Between 1888 and 1940, Brooklyn’s fleet of trolleys connected the growing residential community to the commercial hub in Downtown Brooklyn. The Fulton Street, Coney Island, Dekalb Avenue, and Flatbush Avenue lines navigated the borough to bring workers and residents to the area. This extensive transportation network helped Brooklyn establish itself as an influential American city,… Continue reading
Tag: history
The Brooklyn Navy Yard by bike (is awesome)
I was going to do my own post about the awesome bike tour I did this weekend through Turnstile Tours and the Brooklyn Brainery, but Jen at the Brainery did a fantastic writeup that’s easier to reblog! So that’s below, and some of my own photos are on Instagram. bkbrains: Yesterday, we were spent an… Continue reading The Brooklyn Navy Yard by bike (is awesome)
History of Minigolf
Fun Fact: By the late 1920s there were over 150 rooftop courses in New York City alone, and tens of thousands across the United States. At the time, it was called midget golf. The ‘greens’ were either made of a compound of cottonseed hulls dyed green or felt (as shown in the photo). Check out… Continue reading History of Minigolf
From the National Archives: “In Event of Moon Disaster”, July 18, 1969. White House speechwriter, William Safire, was asked to write a speech that President Nixon would make in case the Apollo 11 astronauts were stranded on the Moon. It was never delivered, and this speech was quietly tucked away into Nixon’s records. From -… Continue reading
10 Fascinating Meetings in Modern History
I thought it would be fun to include a slide in my upcoming class about the history of meetings, and my research yielded an awesome list of 10 fascinating meetings in modern history. Here’s an excerpt: Thomas Stafford & Alexei Leonov On July 15th 1975 two men aboard the Soyuz (from the Soviet space program)… Continue reading 10 Fascinating Meetings in Modern History
Ever wondered what this island is? Learn the names and important historic bullet points in this handy NYC Island post authored by the Brooklyn Brainery. It’s pretty all inclusive, though Governors Island is mysteriously missing!
Finding Angelo: or how an American obtains Italian dual Citizenship
Here is a list of the documents required for me to become an Italian citizen: (please note these all need to be translated into Italian and have an apostille…whatever that is) Your maternal great grandfather’s birth certificate from Italy Your maternal great grandmother’s birth certificate Your great grandparents’ marriage certificate Your maternal great grandfather’s certificate of naturalization OR… Continue reading Finding Angelo: or how an American obtains Italian dual Citizenship
Manhattan Bridge, under-construction, seen from the roof of Robert Gair Building, showing suspenders and saddles, on February 11, 1909. (Eugene de Salignac/Courtesy NYC Municipal Archives) The New York City Municipal Archives just released a database of over 870,000 photos from its collection of more than 2.2 million images of New York throughout the 20th century.… Continue reading
Free Concerts and Beer hosted by the New York Historical Society
The New York Historical Society is hosting a new free concert series (jazz, rock, classical, and more!) every Friday night at 6:30pm from April 20 - June 1. Share with your networks! As if that’s not cool enough, they also are hosting not-too-expensive beer tastings complementing their History of New York Beer exhibition, on Saturday… Continue reading Free Concerts and Beer hosted by the New York Historical Society
Orange Street, Cranberry Street, Pineapple Street
I never knew why downtown Brooklyn had streets named after yummy things, but not I know it’s because of Miss Middagh. Miss Middagh’s family, who immigrated to the area when it was still New Amsterdam in 1652, was very influential in the area. She didn’t like that her wealthy neighbors were so arrogant as to name… Continue reading Orange Street, Cranberry Street, Pineapple Street
Jen Bokoff 
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