Vanderbilt Chivalry

Today is the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Lusitania. As a former PSNC employee (who loves Gilded Age history and all things Vanderbilt), Alex used to hear a lot of family lore about one of America's richest (and most interesting) families while working at the Breakers. One story that always stuck with her was that of Alfred Gwyn Vanderbilt (the 4th child of Cornelius Vanderbilt II), who died while on board the Lusitania. Alfred was last seen removing his life vest and wrapping it around a woman with a baby.

Wacky Whiskers Wednesday: The OG of Facial Hair

Because we promised you beards, we welcome you to our first installment of Wacky Whiskers Wednesday! What hump day would be complete without a historical beard? For our first installment, we decided to bring you the OG of beards, Major General Ambrose E. Burnside. You probably have heard of him even if you are not a Civil War buff, considering his distinctive facial hair became known as sideburns!

Shepard in Space

54 years ago today, Alan Shepard, a former Navy pilot, was launched into space aboard the Mercury Freedom 7, becoming the first American and second human ever to make that trip (depiction of the lead up to this flight brought to you here by "The Right Stuff"). Almost ten years later. Shepard went into space again, as commander of Apollo 14, and became the first man to hit a golf ball on the moon.