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In June 1861, Thaddeus Lowe flew 500 feet above the National Mall in a gas-filled balloon to show President Abraham Lincoln how balloons could be used to spy on the Confederates. Lowe's balloon, the Enterprise, remained tethered to the ground, and Lowe sent Lincoln the first telegram ever transmitted from the air.
Lowe's flight eventually led to the creation of the Union Balloon Corps and the start of aerial espionage in the United States.
On Saturday, the museum will inflate a balloon similar to Lowe's Enterprise. The museum won't let the balloon fly, but it will host re-enactors portraying Lowe and Lincoln, with presentations on Civil War ballooning.
Giant Renaissance Food People Descend Upon New York
Giuseppe Arcimboldo was a 16th-century artist who liked to play with his food, transforming it into the building blocks of many of his fantastical portraits. Artist Philip Haas has taken those portraits out of museums, reinterpreting them as colossal statues that interact with the natural environment.Giant Renaissance Food People Descend Upon New York
Giuseppe Arcimboldo was a 16th-century artist who liked to play with his food, transforming it into the building blocks of many of his fantastical portraits. Artist Philip Haas has taken those portraits out of museums, reinterpreting them as colossal statues that interact with the natural environment.Nonconservative Groups Say IRS Scrutinized Them, Too
The IRS has admitted it flagged tax-exemption requests from groups with "tea party" or "patriot" in their names starting in 2010. But some liberal groups and journalism organizations say their applications also faced long delays during the same period.Book News: Amazon May Be Called Before Parliament Over Taxes
Also: AARP and The Nation join a growing list of ebook publishers; Hilary Mantel on Jane Austen; Anne Applebaum on Sheryl Sandberg.Leave a Comment
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