...how many of these folks names do you recognize? How many do you know what they are noted for?

Mark Twain
Scott Joplin
WC Handy
Louis Armstrong
Duke Ellington
George Gershwin
Mary Cassat
John Sargent
Frederic Remington
James Whistler
Winslow Homer
Ralph Emerson
William James
Alexander Cartwright
Willie Mays
Robert Fulton
Eli Whitney
Thomas Edison
The Wright Brothers
Horace Mann
Nathaniel Hawthorn
Herman Melville
Edith Wharton
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Ernest Hemingway
William Faulkner
Emily Dickinson
Walt Whitman
Henry Ford
Charles Kettering
Alfred Sloan
John Dewey

George Will wrote a piece back in 1991 talking about how we, perhaps, hold our elected leaders in far more reverence than ever intended by the founders and, for sure, our politicians see themselves as perhaps a good bit more important than is healthy for the republic. In any event, Will's thought was to money and perhaps putting people who actually made the nation great on our currency rather than our politicians and the above is his list of suggestions of who we might, for better, revere. I thought it rather interesting so, FWIW, there you go.

:buddies:

Doesn't help that instead of being treated like politicians they end up being treated as celebrities in the media... Why anyone would go to a political rally to 'see' the candidate and get all googly over it is beyond me... This country seems to have an unhealthy fixation on celebrity status...

I thought I knew 90% of them, but after looking them up, it was more like 80.

I'm hoping that's not an exhaustive list, because when I think of great Americans, I do think of people like Henry Ford and Mark Twain, but I also think of Ben Franklin, Daniel Boone, Charles Lindbergh, Alvin York, Martin Luther King and Chuck Yeager - men whose greatness and bravery is so striking, we will probably never see their like again. We don't often think of the original astronauts as great, but as Yeager observed and was quoted in The Right Stuff - "You think a monkey knows he's sittin' on top of a rocket that might explode? These astronaut boys they know that, see? Well, I'll tell you something, it takes a special kind of man to volunteer for a suicide mission, especially one that's on TV."

And I do think of people like Fulton and the Wright Brothers, whose personal efforts at invention were not exactly met with open arms but for them, a lot of this nation and world were changed forever. You should read up on the Wright Brothers sometime - for the longest time, no one even BELIEVED they'd invented a successful aircraft, even after much better demonstrations had been performed. In 1903, they were attempting flight at Kitty Hawk - and elsewhere. A mere dozen years later, men were dogfighting in the sky over Europe.

But I do tend to dismiss additions to our culture - or to music, or sports. Willie Mays was an outstanding ballplayer - but Jackie Robinson did the hard part. I tend to dismiss talent in writing and painting, because it didn't really change the nation. I think Will Rogers probably changed America more than F. Scott Fitzgerald or Hemingway ever did.

And I could give a rat's butt about philosophers. With the exception of Thomas Paine - without whom John Adams said "the sword of Washington would have been raised in vain" - I don't see philosophers as having all that great an effect on society. They're sophisticated versions of comic strip artists - they comment on society, but they don't change it.

Everyone's list is going to be different. You just know any list by George Will is going to have baseball on it.

I thought I knew 90% of them, but after looking them up, it was more like 80.

I'm hoping that's not an exhaustive list, because when I think of great Americans, I do think of people like Henry Ford and Mark Twain, but I also think of Ben Franklin, Daniel Boone, Charles Lindbergh, Alvin York, Martin Luther King and Chuck Yeager - men whose greatness and bravery is so striking, we will probably never see their like again. We don't often think of the original astronauts as great, but as Yeager observed and was quoted in The Right Stuff - "You think a monkey knows he's sittin' on top of a rocket that might explode? These astronaut boys they know that, see? Well, I'll tell you something, it takes a special kind of man to volunteer for a suicide mission, especially one that's on TV."

And I do think of people like Fulton and the Wright Brothers, whose personal efforts at invention were not exactly met with open arms but for them, a lot of this nation and world were changed forever. You should read up on the Wright Brothers sometime - for the longest time, no one even BELIEVED they'd invented a successful aircraft, even after much better demonstrations had been performed. In 1903, they were attempting flight at Kitty Hawk - and elsewhere. A mere dozen years later, men were dogfighting in the sky over Europe.

But I do tend to dismiss additions to our culture - or to music, or sports. Willie Mays was an outstanding ballplayer - but Jackie Robinson did the hard part. I tend to dismiss talent in writing and painting, because it didn't really change the nation. I think Will Rogers probably changed America more than F. Scott Fitzgerald or Hemingway ever did.

