Tax season is officially behind us and we can all breathe a collective sigh of relief. Did you know that the United States began taxing income in 1862 to help support the Civil War effort? However, it wasn’t made a permanent part of our tax system until 1913 when Congress passed the 16th Amendment. Hungry for more historical morsels? If so, you visited our blog on the right day of the week because it’s time for another installment of…

This Week in History

April 13, 1954: Hank Aaron made his major league debut with the Milwaukee Braves.
Attention all baseball enthusiasts! Don’t miss Center Field Shot: A History of Baseball on Television by James R. Walker and Robert V. Bellamy. This blend of baseball history and media studies examines the sometimes contentious but mutually beneficial relationship between baseball and television, from the first televised game in 1939 to the new era of Internet broadcasts, satellite radio, and high-definition TV.

April 14, 2002: Just two days after being removed from office and arrested by the Venezuelan military, Hugo Chavez returned to office as president.
Those interested in Venezuelan history and culture will want to pick up a copy of Venezuelan Bust, Baseball Boom: Andrés Reiner and Scouting on the New Frontier by Milton H. Jamail. Though Venezuela is sandwiched between two soccer-mad countries—Brazil and Colombia—baseball is its national pastime and passion. Yet until the late 1980s few professional teams actively scouted and developed players there. This book is about the man who changed all that and brought Venezuela into Major League Baseball in a major way.

April 15, 1980: Jean-Paul Sartre, the famed existentialist philosopher, died in Paris, France.
Philosophy fanatics—have you perused the fine selection of University of Nebraska Press philosophy titles? You haven’t???  I Kant believe it! Click here for the full list.

April 16, 1912: Harriet Quimby became the first woman to fly across the English Channel.
For stories of other aeronautical adventurers, check out W. Scott Olsen’s Hard Air: Adventures from the Edge of Flying.

April 17, 1951: Mickey Mantle made his major league debut with the New York Yankees.
Yes, more baseball. But, hey, it’s that time of year! Yankees fans who haven’t snagged a copy of Ed Barrow: The Bulldog Who Built the Yankees’ First Dynasty by Daniel R. Levitt will definitely want to check out this intriguing baseball biography about the Yankees general manager who transformed the team from a pennant-less enterprise into the winning organization we know today.

April 18, 2004: Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Prime Minister of Spain, withdrew Spanish troops from Iraq.
Interested in Spain? How about Spanish history and art? If so, you’ll find ample intellectual fodder in Spain in the Age of Exploration, 1492-1819, edited and with an introduction by Chiyo Ishikawa. This publication accompanies an exhibition of approximately 120 works of art and science loaned mostly from the Royal Collection of Spain (Patrimonio Nacional) to the Seattle Art Museum.

That’s enough history for one week. Be sure to join us again on Monday for reviews and other news!