by Sharon Hall | Feb 3, 2018 | Digging History Magazine
The word “blizzard”, at least in terms of a violent snowstorm, hasn’t been around as long as one might think. “Blizzard” or “Blizard” are ancient family names, although speculation abounds as to its origin as a surname. One source proposes it may have been a variant...
by Sharon Hall | Feb 1, 2018 | Digging History Magazine
The February issue of Digging History Magazine has been posted and is available for purchase here: February 2018 It’s winter and it’s all (mostly) about snow. Who knew snow had so much history — 52 pages packed with lots of history, footnotes and...
by Sharon Hall | Jul 8, 2015 | Digging History Magazine, Wild Weather Wednesday
Frank Melbourne mysteriously disappeared, although he had long since been found to be a fraud. (In case you missed previous articles, check out Part One, Part Two and Part Three of this series.) Yet, that didn’t stop other so-called rainmakers from attempting to...
by Sharon Hall | Jun 17, 2015 | Digging History Magazine, Wild Weather Wednesday
In the early 1890’s several men claiming to be rainmakers were making headlines — from explosive-laden balloons launched to blast rain from the sky (see Part One of the series) to the super-secret formulas Frank Melbourne, a.k.a., the “Rain...
by Sharon Hall | Jun 3, 2015 | Digging History Magazine, Wild Weather Wednesday
Frank Melbourne, The Rain Wizard Just because General Dyrenforth was on his way to being exposed as a fraud (see Part One of this series) didn’t stop others from trying, nor end the public’s fascination with so-called rainmakers. Frank Melbourne immigrated to...
by Sharon Hall | May 19, 2015 | Digging History Magazine, Wild Weather Wednesday
Let’s face it folks, weather patterns are cyclical – always have been, always will be. One of my favorite quotes, originally attributed to George Santayana in his book The Life of Reason (1905), is: “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” One...
