Unlike many briefly popular seasonal stories, Rudolph’s fame grows and spreads each year. The rudy-schnozzed animal is more popular in Canada than in this country (if that be possible). And he is going abroad, too. England and Australia are taking the shy little critter to heart, and any day now, Rudolph will be speaking Spanish…
Author: Bet Arkeh
Greenwich’s Royal Observatory and National Maritime Museum
If you only had one more day to spend in London, and had already seen many of its major museums, where would you go? When I encountered this dilemma in 2010, I decided to take the Tube (the British subway system) to Greenwich, a borough of London, to see the Royal Observatory. Britain’s King Charles…
Halim Time and Glass Museum
The Halim Time & Glass Museum in Evanston, Illinois (a Chicago suburb) is one of the most beautiful museums that I have ever visited. Unfortunately, when I went, I was not writing this blog yet, so did not take photos to prove it. The museum contains approximately 1,100 timepieces in addition to a gorgeous collection…
Polish Museum of America
If you live in Chicago, you may have heard people say that Chicago has the largest Polish population outside of Warsaw, Poland. Chicago’s radio station, WBEZ, investigated this claim in 2015. Although it is not completely true, there are elements of truth to it. According to WEBZ, the largest Polish populations outside of Poland can…
Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago
The University of Chicago was founded in 1890. The oil magnate, John D. Rockefeller, Sr., played a large financial role in its creation. Two years later, the university began a Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations. Today, this department ranks among the top Ancient Near Eastern programs in the United States, primarily focusing on…
Dr. Korczak Terrace in Skokie
Although this post is not about a specific museum or library, it is about how I used a museum and library to gain more insight into the history of a street name. Skokie, a suburb just north of Chicago, used to have one of the largest Holocaust survivor populations per capita: approximately 7,000 people in…
Baby Face Nelson
Even though COVID-19 has shut down cultural institutions such as museums and libraries for most of 2020, that has not stopped me from learning some interesting new history. Last month, I learned that I live close to where the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) found the dead body of Baby Face Nelson in 1934. Baby…
Imperial War Museum
On November 11, 1918 at 11 AM French time, World War I officially ended (at least on paper). After that, the Allied nations commemorated November 11th as Armistice Day each year. However, after WWII, Great Britain and its Commonwealth changed the name of the holiday to Remembrance Day, in order to honor those who fought…
Rosehill Cemetery in Chicago
The largest cemetery in the city of Chicago is Rosehill Cemetery, located on the northern side of Chicago. Founded in 1859, it is also one of Chicago’s oldest cemeteries. In the mid-nineteenth century, Chicago tried to discourage having cemeteries located within the proximity of the city, so relocated many graves to neighboring areas, thus creating…
Yad La-Shiryon: Israel’s Tank Museum
Yad La-Shiryon is Israel’s main tank museum. Although the Musée des Blindés in France, with over 800 tanks, is the largest tank museum in the world, Yad La-Shiryon’s smaller collection of 160 tanks still ranks among the largest tank museums in the world. This is because no other tank museum has even half the number…
Bet Arkeh 