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I have been an avid puzzler all my life, but because of Covid, I have rekindled my love of doing puzzles. 1000 pieces are my jam, and I can usually finish one in the course of 2 to 3 evenings or a marathon weekend.
Two of history’s most terrifying volcanic eruptions took place in August: Mount Vesuvius, on August 24-25 in 79 A.D., and Krakatoa, on August 26-27 in 1883. Each blasted colossal volumes of burning ash and rock high into the atmosphere and killed thousands of people for miles around.
Before Barack Obama, Hiram Revels and Shirley Chisholm helped govern the nation. William Wells Brown wrote a novel before Toni Morrison. Phillis Wheatley published poems before Langston Hughes. And Oscar Micheaux made films before Spike Lee and Ava DuVernay.
Los Angeles is a city whose theater scene is typically overlooked, yet every now and then we are host to a production that is monumental.
William Willmore had a brilliant idea. He was going to create a farming community on the coast of Southern California. He bought 4,000 acres of Rancho Los Cerritos and subdivided the land into plots which comprised Willmore City.
Have you been by the corner of First Street and Olive recently? Remember that ugly structure where you parked when you had jury duty? Familiarly referred to as the Erector Set or Tinker Toy garage, the infamous parking structure is no longer there.
We think of springtime as the season for planting gardens, but that’s not the case here in Southern California, where summers can be scorching and rains only come in the winter. Here in L.A. County, November and December are the perfect time to start a garden.
The last time I looked upon Admission Day as an important holiday for our dear Golden State was probably back in Sister Leocritia’s grade 4 classroom at St. Helen school back when electricity was new.
"Never give up. Keep your thoughts and your mind always on the goal."—Tom Bradley
It's the day lots of adults look forward to, and lots of kids dread. After a summer of fun, it's time to start setting that alarm again, shop for supplies, and go back to school!




![A view of The Pike amusement park in Long Beach. The roller coaster extends down the pier; underneath it is the Long Beach bath house. The Hotel Arlington is bottom, left. Next to the hotel is the Crystal Cafeteria and next to the cafeteria is the Ambassador ballroom dancing establishment. Hoyt's Theatre abuts the Ambassador. On the horizon are several naval or Coast Guard ships, [ca.1920]. Security Pacific National Bank Collection The Pike and warships](https://www.lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/blog_latest_list_120x90/public/blogs/2019-04/longbeachheader.jpg?itok=vHj9E8xL)


![The United States as viewed by California (Very Unofficial) Distorted and Drawn by Ernest Dudley Chase [1940] pictorial map of california (detail)](https://www.lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/blog_latest_list_120x90/public/blogs/2024-02/blog-post-cover.png?itok=FbZ3p6-S)
![Tom Bradley on an escalator at the opening of the Red Line subway downtown Los Angeles, [1993]. Gary Leonard Collection Tom Bradley on an escalator at the opening of the Red Line subway downtown, 1-30-93.](https://www.lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/blog_latest_list_120x90/public/blogs/2025-11/tombradleyheader.jpg?itok=O3PKLIEf)
![First day of school: the smile of the girl at left, and the tears of the miss at right, tell the story of mixed emotions of Los Angeles' younger set today, as school starts for an army of 605,000 youngsters, [September 15, 1958]. Herald Examiner Collection 3 children heading into a school on the first day](https://www.lapl.org/sites/default/files/styles/blog_latest_list_120x90/public/blogs/2020-04/btschool.jpg?itok=R1OVwZcD)