"The Blue Angels were established in 1946 by Admiral Chester W. Nimitz to showcase the pride and professionalism of the United States Navy and Marine Corps by inspiring a culture of excellence and service to country through flight demonstrations and community outreach. The Navy's Flight Demonstration Team, with its six gleaming blue-and-gold F/A-18 Hornets, never fails to thrill the crowds. Flying from heights of over 15,000 feet and dropping as low...

Braniff Airways: Flying Colors takes readers on a magical flight through the history of Braniff International Airways, beginning with its small-town Oklahoma roots to its high-flying and stylish span of the globe. Braniff brought together the mystery of aviation with the glamorous fields of fashion, art, and design, and taught the flying world how to fly with style and beauty. It is this remarkable joining of forces that has made Braniff as popular...

Once known as the 'Rubber Capital of the World,' Akron now hails as the 'City of Invention.' As the fifth-largest city in Ohio, it has grown from an industrial center to a hub of culture and science. During this change, Akron's downtown went from a vibrant retail district to being somewhat empty; however, the city was reborn with a baseball stadium for the Akron RubberDucks (the Double-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians), new restaurants, concert...

Although settled in the mid-1860s, Lakewood waited to incorporate until 1969, when its population was 90,000. It was instantly the third largest city in Colorado and had it all. Lakewood even had progressive ideas for government from a nonmilitarized police department to incorporation of the patchwork of existing sewer, water, fire protection, and park districts. And if it did not exist, Lakewood's community-minded citizens created organizations,...

Brockton, first settled in 1700, was originally a part of Old Bridgewater, known as North Parish and later as North Bridgewater. On April 9, 1881, it officially became the City of Brockton. During the Civil War, Brockton was the largest producer of shoes in the country, earning it the nickname "Shoe City." As a growing industrial center, Brockton had the proud honor of being first in the world and nation in many ways. On October 1, 1883, the city...

Pittsburgh's Monongahela River is named after the Lenape Indian word Menaonkihela, meaning "where banks cave and erode." The name is fitting: for over a century, these riverbanks were lined with steel plants and railroads that have now "caved and eroded" away. By the 1880s, Carnegie Steel was the world's largest manufacturer of iron, steel rails, and coke. However, in the 1970s, cheap foreign steel flooded the market. Following the 1981-1982 recession,...

In the mid-1900s, Coatesville was a manufacturing gemstone amid the rolling farmland of Chester County. It was home to Lukens Steel, maker of the steel "trees" that became the first nine stories of New York City's World Trade Center. Retailers such as JC Penney, JJ Newberry, and Woolworth's were large employers serving Coatesville citizens and visitors from neighboring counties. By the mid-1970s, Coatesville's commerce was deeply affected by the influx...

Virginia's Hampton Roads region has long attracted diverse and mobile people, some of whom embraced same-sex love or fluid gender identities long before lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities identified as such. By the mid-1900s, Hampton Roads would lead the state in its development of LGBT institutions and infrastructure. Our Own Press would chronicle the extraordinary burst of creativity and activism that seemed to place LGBT...

Camp Lewis was established in 1917 as a training camp for the US Army in World War I. Made a permanent post in 1927, Fort Lewis became an important base for training and sending soldiers to combat in World War II and the Korean War. In 1956, the 4th Infantry Division arrived at Fort Lewis while America was deeply committed to protecting democracy around the world during the Cold War. From that time forward, Fort Lewis has been in the forefront of...

Sedalia has garnered a number of names since its founding in 1860, including Queen of the Prairie and the State Fair City. The trend toward positive designations vanished in the 1930s along with Sedalia's economic base. Life magazine declared Sedalia the city second hardest hit by the Depression in the United States. The postwar prosperity of the 1950s brought new life to Sedalia. Manufacturing and industry sprang up, setting the stage for future...