As a child, my favorite sport was badminton, and I always thought the name was so funny. It sounds like "bad mitten" when pronounced. But the game was first played around 1873 at the Badminton estate in Gloucestershire, England, and thus the moniker. It's the flight of the shuttlecock (another whimsical name) that defines this low-intensity racquet game which can be played in singles or doubles, much like tennis. Incidentally, the English originally called the small racquet a battledore, Continue Reading
The Servant of Slaves: Henriette DeLille
Born in 1812 on Burgundy Street in New Orleans and baptized a Catholic, Henriette had a French father and a Creole mother, with French and Spanish and African ancestry. Never legally married, Henriette's parents operated under a system called placage, common in the French colonies where white men faced a shortage of wives of the "ideal" color and class. These "kept women" of African, Indian and Creole descent were called placees. Although not legal, these relationships were recognized among the Continue Reading
5 Titanic Mysteries That Will Never be Solved
This is the 2nd post in my Titanic series "It's a rash man who says he knows the final answer to anything having to do with the Titanic." Walter Lord, author of A Night to Remember The iconic passenger liner Titanic, which now lies over 2 miles below the Atlantic Ocean, has given up some of her secrets since Dr. Robert Ballard first discovered her wreckage in 1985. But five mysteries still remain, and still befuddle Titanic aficionados. #1 What happened to Captain Smith in his final Continue Reading
7 Titanic Books That Your Children Will Love
My children are a bunch of Titanic buffs because they grew up watching me devour book after book about one of history's most legendary ships. Ironically, you will never catch this Titanic afficianado aboard a luxury liner. I'm a poor swimmer and an avowed landlubber. Traversing the ocean's depths in the pages of a good book is my preferred mode of travel! My children and I have sailed through many Titanic books together (and watched several film adaptations). Here are some of our Continue Reading