Just Because the Royals are Good Late in the Game Doesn't Mean You Have To Wait Until the Last Minute to Start Your Paper

The truth might be inconvenient, but these Topic Pages aren't!

Columbus Day, celebrated on the second Monday in October, is also known as Landing Day, Discoverers' Day, Discovery Day, Hispanity Day or Day of the Race in areas such as Hawaii, Spain, and/or Latin American countries. In the United States, it is a day to commemorate the voyage of Christopher Columbus to the Americas in 1492 and his landing on the Bahamian island of San Salvador with parades, patriotic ceremonies, and reenactments of the historic landing.

I was recently in a classroom where the professor asked, "What was the first piece of recorded music you owned?" I was among those with innocent answers (Now That's What I Call Music 5, featuring soulful ballads such as "Lucky" by Britney Spears and "Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely" by the Backstreet Boys), but many -- including my professor -- spoke of rebellion, widening their tiny eyes when they finally understood those Prince lyrics, or sneaking into their closets to listen to Eminem, or jamming out to Outkast while covering the suggestive album cover with their sticker collection.

Ever since I was six and saw a poster of a turtle dressed up as Sherlock Holmes, I've been a fan of mysteries, despite being totally afraid of them because of the...well...mysteriousness. While I can't admit I've read all there is to read of the famous detective, I have read a bit of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's most popular character. Continuing on my BBC/Steven Moffat kick, I recently watched Sherlock, a BBC TV series (there were three episodes in 2010, with another three to come in 2012).

Most of the "adventurous" people we know feel the need to get reptiles or tarantulas in order to have interesting pets. It seems that an animal can't be exciting unless the majority of the population finds it inherently creepy. But Fido and Miss Kitty may not be as boring as you think...

It’s a common stereotype that there are math-science people and language-history people, but that these two don’t often overlap. In honor of those who were kind of good at everything, today’s Top 5 features men (sorry, ladies – we can’t say the past was too kind to women who were interested in science) who could capture our hearts with words and probably operate on them, too.

Today’s featured Topic Page is about Ulysses S. Grant, an accomplished military man who served as Commander in Chief of the Union Army during the Civil War and later went on to become the 18th President of the United States. Grant began his army career with a blast, graduating from West Point and playing an active role in the Mexican War. Unfortunately, Grant was forced to resign due to excessive drinking and had to pursue other career options. However, when the Civil War broke out, Grant signed up to rejoin the military as a volunteer and was able to back on the battlefield. On March 10, 1864, Grant became the Commander in Chief of the Union Army. To find out about his many conquests and battles, visit the Ulysses Grant Topic Page or read a partial excerpt from it below:

Today’s featured Topic Page is about Alexander Graham Bell, an American inventor best known for developing the telephone. Bell was born in Scotland but moved America in 1870 (when his family emigrated to Canada) and settled in Boston. While Bell began his career in the US as an educator, working as a professor at Boston University, his interest in the applications of electricity to sound led him to invent a new telegraph system, which we now refer to as the telephone.

How many times have you said that to someone not really thinking it could reasonably happen anytime soon?  These were exactly my words and thoughts when saying goodbye to Mirela Roncevic last May after seeing her at Book Expo America in New York City.  Mirela had just recently left her job at Library Journal where she had been Reference Editor since 2004.  Mirela and her husband decided that having grown up in Croatia before coming to New York City half-a-life-time-ago, they would move family and careers back to their native Croatia—a big move.  Mirela took on electronic publishing assignments with a publisher in Zagreb and her husband found suitable work as well.