate notes and there are only 24 notes in the entire composition – but its plaintive strains continue to tug at heartstrings after 122 years. Taps is sounded at patriotic Veterans and Memorial Day services and at flag-lowering and “lights out” ceremonies in… Continue reading Origin of Sweet, Sad Taps Sound
Honoring Their Sacrifice. Stones Present a History
By N. LA VERL CHRISTENSEN Until the storied “11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month” in 1918, the battle lines in France shook with the roar of cannons. But at that hour the guns ceased firing. A general armistice between the Allies and Germany went into effect. Terms of the peace had… Continue reading Honoring Their Sacrifice. Stones Present a History
Famous False Teeth Not Wood
George Washington had some rather famous false teeth, made in a day when prosthodontia still was in its early stages of development. But the dentures were not made of wood as many have believed. “No such thing,” says the librarian at Mount Vernon, the first presidents historic home on the Potomac. “I just don’t know… Continue reading Famous False Teeth Not Wood
President Used to Make $25,000
How much do we pay our U. S. president? Assuming this should be of more than passing interest during the election campaign, let’s review presidential salaries from 1789 to the present. George Washington, the first of 39 men to hold the office, received $25,000 per annum. Today, under the 1969 salary law passed by Congress, the pay is $200,000. Extensive… Continue reading President Used to Make $25,000
War Pals Reunited In Britain
By N.L. CHRISTENSEN Editor Emeritus A World War II Air Force pilot from Provo has concluded a 10,000-mile odyssey to a Great Britain reunion of his wartime outfit, the 94th Bomb Group, 8th AAF. Simon K. Benson, former teacher now a bus driver for Provo School District, was one of 200 members who gathered at… Continue reading War Pals Reunited In Britain