Chicago's Motor Row earned a spot in the National Register of Historic Places by pioneering a new way to market an invention that was remaking America--the automobile. From approximately 1905 to 1936, well over 100 makes of car were offered by dealers in the 28-acre district. Motor Row started when Henry Ford, the best known name in automobile manufacturing, opened one of his first dealerships outside Detroit on South Michigan Avenue near the homes of Chicago's most affluent citizens. Othe...

The Ogden Gas Affair represented the biggest political scandal of Chicago's first sixty years. Mayor John P. Hopkins and Democratic Party boss Roger Sullivan conspired with ten other insiders to form a dummy corporation to blackmail Peoples Gas Company. The scam poured money into the coffers of beneficiaries who were never prosecuted, including the governor of Illinois, John P. Altgeld. As their lengthy swindle ran its course, Hopkins and Sullivan rubbed elbows with the most notorious graf...

The Roaring Twenties in New York was a time of exuberant ambition, free-flowing optimism, an explosion of artistic expression in the age of Prohibition. New York was the city that embodied the spirit and strength of a newly powerful America.In 1924, in the vibrant heart of Manhattan, a fierce rivalry was born. Two architects, William Van Alen and Craig Severance (former friends and successful partners, but now bitter adversaries), set out to imprint their individual marks on the gr...

A brilliant, authoritative, and fascinating history of America’s most puzzling era, the years 1920 to 1933, when the U.S. Constitution was amended to restrict one of America’s favorite pastimes: drinking alcoholic beverages.From its start, America has been awash in drink. The sailing vessel that brought John Winthrop to the shores of the New World in 1630 carried more beer than water. By the 1820s, liquor flowed so plentifully it was cheaper than tea. That American...

The great American automotive pioneers were entrepreneurial inventors and visionaries who changed the American landscape and brought us a new national culture. These pioneers lifted the veil of isolation that enveloped most pre-twentieth century Americans and made it possible for the average person to travel whenever and wherever he or she pleased. Automobiles changed the concept of transportation and more so, how and where we lived, worked and played. Many lessons can be drawn from these pio...

From the bestselling author of The Last Emperor comes this rip-roaring history of the government’s attempt to end America’s love affair with liquor—which failed miserably. On January 16, 1920, America went dry. For the next thirteen years, the Eighteenth Amendment prohibited the making, selling, or transportation of “intoxicating liquors,” heralding a new era of crime and corruption on all levels of society. Instead of eliminating alcohol, Prohibition spurred more drinking than ev...

Stories and photographs celebrating the city's history through its abandoned architectural landmarks.Lost Detroit tells the stories behind twelve of the city's most beautiful left-behind landmarks and of the people who occupied them, from the day they opened to the day they closed. While these buildings might stand as ghosts of the past today, their stories live on within these pages.This book brings you the memories of those who caught trains out o...

The complete rankings of our best -- and worst -- presidents, based on C-SPAN's much-cited Historians Surveys of Presidential Leadership.Over a period of decades, C-SPAN has surveyed leading historians on the best and worst of America's presidents across a variety of categories -- their ability to persuade the public, their leadership skills, their moral authority, and more. The crucible of the presidency has forged some of the very best and very worst leaders in o...

Open a copy of the Information Please Almanac and turn to the chapter on famous people. 4000 names and you won't know hardly any. But what about names everyone knows? Pillsbury, Kraft, Kellogg. Nowhere to be found. How many names are more famous than Howard Johnson or Oscar Mayer? But who were these folks? Let's take a look at the men behind the famous nameplates of the open road...

Eyes on the Prize traces the movement from the landmark Brown v*. the Board of Education* case in 1954 to the march on Selma and the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965. This is a companion volume to the first part of the acclaimed PBS series.

Take a fascinating tour of the influential art deco movement and its manifestations in and around Detroit. Since the 1920s, Art Deco, or "The Modern Style," has delighted people with its innovative use of materials and designs that capture the spirit of optimism to create the style of the future. Although the Detroit metro area is primarily known as an industrial region, it boasts some of the finest examples of Art Deco in the country.Through a panorama of photographs,Art Deco in Detroit e...

BLACK HISTORY 1619 TO 2019 is an inspiring and educational journey through history. It is an in-depth look at the events which shaped the lives and contributions of the African-American community in the United States of America. This book is designed to restore the integrity of African-American history and is based on extensive research and documentation related to the African-American experience from the era of slavery until modern times. In this landmark book, Sandra K. Yocum an...