Audrey Hepburn’s Surprising WWII Story

This Week in 1939: James Joyce

“This week, for the first time, a writer had attempted to make articulate this wordless world of sleep. The writer is James Joyce; the book, Finnegans Wake—final title of his long-heralded Work in Progress. In his 57 years this erudite and fanciful Irishman, from homes in exile all over Europe, has written two books that have influenced the work of his contemporaries more than any others of his time: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, the best of innumerable novels picturing an artist’s struggle with his environment; Ulysses, considered baffling and obscure 15 years ago, now accepted as a modern masterpiece.” (May 8, 1939)

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This Week in 1950: The New York Times

“The Times has won its reputation as ‘the newspaper of record’ by printing such things as the full text of the Versailles Treaty (83,300 words) the even longer Pearl Harbor Report (247,000 words), most other significant state papers and speeches. Once a copy of the bulky Sunday Times which was being delivered from a plane in a rural area accidentally hit an ox and killed the beast. Daily and Sunday, the Times is sold in 12,041 cities and towns, thus is the nearest thing to a national daily newspaper in the U.S.” (May 8, 1950)

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Today in 2005: Star Wars

In Lucas’ eyes, the Star Wars odyssey was wrapped up only at one end. He had shown how Luke Skywalker marshals a band of rebels ‘to destroy the Sith,’ as the prophecy had it, ‘and bring balance to the Force.’ Still, in the filmmaker’s mind was another, more complex tale: how ambition can twin with obsession and twist toward the dark side—how Luke’s father Anakin devolved into the deadly Darth Vader. Lucas’ brain teemed with plots and characters, exotic creatures, worlds to be spun out of the words and sketches in his notebooks. Also, by numbering the extant episodes IV, V and VI, he was implicitly promising a prequel trilogy to the millions of Star Wars fandroids.” (May 9, 2005)

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Beagle Rescue Jason Daley reports for Smithsonian on why a museum in Australia is asking folks in England to look for any family heirlooms that might contain a drawing of Charles Darwin’s ship.

A Life in History Corey Robin’s New Yorker review of a new biography of Eric Hobsbawm provides a nice overview of why the historian was so influential.

What’s in a Name Seven words with art-historical origins get the explainer treatment from Kelly Grovier at the BBC.

Inclusive Perspective With Asian Pacific American Heritage Month underway, NBC News’ Agnes Constante has this close-up look at the work being done to make sure Asian-American stories get their due in history classrooms.

In the Air Charles Lindbergh may get all the credit for his pioneering trans-Atlantic flight, but James Barron at the New York Times draws attention to an earlier aviation milestone.