Today in History: November 1

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

“I pray Heaven to bestow the best of Blessings on this House and all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise Men ever rule under this roof.”—President John Adams

On this date in 1800, President John Adams moved into the newly built, but still unfinished, White House. The rooms were damp and drafty. He arrived unannounced with two aides to see the building.

The historian David McCullough describes The White House in 1800: “The immense house was still unfinished. It reeked of wet plaster and wet paint. Fires had to be kept blazing in every fireplace on the main floor to speed up the drying process. Only a twisting back stair had been built between floors. Doors were missing. … Later, supper finished, Adams climbed the backstairs candle in hand and retired for the night.”

During his second day in his new reidence, he wrote a letter to his wife, Abigail, which included the above words, which were cut into the mantlepiece of the State Dining Room during the administration of Franklin Roosevelt, and remain there.
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Trapped in Hell: Shawkan’s Uncertain Future

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

A journalist’s job is to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

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The next court appearance for the photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid (“Shawkan”) is December 10 in Cairo, Egypt. It will be the latest chapter in a three-year saga, a Kafkaesque tale that should not be taking place at all. Some background about this tale of a journalist trapped in a story:
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Trick and/or Treat

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

Three years ago, the Martin Prosperity Institute released what it called its “annual survey” of Halloween in America. It was its third annual such survey and it has not produced a sequel to this seminal study of all things Halloween since. My hometown broke it, I guess.

The Institute’s work in the field of Halloween enjoyment, a study not seriously undertaken by most people older than eight, led in 2013 to many national news articles that expressed shock at its conclusion: that the best place for Halloween in the United States of America is Poughkeepsie, New York.
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