And I could give a rat's butt about philosophers. With the exception of Thomas Paine - without whom John Adams said "the sword of Washington would have been raised in vain" - I don't see philosophers as having all that great an effect on society. They're sophisticated versions of comic strip artists - they comment on society, but they don't change it.

Everyone's list is going to be different. You just know any list by George Will is going to have baseball on it.

Can't find link but, Will offers up his reasoning for each group of folks, the fabric, the cultural additions, the contributions to making America distinctly America.

Great Americans...

:buddies:


1) Martin Luther King Jr.

2) Malcolm X

3) Oprah Winfrey

To name a few of outstanding merit.

:patriot:

Forget Willy Mayes, what about Billy Mayes

Forget Willy Mayes, what about Billy Mayes

A lot I can say right off the bat, I don't even recognize the name some I do, some I know some of what they did.

Mark Twain----Yes, writer
Scott Joplin----No
WC Handy-----No
Louis Armstrong-----Yes, jazz musician
Duke Ellington----Yes, jazz musician
George Gershwin-----No
Mary Cassat-----No
John Sargent----No
Frederic Remington----Maybe, is he a gun maker
James Whistler----Maybe, was he a painter
Winslow Homer----No
Ralph Emerson----Yes, 19th century writer
William James----No
Alexander Cartwright----No
Willie Mays-----Yes, baseball player
Robert Fulton----Yes, engineer - contributed to steam engine
Eli Whitney----Yes, cotton gin
Thomas Edison----Yes, inventor of multiple technologies
The Wright Brothers----Yes, early aviators
Horace Mann----Yes, owner of newspaper
Nathaniel Hawthorn----Yes, 19th century writer
Herman Melville----Yes, 19th century writer
Edith Wharton----Yes, 20th century writer
F. Scott Fitzgerald----Yes, 20th century writer
Ernest Hemingway----Yes, 20th century writer
William Faulkner----Yes, 20th century writer
Emily Dickinson----Yes, 19th century writer
Walt Whitman----Yes, 19th century writer
Henry Ford----Yes, automobile entrepernur
Charles Kettering----No
Alfred Sloan----I know the name cause its a fund that contributes to PBS, but don't know for sure who Alfred Sloan is
John Dewey-----Yes, Political thinker

...how many of these folks names do you recognize? How many do you know what they are noted for?

Mark Twain - Author
Scott Joplin - Song Writer
WC Handy - Black and White Film Star
Louis Armstrong - Jazz Musician
Duke Ellington - Jazz
George Gershwin - Composer / Wrighter
Mary Cassat - Painter
John Sargent - ?
Frederic Remington - Gun Manufacture
James Whistler - Painter
Winslow Homer - Painter / Illustrater
Ralph Emerson - Writer [you left out the Waldo]
William James - Brother to Henry James Novelist
Alexander Cartwright - Father of Baseball
Willie Mays - Baseball Player
Robert Fulton - Invented the Steam Engine
Eli Whitney - Perfected the Cotton Gin - there by extending Slavery 60 more yrs]
Thomas Edison - Inventor
The Wright Brothers - Airplane
Horace Mann - [No Idea had to look him up]
Nathaniel Hawthorn - Patriot
Herman Melville - Writer Moby Dick
Edith Wharton - [No Idea Had to Look Her Up]
F. Scott Fitzgerald - Composer
Ernest Hemingway - Famous Writer [I know Aren't they all]
William Faulkner - Writer
Emily Dickinson - Writer
Walt Whitman - Writer / Poet ?
Henry Ford - Ford Auto
Charles Kettering - [No Idea had to look him up]
Alfred Sloan - [No Idea had to look him up]
John Dewey - Politician


:buddies:


:whistle:

I would doubt Thomas Edison as a great American. Just look at the evil mess he created.














oh yeah............ :sarcasm:

:tap::tap::tap::tap::tap:All but William James and Alexander Cartwright. Had to look them up.

Hmmm...only 3 women and those all involved in the "arts". Very telling. :tap:

:tap::tap::tap::tap::tap:All but William James and Alexander Cartwright. Had to look them up.

Hmmm...only 3 women and those all involved in the "arts". Very telling. :tap:

It's a man's world and you know it :jet:

...how many of these folks names do you recognize? How many do you know what they are noted for?

