March 18, 1662 — The first public buses began to run on this day – an idea probably 200 years ahead of its time. The service, introduced in Paris, was abandoned in 1675 and public transport did not return to the streets of any major city until 1895. The idea was promoted by Blaise Pascal who was a man of many talents: physicist, philosopher, mathematician, inventor, author – the list went on.

Almost nobody knew his name. Nobody outside his immediate neighborhood had read his words or heard him speak. Nobody knows what happened to him even one hour after his moment in the world’s living rooms. But the man who stood before a column of tanks near Tiananmen Square–June 5, 1989–may have impressed his image on the global memory more vividly, more intimately than even Sun Yat-sen did. Almost certainly he was seen in his moment of self-transcendence by more people than ever laid eyes on Winston Churchill, Albert Einstein and James Joyce combined.

Proof-positive test of a good team name: say it once out loud in front of people and if any one groans, rolls an eye or falls asleep, don’tuse it. Just thinking about the absolute cliché of the team name Pace Setters is grounds enough for a downgrade in division for all the school’s sports. See pictures of college mascots. ncG1vNJzZmijlZq9qrrGrJqoqpVjr627xqxlraGdmnuku8xoaWloaWR9dnuQcGatp6BifnF51qiprKxdmLytuMSgnGaslZa6brrAppysZ6OhtqWxjqmYnJ1dqruqwsSrqqKsqWLApsDTnqmsZw%3D%3D

We asked Bard to compile a list of the hardest spelling bee words. Spelling bees are a fun and challenging way to test your knowledge of the English language. But some spelling bee words are harder than others. ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7scHLrJxnppdkuaqyxKyrsqSVZLOwu8Nmq6uZppq5cMDOqWRqbF2drrOwxKyrZqugmrmttc2gZJudlWLEsL7DrGSerpWneqK6w2auoZmkYsGpsdhmpJ6ZnmS5r7DGpp%2Bq

Anbinder taught American history for thirty years at the University of Wyoming and George Washington University before retiring in 2020. His fourth book on American immigration history, Plentiful Country: The Great Potato Famine and the Making of Irish New York, was published in March 2024 by Little, Brown ncG1vNJzZmismaKyb6%2FOpmaaraSdvLN707Kjnqpdlrujtc2dnKtn