This week In The Past Lane looks into the little know and yet hugely significant development of the ice and refrigeration industries in US history. 1) first we tell the story of the Frederick Tudor, The "Ice King," who single-handedly invented the ice industry way back in 1806. This development … [Read more...]
Episode 008 How America Got Cool
America’s Last Ice Age (more recent than you think)
What on earth is an “ice famine”? Well, if you were alive in the nineteenth century and the U.S. was experiencing winter as mild as this one in 2012-2013, the newspapers would be full of stories about a potential “ice famine.” The problem was not a shortage of ice in January and February, but rather … [Read more...]
The Erie Canal — The Original Economic Stimulous Plan
InThePastLane Edward T. O'Donnell Given the raging debate in contemporary American politics over what role if any the government should play in the economy, it’s always instructive to look to history for some insight. One of the … [Read more...]
Margaret Sanger and the Struggle for Women’s Rights
InThePastLane by Edward T. O’Donnell Americans have spent a lot of time and energy in recent years arguing about birth control. The debate has centered not on the morality of contraception, but rather, in the wake of the … [Read more...]
The Battle of Antietam, Photography, and the Visualization of Modern War
InThePastLane.com by Edward T. O'Donnell Historians like to describe the American Civil War as the first “modern” war, in large measure because of the central role played by new industrial technology. The telegraph, for example, allowed for instant communication … [Read more...]