Ike and Mamie play Scrabble at Camp David, 7/30/1954, Eisenhower Library, NARA ID 67-82-A-17.
HAPPY NAT'L SCRABBLEDAY!
Marines aboard the amphibious assault ship USS OKINAWA (LPH 3) play Scrabble under the aft Mark 33 3-inch/50-caliber gun mount, 12/1/1987, NARA ID 6430922.
By Miriam Kleiman, Public Affairs
As a special Scrabble Day gift, here are some archival Scrabble -approved words for your next big game!
Albumen - an albumen photo is one created using a silver halide as the light-sensitive agent and egg whites (albumen) as the binder.
Foxing - discoloration on paper, generally in the form of random rust colored spots.
Halide- in silver halide film, the light sensitive ingredient is a silver halide emulsion
Hygrometer/Psychrometer - instruments used to measure temperature and relative humidity
Lignin - a component of the cell walls of plants, along with cellulose; its presence in paper may contribute to chemical degradation.
Plasticizer - an added chemical used to make PVC more flexible.
Thymol - a toxic, carcinogenic, crystalline compound once used as a preservative and fungicide.
During WWII the US Army Signal Corps documented everything the advancing troops found, including the concentration camps. This film was shown in civilian theatres at the time so everyone would understand what they found and be unable to deny what happened. The fact that it was made and shown at that time is documented. It would have been impossible to fake with the technology of that era.
Some leader on the ground allegedly told his men to take all the pictures they could, because he knew people would try tomorrow and in the future to deny what had happened there.
Yeah, that “some leader” was Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces General Eisenhower, who also ordered that every troop should tour a camp at their earliest convenience and brought over reporters and government officials.
“Get it all on record now - get the films - get the witnesses -because somewhere down the road of history some bastard will get up and say that this never happened.”
Amy Shira Teitel’s fascinating nonfiction debut is an excellent companion to Michael Chabon’s recent novel Moonglow and Theodore Melfi’s film Hidden Figures—which hits theaters tomorrow!
Launched on December 18, 1958, a little over a year after the Soviet Union stunned the world with the launch of Sputnik, Project SCOREused an Atlas rocket as the basis for the world’s first communication satellite. SCOREwas the culmination of six months of intense work by ARPA and was designed with two clear goals-first to show that the United States had the technical capability to put a rocket in orbit and second to show that a space-based satellite could transmit a message from distant ground-based locations via the upper atmosphere. SCOREstood for Signal Communications by Orbiting Relay Equipment and delivered a very simple Christmas message from President Eisenhower, making it the first human voice message transmitted from space:
This is the President of the United States speaking. Through the marvels of scientific advance, my voice is coming to you from a satellite circling in outer space. My message is a simple one:Through this unique means I convey to you and to all mankind, America’s wish for peace on Earth and goodwill toward men everywhere.
Eisenhower’s message had a darker purpose-it signaled to the Soviet Union that the United States had the capability to put a missile in space as much as telecommunications systems. Merry Christmas, indeed!
