<div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"> <p><em>Judging from our readers' favorite posts, you love Civil War history, aren't very good singers, and can't wait for </em>Downton Abbey <em>to return.</em></p><p><strong>1) <a href="http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/2014/06/7-things-you-didnt-know-about-the-star-spangled-banner.html">7 things you didn't know about the Star-Spangled Banner</a></strong></p><p>Read over 18,000 times, this post revealed that the 200-year-old flag has a missing sibling, went into hiding during World War II, and will never leave the Smithsonian.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Two staff members wear protective overalls and look at the flag with a flash light" class="auto-caption media-image img__fid__12387 img__view_mode__media_large attr__format__media_large" rel="lightbox" src="https://americanhistory.si.edu/sites/default/files/styles/blog_image/public/Star_Spangled_Banner.jpg?itok=QtX6nH7l" style="width: 550px; height: 346px;" title="Museum staff inspect the Star-Spangled Banner in a conservation check-up"></p><p style="text-align: center;"> </p><p><strong>2) <a href="http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/2014/09/3-surprising-facts-about-civil-war-general-william-tecumseh-sherman.html">3 Surprising facts about Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman</a></strong></p><p>He was infamous for leaving a wake of destruction through Georgia and South Carolina during the Civil War, but there was much more to the man.</p><p><strong>3) <a href="http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/2014/05/smithsonian-curator-seeks-one-storied-ffa-jacket.html">Smithsonian curator seeks one storied FFA jacket</a></strong></p><p>The Future Farmers of America (now simply "FFA") have touched communities across the country. Blog readers helped us track down jackets with amazing stories to represent agricultural education in our upcoming <em>American Enterprise </em>exhibition. The <a href="http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/2014/07/the-search-is-over-smithsonian-announces-the-five-ffa-jacket-donors.html">selected jackets</a>, including President Jimmy Carter's, will be on display in rotation when the exhibition opens in summer 2015.</p><p><strong>4) <a href="http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/2014/05/150-years-after-the-battle-the-story-of-an-african-american-waiter-and-the-spotsylvania-stump.html">150 years after the battle, the story of an African American waiter and the Spotsylvania Stump</a></strong></p><p>Until May 12, 1864, this piece of wood was part of a large oak tree just outside Spotsylvania Court House, Virginia. Early that morning, entrenched Confederates awaited the assault of thousands of Union troops. The same fury that destroyed thousands of combatants in about 20 hours of sustained fighting tore away all but 22 inches of the tree's trunk. For years, soldiers remembered the moment the tree fell, sometime during the grisly night of May 12.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Photograph of a stump with bullet holes" class="auto-caption media-image img__fid__12388 img__view_mode__media_large attr__format__media_large" rel="lightbox" src="https://americanhistory.si.edu/sites/default/files/styles/blog_image/public/Spotsylvania%20Stump_0.jpg?itok=gxnMoup0" style="width: 412px; height: 550px;" title="The bullet-riddled stump that almost didn’t make it to the Smithsonian"></p><p><strong>5) <a href="http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/2014/05/why-is-the-national-anthem-so-hard-to-sing.html">Why is the national anthem so hard to sing?</a></strong></p><p>Just be glad we typically don't sing beyond the first stanza. Then, you'd have to tackle challenging phrases, such as "foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes" and "fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?"</p><p><strong>6) <a href="http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/2014/01/an-american-take-on-the-world-of-downton-abbey.html">An American take on the world of Downton Abbey</a></strong></p><p>"Oh, Edith!" This side of the pond, our collections reflect some of the glitz, glamour, and World War I drama seen on the show.</p><p><strong>7) <a href="http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/2014/06/pointers-from-the-flag-code-just-in-time-for-flag-day.html">Pointers from the flag code just in time for Flag Day</a></strong></p><p>Hat or no hat? Rain or shine? And what to do with a worn-out flag?