AReluctantEssayist

AReluctantEssayist t1_jaejaym wrote

Reply to comment by NoMoLerking in Northampton to use pandemic relief dollars for 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' manhole covers by Boston1_

First of all, this particular WPA project wasn't silly, it was an effort to inform the American public of the poverty in the Midwest brought about by the Dust Bowl and therefore show the importance of the New Deal, which is why it is different from the Jerusalem of hipsters putting the TMNT on a manhole cover.

Second of all, the WPA was an effort to get every able-bodied American to work to revive the faltering American economy which, I reiterate, is quite distinct from a piece of government-sanctioned fanart.

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AReluctantEssayist t1_j52oyev wrote

Reply to comment by JPHutchy01 in TIL that George "Washington" Carver never formally used Washington as a middle name. He originally chose the middle initial W at random to ensure accurate mail delivery. Someone once asked if the "W" stood for Washington and Carver said "Why not?" He signed his name as George or George W. Carver. by AspireAgain

I always heard Truman was the only person in his class without a middle initial, so one day he asked his mother for one.

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AReluctantEssayist t1_j52c4ga wrote

Reply to TIL that George "Washington" Carver never formally used Washington as a middle name. He originally chose the middle initial W at random to ensure accurate mail delivery. Someone once asked if the "W" stood for Washington and Carver said "Why not?" He signed his name as George or George W. Carver. by AspireAgain

Ulysses S. Grant was born Hiram Grant. The congressmen his father harangued into recommending him to West Point identified him as, "Ulysses S. Grant." As President, Grant quipped, "there is an 'S' in the middle of my name and I do not know what it stands for."

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