It is now and has been for a long time America’s leading producer of matches, producing some twelve billion a year. But do you know why Diamond matches are called that? In 1853, Edward Tatnall opened a small sulfur match factory along Wilmington, DE’s Brandywine Creek. The sulfur match of that era was incredibly unstable…
The story of Miss Havisham from Charles Dickens’ “Great Expectations” haunted me for years. A young woman has bedecked her home for her wedding day. The guests have all arrived, the table is covered in lace and gaily decorated, with tiered wedding cake at the ready. The appointed time for the ceremony comes…but the bridegroom…
The New Castle and Frenchtown Railroad is a case study in mechanical engineering looking over its shoulder. What an odd way to build a railroad bed, you may be saying as you examine this section of the New Castle, DE terminus. Where are the railroad ties? The short answer is: horses. The NC&F railroad, the…
The second volume of my Delaware history series will hardly be complete without a nod to Dover’s most famous daughter. At the time of her death in 1941 Dr. Annie Jump Cannon had classified—by their spectra—more stars than anyone in the world. Even as a child growing up in Dover, the future world famous astronomer…
