Aviation, Freemasonry, Tech nerdery, random musings and anything else that interests me.
Brother Gordon Cooper was one of the original seven Mercury astronauts – the first manned mission to space. He also acted as the command pilot for Gemini 5. Cooper was fond of carrying Masonic items to space. He reportedly carried a Masonic coin, a Masonic flag, and a Scottish Rite banner on various missions. He…
Edward Jenner (b. 1749; d. 1823) was an English physician who was a contributor to the development of the smallpox vaccine. The practice of vaccination was popularized by Jenner, and since then has been used vigorously to prevent several diseases. The terms vaccine and vaccination are derived from Variolae vaccinae (smallpox of the cow), the…
Ralph R, Teetor, of Hagerstown, Indiana, where he was a member of Hagerstown Lodge, was blinded in an accident at the age of 5, but he never let his loss of sight stop his ingenious work in the filed of engineering. One of his inventions used today by countless numbers of motorists on the highway…
Country music star Brad Paisley is a proud Freemason. He’s a member of Franklin Lodge No. 7 in Tennessee, as well as a Scottish Rite Mason and a Shriner. He’s used his star power to promote and support both the Shriners Hospitals for Children and the Masonic youth group DeMolay International.
The Mayo Clinic is one of the most famous hospitals in the United States. Did you know it has Masonic roots? The founder, Dr. Charles H. Mayo, was a Mason, as were his Brothers and his son. The clinic actually began in the Masonic Temple building in Rochester Minnesota and, for years, the Grand Lodge of Minnesota maintained a…
Shown here is an innocuous visitors slip from Masonic Lodge No. 43 in Lancaster, PA. But, look closer. You’ll see that it dates from the fall of 1917 and the signer is Bro. William Howard Taft. By the time that Taft visited Lodge 43, he had already served as President of the United States. At…
Here are some things you (probably) didn’t know Scotland’s best-selling whisky, with sales of 9-litre cases topping 18m last year, has a long and illustrious history. Synonymous with Scotch, the brand is known all around the world. Here are a few things you might not know about Johnnie Walker Whisky. 1) John [Johnnie] Walker began…
Today in Masonic History Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. passed away in 1932. Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. was an American Broadway producer.Ziegfeld was born in Chicago, Illinois on March 21st, 1867. He began his career in entertainment when his father, who ran the Chicago Musical College, opened a nightclub. The nightclub was less than successful despite Ziegfeld’s father’s…