Resource Library

Two creatures are pictured on the coat of arms for the nation of Australia: an emu and a kangaroo. A young Australian boy was once curious about the significance of the two animals…

A huge chunk of beautiful marble lay in the courtyard of the Florence, Italy cathedral for almost a hundred years. The sculptor commissioned to carve it had made a mistake while attempting to carve the stone, and most people thought it was beyond repair…

For many years, novelist Dashiell Hammett worked as a private detective. His experiences during that time supplied him with much of the material he used in his books. On one occasion, the local chief of police sent Hammett a detailed description of a wanted man, even mentioning a mole the man had on his neck…

Years ago in Tennessee, two men were competing in an all-day wood chopping competition. The first man worked very hard, stopping only for a brief lunch break…

Some time ago, a ship off the New England coast capsized in a terrible storm and was going down. The Coast Guard received a distress call, and a young member told his captain, “Sir, we can’t go out in these conditions. We’ll never come back”…

In December of 1944, 18 members of a reconnaissance platoon held off a battalion of German troops in the Belgian village of Lanzerath. Their brave stand against the onslaught gave the Allied forces time to begin mounting a defense that eventually won the famous Battle of the Bulge…

A Greek legend tells of a man in ancient Athens who once saw the great storyteller Aesop playing games with some children. Thinking it was too far below such a prestigious person to do such a thing, the man laughed and jeered at Aesop, asking him why he was wasting his time…

A Greek legend tells of a man in ancient Athens who once saw the great storyteller Aesop playing games with some children. Thinking it was too far below such a prestigious person to do such a thing, the man laughed and jeered at Aesop, asking him why he was wasting his time…

One morning at his normal 8:30 AM staff meeting, President Harry Truman was brought a lavender envelope with a regal wax seal and flowing purple ribbons…

In 1858, the Illinois State Legislature used an obscure statute to send Stephen A. Douglas to the U.S. Senate instead of the winner of the election, Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was obviously devastated, and was asked by a sympathetic friend to put his feelings into words…