Brendan I. Koerner

In 1887, Oregon became the first state to make Labor Day an official holiday, with Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York…

— Brendan I. Koerner

Light rails are too bus-like to impress most commuters, too squished and close to the ground. Monorails, by contrast, strike a chord…

— Brendan I. Koerner

I was vaguely aware that people used to hijack planes to Cuba. But I didn't know much about how often it happened…

— Brendan I. Koerner

A duped newspaper or magazine could contend that a fiction-spouting journalist obtained part of his salary via fraud, and use a criminal…

— Brendan I. Koerner

Barkley was the first of many American skyjackers whose primary interest was money; by 1972, the majority of the nation's hijackings would…

— Brendan I. Koerner

Particularly during the late 1960s, a large number of American skyjackers earnestly believed that Fidel Castro's Cuba was an egalitarian, post-racial utopia.

— Brendan I. Koerner

Mystical groups such as the Theosophical Society and the Rosicrucians turned tarot into an American fad during the early 1900s. Many American…

— Brendan I. Koerner

The goal of mass transit is to convince people to abandon their cars, which feature such enticing accessories as CD players and…

— Brendan I. Koerner

The first outbreak of America's 11-year skyjacking epidemic occurred in the summer of 1961, when four planes were seized in the nation's…

— Brendan I. Koerner

Most of the American skyjackers who fled abroad eventually elected to return to the United States, having tired of life on the…

— Brendan I. Koerner

A small-time hoodlum who had spent most of the 1960s at San Quentin State Prison in California, the 30-year-old Bryant claimed that…

— Brendan I. Koerner

The hazards posed by Near-Earth Asteroids are assessed by Sentry, a computer system developed by the Near-Earth Objects Group at NASA's Jet…

— Brendan I. Koerner

Spike optioned my first book, 'Now the Hell Will Start,' and he trusted me to write the screenplay, too. That was an…

— Brendan I. Koerner

A surprising number of American skyjackers were not yet old enough to drink or sometimes even drive. These adolescents were generally inept…

— Brendan I. Koerner

Inventing sources is not a crime in and of itself, although it certainly violates every code of journalistic ethics known to man.…

— Brendan I. Koerner

According to Ted Watt's 'The First Labor Day Parade,' the September date was chosen because it coincided with a Knights of Labor…

— Brendan I. Koerner

Back in the NBA's pre-mask era, ballers with busted noses or orbital bones had two unappealing options: Sit out and heal, or…

— Brendan I. Koerner

Tarot cards likely originated in northern Italy during the late 14th or early 15th century. The oldest surviving set, known as the…

— Brendan I. Koerner

The dearth of business activity on the traditional day of rest makes Sunday an ideal time to declare insolvency. Bankruptcy petitions are…

— Brendan I. Koerner

Like many of his fellow skyjackers, 49-year-old Arthur Gates Barkley was motivated by a complicated grievance against the federal government. In 1963,…

— Brendan I. Koerner

You don't have to be Wilt Chamberlain to get into the Basketball Hall of Fame. If you don't have a sweet turnaround…

— Brendan I. Koerner

According to tarot historian Gertrude Moakley, the cards' fanciful images - from the Fool to Death - were inspired by the costumed…

— Brendan I. Koerner

In the early years of America's skyjacking epidemic, the airlines were reluctant to let the FBI attempt to end hijackings by force;…

— Brendan I. Koerner

The most spectacular anti-lava effort in history occurred on the Icelandic island of Heimaey in 1973.

— Brendan I. Koerner

Sea-Monkeys are hybrid brine shrimp and the brainchild of the mail-order entrepreneur Harold von Braunhut in 1957. When their crystallized eggs are…

— Brendan I. Koerner