History

Good lord, where does the time go? It was 45 years ago today that Martin Luther King Jr. gave one of the most memorable and famous speeches in modern history.

The Model T turns 100 this week, and more than 900 of them are expected at the Wayne County Fairgrounds for the Model T Ford Centennial Party. This article explains some of the significance of the Tin Lizzie:

John Heitmann, a history professor at the University of Dayton who has taught classes on automobile history and its impact on American life, said the Model T is one of the most historically significant cars of the 20th century and maybe the single most important American car.

A few years ago, I thought we might be headed for a cultural bottoming out when I read that Steven Speilberg really doesn't read -- all his movies were inspired by other movies. (I haven't been able to find the quote since, so maybe I dreamed it, or maybe it was George Lucas). I think the bottom is either here or very close. The top two opening weekends in movie history, and three of the top five, now belong to films inspired by comic books.

Oh, well. At least somebody tried:

The Indianapolis International Airport board on Friday reaffirmed their plan not to rename the airport after Col. Harvey Weir Cook, an aviator in both world wars.

Instead, the road leading to the new terminal building and the terminal itself will be named after the colonel, 6News' Julie Pursley reported.

Breaking:

We just got a tip that the Indiana coalition is one of the finalists in the bid for the Lincoln Museum. That's good and unexpected news, although the cynic in me wonders if we were included just to soften the blow when the exhibit is awarded to one of the more famous national brands.

Stay tuned.

UPDATE: Here are some details from Indiana's NewsCenter.

Pssst. Wanna hear about a strange endorsment by a foreign country of an American presidential candidate? No, not an Islamic country and Obama:

We hope McCain wins," says the 62-year-old Vietnamese. "He remembers us and will do good things for Vietnam."

Didn't it seem for a while there that 9/11 was going to bring us together? Oh, well. Happy Fourth of July from Willie and me and the rest of the gang. John and Barack, too, OK? You can't possibly want to lead a country you don't love. The modern world began with the American Revolution. And for all its faults, the very presence of America continues to inspire people the world over. We were founded on the best ideas and embody the principles that offer the best hope for civilization's advance.

Now go grill something.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6WZtA0TWWQ]

Just a reminder that if you want to see the Lincoln Museum, you'd better do it before Monday. And don't count on any of the collection being in Fort Wayne for very long, despite the best efforts of a lot of people:

Happy 60th anniversary to the flying saucer:

1947: Pilot Kenneth Arnold sights a series of unidentified flying objects near Washington's Mt. Rainier. It's the first widely reported UFO sighting in the United States, and, thanks to Arnold's description of what he saw, leads the press to coin the term flying saucer.

[. . .]

History always has the last word:

White House aides say Bush, who majored in history at Yale, likes to emphasize historical comparisons because they are easy for the public to understand and illustrate in dramatic fashion how differently future generations may come to view him.