The recent failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank were shocking, but shouldn’t surprise. Even a quick look at banking history reveals that failures are as American as apple pie. Some 565 banks have closed since 2000, according to the FDIC, and over a thousand saving and loans failed during the crisis of the 1980s and early 1990s.
There is an immortal image of Marilyn Monroe that lives in the public mind. We recall the sensuous platinum blonde with lips painted bright red, the iconic beauty mark perfectly situated on her left cheek, and she's wearing a chic low-cut dress that shows off her gorgeous figure and legs. More than six decades after her death at the age of thirty-six, this photo remains omnipresent.
A few years ago, we noticed something curious. While every state in the U.S. had a historical society — as did most counties, cities, and towns — there was no national society.
This spring, one of the most delightful signs of rebirth after a deadly pandemic and the dreary months of winter will be the blossoming of hundreds of cherry trees along the Tidal Basin, which typically brings an estimated 1.5 million visitors to the nation’s capital.
But few visitors know how those trees first came to our country and started a nationwide trend. In fact, the full story of the three visionaries who made it happen is rarely told.