Falwell disbanded the conservative Christian movement in 1989, ten years after founding it. After fighting for such positions as prayer in public schools and a ban on abortions, the organization ended about the same time as Ronald Reagan’s presidency, which its influence had helped bring about.
The world’s largest employer of women is Avon Products, Inc., which, as of 1992, employed 1.5 million women throughout the world. Nearly all the women work as independent sales representatives, often known as Avon ladies. Founded in 1883 by David H. McConnell as the California Perfume Company, it became Avon Products, Inc. in 1939, a…
Named for trader Jesse Chisholm, this nineteenth-century cattle route started south of San Antonio, Texas, passed through Oklahoma, and ended at Abilene, Kansas. In 1871, the trail’s busiest year-700,000 cattle were driven along the route by 5,000 cowboys.
The road used by migrants moving westward in the mid-19th century, known as the Oregon Trail, ran about 2,000 miles from Independence or Westport, Missouri, to Oregon’s Willamette Valley. It took about six months for wagon trains to cover the distance. The Oregon Trail was in use from the 1840s until the advent of the…
Du Pont chemist Wallace Hume Carrothers invented the artificial polymer nylon in the 1930s while searching for alternatives to silk. Nylon stockings first came on the market with heavy publicity on what was billed as “Nylon Day,” May 15, 1940. Women hungry for a cheap and durable alternative to silk stockings bought millions of pairs…
The tepee was a conical dwelling made from buffalo hides, supported by poles, and often painted or decorated with beadwork. It was commonly used by Native Americans of the Great Plains. The wigwam was a rounded dwelling made from woven mats or birch bark over a framework of poles. It was widely used in the…