Entries tagged with ‘History’

How the Los Angeles Aqueduct began

A recent Los Angeles Post feature article provides a history of the L.A. Aqueduct and its visionary, colorful, water chief William Mulholland, celebrated as a hero in Los Angeles but vilified as a thief in California’s Owens Valley, from where the water is diverted.

15 Years Ago Today: The Saint Peter Tornado

A F-3 tornado struck on March 29, 1998, killing a young boy and destroying over two hundred homes plus two historic schools, two historic churches, Gustavus’ oldest dormitory, and thousands of trees. Remarkably, the tornado spared the town’s three trailer parks, lessening the toll. Below is a map created in MapInfo by Gustavus geography students […]

The 15th Anniversary of the 1998 Saint Peter Tornado

Fifteen years ago, on 29 March 1998, a 67-mile-track F3-F4 tornado passed through Saint Peter. Two people were killed and over 200 houses in Saint Peter were destroyed. Fifty-nine buildings on the Gustavus campus were damaged, and the campus and rest of Saint Peter lost many of their trees. “Tens of thousands of trees were […]

GIS: Changing History One Map at a Time

A recent article at Smithsonian.com, highlights Anne Knowles, professor of Geography at Middlebury College, and how she uses Geographic Information Science (systems) to literally make history come alive.  In the process, she challenges long-standing academic views of noteworthy historical events by “putting place at the center of history.”  Take for example the often-questioned decision by […]

Using GIS to study history

This month’s Smithsonian magazine features Dr. Anne Kelly Knowles, a geographer at Middlebury College who uses GIS to study historical events. She is a winner of the Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award. Knowles became interested in geography later in life while working as an editor with a University of Chicago geography professor:  “I was blown away. […]