Eiffel Tower Finished in 1889

Posted by Tom Fasano on March 31, 2008 – 12:01 am -

The Eiffel Tower, completed on March 31, 1889, is an iron tower built on the Champ de Mars beside the Seine River in Paris. The tower has become a global icon of France and is one of the most recognizable structures in the world. The landmark is the tallest building in Paris and one of the most recognized structures in the world and is named after its designer, engineer Gustave Eiffel. The structure was built between 1887 and 1889 as the entrance arch for the Exposition Universelle, a World’s Fair, marking the centennial celebration of the French Revolution.
(Text from Wikipedia)


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President Reagan Assassination Attempt

Posted by Tom Fasano on March 30, 2008 – 10:36 am -

On this day in 1981 John Hinkley, Jr. attempted to assassinate President Reagan outside the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C.. Reagan and three others, including Press Secretary James Brady, were shot and wounded by Hinckley, who had a history of mental illness.

The motivation behind Hinckley’s attack was an obsession with actress Jodie Foster, whom he was trying to impress so that she would fall in love with him.

Since the assassination of President Kennedy, which had not been recorded by any professional cameramen, television services were much more insistent about taping as many of a president’s public appearances as possible. In this case, the entire incident was captured on video by at least five cameramen, including all of the major broadcast networks. (The new Cable News Network had been broadcasting Reagan’s speech live moments earlier, and its crew was still inside the hotel). Upon his arrest, Hinckley famously asked the officers whether that night’s Academy Awards ceremony would be postponed due to the shooting, and indeed it was — it aired the next evening.
(Text from Wikipedia)


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Karen Ann Quinlan’s Birthday

Posted by Tom Fasano on March 29, 2008 – 9:20 pm -

Karen Ann Quinlan

Karen Ann Quinlan

Karen Ann Quinlan was born on this day in 1954. She was an important figure in the history of the right to die debate in the United States.

When she was 21, Quinlan fell unconscious after coming home from a party, and lapsed into a persistent vegetative state. After she was kept alive on a ventilator for several months without improvement, her parents requested the hospital discontinue active care and allow her to die. The hospital refused, and the subsequent legal battles hit headlines and set significant precedents.

Not only was the case groundbreaking legally, it was remarkable for its rare appeal to religious principles. Because she and her family were Catholics, several principles of Catholic moral theology were critical in deciding the case and thus influencing a development in American law, an influence replicated around the world. The case is credited also with the development of the modern field of bioethics.

Although Quinlan was removed from active life support in 1976, she lived on in a coma for almost a decade until her death from pneumonia in 1985. She was buried at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in East Hanover, New Jersey. Karen Anna Quinlan gravesite

Quinlan’s case continues to raise important questions in moral theology, bioethics, euthanasia, legal guardianship and civil rights. Her case has affected the practice of medicine and law around the world. Two significant outcomes of her case were the development of formal ethics committees in hospitals, nursing homes and hospices, and the development of advance health directives.
(Text from Wikipedia)


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Hear the World’s First Recording

Posted by Tom Fasano on March 28, 2008 – 11:00 pm -

It turns out that Thomas Edison was not the first person to record sound. In 1860, about twenty years before Edison’s phonograph, Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville made a recording of the French folk song “Au Claire de la Lune.” The device he used to do this was known as a phonautograph, which utilized paper blackened with smoke in order to make a pictorial representation of sound. Martinville believed that one day humans would be able to figure out how to derive sound from his smoky scratchings.The best article on this topic can be found at the New York Times:

The April 1860 phonautogram is more than a squawk. On a digital copy of the recording provided to The New York Times, the anonymous vocalist, probably female, can be heard against a hissing, crackling background din. The voice, muffled but audible, sings, “Au clair de la lune, Pierrot répondit” in a lilting 11-note melody — a ghostly tune, drifting out of the sonic murk.

The Phonautograph Recording from 1860 of “Au Clair de la Lune”

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An Audio Excerpt from a 1931 Recording of the Same Song

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MLA Citation for Wikipedia

Posted by Tom Fasano on March 25, 2008 – 8:14 pm -

Click Here to go the the updated Wikipedia Citation Entry

The following is no longer accurate. I’ll be updating this page with the latest MLA Handbook, 7th Edition, recommendations soon . . . and then deleting this page.

Note: I’ve taken this information from a Wikipedia page about proper citation.

Citation in MLA style, as recommended by the Modern Language Association:

  • “Plagiarism.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 22 July 2004, 10:55 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 10 Aug. 2004. <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plagiarism&oldid=5139350>.

Note that MLA style calls for both the date of publication (or its latest update) and the date on which the information was retrieved. According to the most recent edition of the MLA Handbook, there is now information required about any foundation involved. Also note that many schools/institutions slightly change the syntax. Another example:

  • “Plagiarism.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 22 July 2004 <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plagiarism&oldid=5139350>.

Be sure to double check the exact syntax your institution requires.

For citation of Wikipedia as a site, use:


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