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02

Nov

Aha Moment Maker: Teddy Bear Tug of War

by Your friends at OIC on November 2, 2013

Theodore Roosevelt and a Teddy Bear, the toy that was named for him

ONWARD, MISSISSIPPI, 1902—The iconic “teddy bear” was so named for an incident involving America’s 26th President, Theodore Roosevelt. On a brief vacation in Mississippi, his hunting party managed to subdue a black bear and tie it to a tree. Roosevelt declined to shoot it on the grounds that it would not be the sporting thing to do.

News articles about how the big game hunting President refused to shoot a bear caught the attention of political cartoonist Clifford Berryman, who decided to poke fun at the President. In the cartoon, Berryman illustrated the bear as a cute and fuzzy little cub. People enjoyed it so much that he continued to symbolically insert the bear in his cartoons throughout Roosevelt’s presidency.  Read more...

 

Your Own Aha Moments

26

Oct

Aha Moment Maker: Monumental Critiques

by Your friends at OIC on October 26, 2013

A judge holding a numbered sign, symbolizing the harsh critiques faced by Vietnam Veterens Memorial designer Maya Lin

NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, 1981—Sculptor and architect Maya Lin was just a 21-year-old senior at Yale University when her design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was chosen from over 1,400 entries.

Her winning design was initially created as a project for her funereal architecture class, and not for the competition. Only later did she decide to enter it.  Read more...

 

Your Own Aha Moments

19

Oct

Aha Moment Maker: The Real McCoy

by Your friends at OIC on October 19, 2013

Man toasting a Prohibition wagon, symbolizing the aha moment of bootlegger William McCoy

JACKSONVILLE, 1920—Boatyard owner William Frederick McCoy had already made a name for himself designing and building luxury boats for the rich and famous before the advent of Prohibition.

Even though he didn’t drink, McCoy saw an opportunity and began using his own boat to transport cases of liquor from the Bahamas to the U.S. Soon enough, McCoy had put together a network of boats and was in undisputed control of Atlantic Ocean rum-running between the Bahamas and Canada.  Read more...

 

Your Own Aha Moments

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