</p><p><strong>8) <a href="http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/2014/08/a-nation-of-savers-the-impulse-to-connect-with-history-through-objects-buildings-and-sites.html">A nation of savers: The impulse to connect with history through objects, buildings, and sites</a></strong></p><p>Tourists' souvenirs used to be more destructive than today's snow globes and keychains. For example, you'd visit George Washington's Mt. Vernon with the expectation of taking a chunk of the building with you. How'd we get from there to the current preservation movement?</p><p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Wooden chunk of the President's house" class="auto-caption media-image img__fid__12389 img__view_mode__media_large attr__format__media_large" rel="lightbox" src="https://americanhistory.si.edu/sites/default/files/styles/blog_image/public/White_House_chunk.jpg?itok=k4mc3yD_" style="width: 503px; height: 499px;" title="This piece of White House timber is thought to be from the British burning of Washington on August 24, 1814"></p><p><strong>9) <a href="https://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/2014/03/recently-a-new-group-of-puppets-went-on-view-in-ourpuppetry-in-americadisplay-intern-peter-olson-interviewed-bonnie-erickso.html">Ten questions with a Muppet maker</a></strong></p><p>We chatted with the co-creator of many of the Jim Henson puppets in our collection. "Børk! Børk! Børk!"</p><p><strong>10) <a href="http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/2014/04/may-the-circle-be-unbroken-the-ibm-360-and-the-birth-of-multipurpose-computers.html">May the circle be unbroken: The IBM 360 and the birth of multi-purpose computers</a></strong></p><p>Fifty years ago, you might have used a telegraph line to communicate with an IBM computer.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Blue punch card with numbers " class="auto-caption media-image img__fid__12390 img__view_mode__media_large attr__format__media_large" rel="lightbox" src="https://americanhistory.si.edu/sites/default/files/styles/blog_image/public/COBOL.jpg?itok=SQypV5E7" style="width: 550px; height: 244px;" title="Punch card like that used on the IBM System/360. Smithsonian Image AHB2014q009003."></p><p>My colleagues on the Blog Team and I look forward to bringing you more awesome blog posts in 2015. Some of the big themes we'll focus on are innovation, the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War and President Lincoln's assassination, American business history, and everyday objects (such as bicycles, <a href="http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/2014/09/why-i-smell-like-its-1903.html">deodorant</a>, and <a href="http://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/2014/09/suzy-homemaker-a-slice-of-life-from-the-1960s.html">Suzy Homemaker toys</a>) that reveal social changes in America.</p><p>In the meantime, we'd love to hear your ideas for what you want to see on the blog in 2015! Share your thoughts in the comments.</p><p><em>Erin Blasco is an education specialist in the New Media Department. Want to learn more about her work with the blog and social media? Apply for a <a href="http://americanhistory.si.edu/new-media-internships">summer internship with New Media</a>!</em></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-related-user field-type-user-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Related Staff Member: </div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/users/blascoe">BlascoE</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-blog-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above clearfix"><h3 class="field-label">Categories: </h3><ul class="links"><li class="taxonomy-term-reference-0"><a href="/blog-tags/collections">From the Collections</a></li></ul></div><div id="disqus_thread"><noscript><p><a href="http://amhistorymuseum.disqus.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Famericanhistory.si.edu%2Fblog%2Fhistory-lovers-10-must-read-blog-posts-2014">View the discussion thread.</a></p></noscript></div><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/OSayCanYouSee?a=faa81Miwnd8:m3467tTvtX0:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/OSayCanYouSee?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/OSayCanYouSee?a=faa81Miwnd8:m3467tTvtX0:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/OSayCanYouSee?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/OSayCanYouSee?a=faa81Miwnd8:m3467tTvtX0:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/OSayCanYouSee?i=faa81Miwnd8:m3467tTvtX0:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/OSayCanYouSee?a=faa81Miwnd8:m3467tTvtX0:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/OSayCanYouSee?i=faa81Miwnd8:m3467tTvtX0:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/OSayCanYouSee?a=faa81Miwnd8:m3467tTvtX0:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/OSayCanYouSee?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/OSayCanYouSee/~4/faa81Miwnd8" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>
