On This Day in History - Softcover

Spinrad, Leonard; Spinrad, Thelma; Anistatia Miller; Jared Brown

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0735200645 ISBN 13: 9780735200647

Publisher: Prentice Hall Press, 1999

Synopsis

Did anything interesting happen on this date anywhere in the world?

This unique resource will answer the above question and give the reader much more information, besides. Sure to appeal to history aficionados, trivia buffs, and the insatiably curious, this singular reference provides a wealth of information including quotations, humorous commentary, and historical facts about the over 1,500 events listed throughout the year. Many of the events are cross-referenced with corresponding relevant dates, giving the reader even more insight into the significance of the event, straight from the pages of history.

Sample Entries:
January 1
President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, 1863
The Trans-Siberian Railway started its maiden voyage, 1905
Twenty-six nations signed the United Nations Declaration, 1942 (see January 9th and October 24th entries)

May 21
Charles Lindbergh landed in Paris, France after completing the first solo transatlantic flight, 1927 (See May 20th entry)

About this title

Review:

This unusual historical roundup takes the significant events of the world one day at a time, starting with January 1 (a day on which Paul Revere was born in 1735; Betsy Ross was born in 1752; the U.S. Congress officially prohibited African slave trade in 1808; Brooklyn merged with Manhattan in 1898; and the colonies of Cyranaica, Tripoli, and Eezaan united to form Libya in 1935) and wending its way through the next 364 days to December 31, when Thomas Edison first demonstrated his electric incandescent light bulb to the public in 1879; and President Truman officially proclaimed an end to World War II in 1946.

The book is appealing for a variety of reasons. Because it doesn't take a chronological approach to history, each event stands out in its own illuminating limelight. You notice it and think about it more freshly, which lets you see it for the accomplishment it is rather than as just another occurrence in the progression of time. On This Day functions nicely as a reference book, in that the index will refer you to the appropriate page for any of more than 1,500 events, where you can discover not only what day of the year it took place but also get a full description of what happened and its context. This book charms most, however, as a browsing book; there's fascination in the juxtaposition of unrelated events, joined merely by happenstance on the same day, though years and worlds apart. Open the book randomly and you find October 14th, with the Battle of Hastings (1066) and the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1964 and to Elie Wiesel in 1986, while on the next page, October 15th, P.G. Wodehouse was born in 1881 and the first draft card was burned in 1965. You'll probably want to check your birthday for other notables who share your date, but after that you're free to riffle through the pages of history and have some fun. --Stephanie Gold

About the Author:

The late Leonard Spinrad was a winner of the Prestigious Anvil Award of the American Public Relations Association. Thelma Spinrad published and edited an influential newsletter used by newspaper and magazine editors. Anistatia R. Miller is a former president of the New York Art Directors Club. Jared M. Brown is a writer for the Art Director's Annual. They both live in San Francisco.

About this edition

• Publisher: Prentice Hall Press
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0735200645
• ISBN 13: 9780735200647
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 352