Mark Twain
Scott Joplin
WC Handy
Louis Armstrong
Duke Ellington
George Gershwin
Mary Cassat
John Sargent
Frederic Remington
James Whistler
Winslow Homer
Ralph Emerson
William James
Alexander Cartwright
Willie Mays
Robert Fulton
Eli Whitney
Thomas Edison
The Wright Brothers
Horace Mann
Nathaniel Hawthorn
Herman Melville
Edith Wharton
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Ernest Hemingway
William Faulkner
Emily Dickinson
Walt Whitman
Henry Ford
Charles Kettering
Alfred Sloan
John Dewey

George Will wrote a piece back in 1991 talking about how we, perhaps, hold our elected leaders in far more reverence than ever intended by the founders and, for sure, our politicians see themselves as perhaps a good bit more important than is healthy for the republic. In any event, Will's thought was to money and perhaps putting people who actually made the nation great on our currency rather than our politicians and the above is his list of suggestions of who we might, for better, revere. I thought it rather interesting so, FWIW, there you go.

:buddies:

How does such a list not include Andrew Carnegie? Walt Disney? Hank Williams (Sr.)? That's to name a few that immediately come to mind.

The list having been produced in 1991 might explain the absence of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, so I'll give Mr. Will a pass on those omissions.

It's a man's world and you know it :jet:

And look what a mess y'all have made out of it! :biggrin:

:tap::tap::tap::tap::tap:All but William James and Alexander Cartwright. Had to look them up.

Hmmm...only 3 women and those all involved in the "arts". Very telling. :tap:

I think we're supposed to assume that each of the men's names on the list is really a proxy for the women behind the scenes that made him what he was and, secure as they were, sought no public credit for it. Mr. Will's real intent was to acknowledge those women but he knew that no one would recognize their names. :smile:

I think we're supposed to assume that each of the men's names on the list is really a proxy for the women behind the scenes that made him what he was and, secure as they were, sought no public credit for it. Mr. Will's real intent was to acknowledge those women but he knew that no one would recognize their names. :smile:

Riiiiiiight!

Good try, though ! :lol:

How does such a list not include Andrew Carnegie? Walt Disney? Hank Williams (Sr.)? That's to name a few that immediately come to mind.

The list having been produced in 1991 might explain the absence of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, so I'll give Mr. Will a pass on those omissions.

Elvis Presley
(Although I don't care for him) Jimi Hendrix.

And look what a mess y'all have made out of it! :biggrin:

Touché

how about Nikolai Tesla
Why Nikola Tesla was the greatest geek who ever lived - The Oatmeal (http://theoatmeal.com/comics/tesla)

I think we're supposed to assume that each of the men's names on the list is really a proxy for the women behind the scenes that made him what he was and, secure as they were, sought no public credit for it. Mr. Will's real intent was to acknowledge those women but he knew that no one would recognize their names. :smile:

THAT is art!

Brilliant! :lol:

Joseph C. Gayetty invented the first packaged toilet paper in the United States in 1857.

how about Nikolai Tesla
Why Nikola Tesla was the greatest geek who ever lived - The Oatmeal (http://theoatmeal.com/comics/tesla)

I guess at some level, I have to decide where to give credit.
Tesla, Bell, Einstein, Carnegie, von Braun - they were great men who were naturalized as Americans. But in a big way the credit goes more to the nations of their birth and youth - Serbia, Scotland etc.

I think we're supposed to assume that each of the men's names on the list is really a proxy for the women behind the scenes that made him what he was and, secure as they were, sought no public credit for it. Mr. Will's real intent was to acknowledge those women but he knew that no one would recognize their names. :smile:

THAT is art!

Brilliant! :lol:

:lmao:

I'm sure that there's a Master's and probably even a Doctorate involved here, but I'd bet money that it all started out with a BS degree...:whistle:


:roflmao:

Riiiiiiight!

Good try, though ! :lol:

Hey, it's not been my experience that keeping the peace required us guys to be sincere when we made such appeasement statements. For the most part, it's only been required that we forced the words out without breaking into laughter.

If women are going to require more of us than that, I see stormy clouds on the horizon. :lol:

:lmao:

I'm sure that there's a Master's and probably even a Doctorate involved here, but I'd bet money that it all started out with a BS degree...:whistle:


:roflmao:

The Masters is in knowing when and what to say in order to keep the better sex (that would be females) happy and avoid time and energy wasted arguing. The Doctorate is in being willing to say it and defaulting to such mode at the first hint of consternation, before the hole gets dug deeper and the exercise gets made more difficult.

The BS degree... well, I don't have one of those. :smile: