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.

April 21, 1838: John Muir Is Born

April 21, 1838: John Muir Is Born April 21, 1838: John Muir Is Born

“It is a miracle of literature, this rapture maintained at so high a pitch over so long a time.”

Apr 21, 2015 / Richard Kreitner and The Almanac

April 20, 1889: Adolf Hitler, Letter-Writer to ‘The Nation’, Is Born

April 20, 1889: Adolf Hitler, Letter-Writer to ‘The Nation’, Is Born April 20, 1889: Adolf Hitler, Letter-Writer to ‘The Nation’, Is Born

Notoriously prickly about his press, Hitler wrote in to complain about a minor factual discrepancy.

Apr 20, 2015 / Richard Kreitner and The Almanac

April 19, 1995: The Oklahoma City Bombing, a Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy?

April 19, 1995: The Oklahoma City Bombing, a Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy? April 19, 1995: The Oklahoma City Bombing, a Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy?

"The Oklahoma City bombers were goaded to action not just by their private mad impulses but by a broader political culture."

Apr 19, 2015 / Richard Kreitner and The Almanac

April 18, 1983: Alice Walker Becomes the First Woman of Color to Win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction

April 18, 1983: Alice Walker Becomes the First Woman of Color to Win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction April 18, 1983: Alice Walker Becomes the First Woman of Color to Win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction

“By infusing the black experience into the Southern novel, she enriches both it and us.”

Apr 18, 2015 / Richard Kreitner and The Almanac

April 17, 1961: US-Backed Guerrillas Invade Cuba via the Bay of Pigs

April 17, 1961: US-Backed Guerrillas Invade Cuba via the Bay of Pigs April 17, 1961: US-Backed Guerrillas Invade Cuba via the Bay of Pigs

“If they fail,” The Nation warned many months in advance, “the United States will lose face in an almost irreparable way.”

Apr 17, 2015 / Richard Kreitner and The Almanac

April 16, 2007: 32 Students Murdered at Virginia Tech

April 16, 2007: 32 Students Murdered at Virginia Tech April 16, 2007: 32 Students Murdered at Virginia Tech

"The demand the Virginia Tech massacre places on the school, on Virginia, on all of us, is simple: Only connect."

Apr 16, 2015 / Richard Kreitner and The Almanac

April 15, 1927: The Great Mississippi River Flood Inundates New Orleans and the Delta

April 15, 1927: The Great Mississippi River Flood Inundates New Orleans and the Delta April 15, 1927: The Great Mississippi River Flood Inundates New Orleans and the Delta

The Nation's coverage of the flood reveals some unnerving parallels with Hurricane Katrina, eight decades later.

Apr 15, 2015 / Richard Kreitner and The Almanac

April 14, 1939: John Steinbeck Publishes ‘The Grapes of Wrath’

April 14, 1939: John Steinbeck Publishes ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ April 14, 1939: John Steinbeck Publishes ‘The Grapes of Wrath’

"The chapters in which Steinbeck halts the story to editorialize about American life are sometimes useful, but oftener pretentious and flatulent."

Apr 14, 2015 / Richard Kreitner and The Almanac

April 13, 1919: Eugene V. Debs Is Sent to Prison

April 13, 1919: Eugene V. Debs Is Sent to Prison April 13, 1919: Eugene V. Debs Is Sent to Prison

“How can you punish a man with so compelling a consciousness of the right?”

Apr 13, 2015 / Richard Kreitner and The Almanac

April 12, 1945: President Franklin D. Roosevelt Dies

April 12, 1945: President Franklin D. Roosevelt Dies April 12, 1945: President Franklin D. Roosevelt Dies

“To countless millions,” The Nation wrote, “he was America.”

Apr 12, 2015 / Richard Kreitner and The Almanac

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