Richard Kreitner

richardkreitner

Richard Kreitner is a contributing writer and the author of Break It Up: Secession, Division, and the Secret History of America's Imperfect Union. His writings are at richardkreitner.com.

July 18, 1936: The Spanish Civil War Begins

July 18, 1936: The Spanish Civil War Begins July 18, 1936: The Spanish Civil War Begins

“Not a method of keeping out of war but the establishment of a warless world must be our goal.”

Jul 18, 2015 / Richard Kreitner

July 17, 1955: Disneyland Opens in Southern California

July 17, 1955: Disneyland Opens in Southern California July 17, 1955: Disneyland Opens in Southern California

“Life is bright-colored, clean, cute, titivating, safe, mediocre, inoffensive to the lowest common denominator, and somehow poignantly inhuman.”

Jul 17, 2015 / Richard Kreitner

July 16, 1951: J.D. Salinger’s ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ Is Published

July 16, 1951: J.D. Salinger’s ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ Is Published July 16, 1951: J.D. Salinger’s ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ Is Published

“Why has this unpretentious, mildly affecting chronicle of a few days in the life of a disturbed adolescent been read with enthusiasm?”

Jul 16, 2015 / Richard Kreitner

Smoker smoking

For the Tobacco Industry’s Backlash Against Lung Cancer Science, You’re Welcome For the Tobacco Industry’s Backlash Against Lung Cancer Science, You’re Welcome

An early Nation investigation was “circulated far and wide throughout the huckster fraternity.”

Jul 15, 2015 / Richard Kreitner

July 15, 1919: Iris Murdoch Is Born

July 15, 1919: Iris Murdoch Is Born July 15, 1919: Iris Murdoch Is Born

“She is a sophisticated philosopher, and it is her evident aim to put us back in intimate touch with our own being.”

Jul 15, 2015 / Richard Kreitner

July 14, 1789: French Revolutionaries Storm the Bastille

July 14, 1789: French Revolutionaries Storm the Bastille July 14, 1789: French Revolutionaries Storm the Bastille

What are people really celebrating when they mark the anniversary of “Bastille Day”?

Jul 14, 2015 / Richard Kreitner

July 13, 1960: John F. Kennedy Secures the Democratic Presidential Nomination

July 13, 1960: John F. Kennedy Secures the Democratic Presidential Nomination July 13, 1960: John F. Kennedy Secures the Democratic Presidential Nomination

How “a young man without an impressive political record, without a program, without broad rank-and-file support,” won the presidency.

Jul 13, 2015 / Richard Kreitner

July 12, 1984: Walter Mondale Announces Geraldine Ferraro as the Democratic Vice-Presidential Candidate

July 12, 1984: Walter Mondale Announces Geraldine Ferraro as the Democratic Vice-Presidential Candidate July 12, 1984: Walter Mondale Announces Geraldine Ferraro as the Democratic Vice-Presidential Candidate

“Her prominent role in a Mondale Administration would secure more attention for the feminist agenda.”

Jul 12, 2015 / Richard Kreitner

July 11, 1937: George Gershwin Dies

July 11, 1937: George Gershwin Dies July 11, 1937: George Gershwin Dies

“More than any other one person, George Gershwin has reminded his hearers that the division between good and bad cuts across all others.”

Jul 11, 2015 / Richard Kreitner

John Scopes

July 10, 1925: The Scopes Trial Begins in Tennessee July 10, 1925: The Scopes Trial Begins in Tennessee

“The Old Testament, to them, is not a mere sacerdotal whizz-bang, to be read for its pornography; it is an authoritative history.”

Jul 10, 2015 / Richard Kreitner

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