© Michael Levy There’s one address everyone in America and most everyone around the world knows: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue—the White House, the cornerstone of which was laid on this day, October 13, in 1792. It is the home and work address of the president of the United States, often called, during the Cold War and [...]

Twenty-five years ago, on October 11 and 12, 1986, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and U.S. President Ronald Reagan met in Reykjavík, Iceland. Just a few years earlier, Reagan had labeled the Soviet Union an “evil empire,” and less than a year after the summit Reagan would challenge Gorby to “tear down this wall” in Berlin. [...]

Steve Jobs. Credit: Courtesy of Apple. Yesterday, Apple released a brief statement that cofounder Steve Jobs had lost his long battle with cancer, dying at age 56. From personal computing in the Mac, to the way we listen to music in the iPod and the way we purchase it in iTunes, to the way we [...]

Two planes had already hit the World Trade Center‘s twin towers in New York City, and it was now clear that America was under attack. Reports of other hijacked planes started buzzing around, and people living in cities perceived as potential targets (including my home in Chicago, where there were reports that a plane might [...]

As the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks draws near—and as the anniversary passes annually—we all recall where we were that day (as I did in this essay last year). It was a traumatic experience, not just for New Yorkers or Americans (or those in the Washington, D.C. area) but for almost everyone in [...]

These are words that no president ever wants to here, but after the second plane hit the World Trade Center what seemed potentially a minor incident, perhaps involving a wayward commuter plane, came into focus, as Andrew Card, President George W. Bush’s chief of staff, whispered in his ear: “A second plane hit the second [...]

These are words that no president ever wants to here, but after the second plane hit the World Trade Center what seemed potentially a minor incident, perhaps involving a wayward commuter plane, came into focus, as Andrew Card, President George W. Bush’s chief of staff, whispered in his ear: “A second plane hit the second [...]