Artspectrum/A Company of Dancers

Artspectrum/A Company of Dancers Artspectrum is a federally tax exempt organization based in MI; founded with music, film production & dance/theater divisions; currently focuses on dance.

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In the popular imagination of many Americans, few aspects of the Revolutionary War are more iconic than the event that c...
09/08/2026

In the popular imagination of many Americans, few aspects of the Revolutionary War are more iconic than the event that came to be known as “Paul Revere’s midnight ride.” On the evening of April 18, 1775, the Patriot leader rode from Boston to Lexington, Massachusetts, warning the rebelling colonists that British soldiers stationed in Boston were planning to march into the countryside surrounding Lexington and Concord. However, while Revere’s midnight ride was, in fact, a significant moment in the American Revolution, some details that found their way into the popular retelling have been subject to a bit of dramatic embellishment. Namely, Revere never actually shouted the now-legendary warning, “The British are coming!” In fact, if he had shouted this, it would have been detrimental to his mission.
For one, at the time, colonists still considered themselves to be British subjects, and although they were rebelling against the British crown, American revolutionaries did not consider “the British'' to be a separate, hostile nation. What’s more, as a known revolutionary agent riding through a region full of British troops, Revere needed to complete his ride with as much discretion as possible. His actual journey was one of secrecy and narrow escapes, including a clandestine boat ride across the Charles River, during which he narrowly avoided capture from a British patrol ship before continuing his covert ride by horseback on the other side of the river. Revere did deliver crucial warnings about the British military’s impending advance on Lexington, but these warnings were quietly given to revolutionaries at individual households along his route.

Some songs and their movies get so tangled up together that you can't hear one without picturing the other. Play "I Will...
08/25/2026

Some songs and their movies get so tangled up together that you can't hear one without picturing the other. Play "I Will Always Love You," and Whitney Houston's voice instantly brings up scenes from The Bodyguard. Same with "My Heart Will Go On": that flute intro alone puts you right back on the deck of the Titanic. Here are other pairings that never let each other go.

My Heart Will Go On"
Titanic, 1997

Eye of the Tiger"
Rocky III, 1982

Unchained Melody"
Ghost, 1990

Stayin' Alive"
Saturday Night Fever, 1977

Somewhere Over the Rainbow"
The Wizard of Oz, 1939

Flashdance... What a Feeling
Flash dance, 1983

The Time of My Life
Dirty Dancing, 1987

Up Where We Belong
An Officer and a Gentleman, 1982

Take My Breath Away
TopGun, 1986

Do you have one or two to add
To the list? Name
Them in the Comments.

Classic foods invented by happy accidents born from spills, mix-ups, or kitchen improvisations. Potato chipsBack in 1853...
08/18/2026

Classic foods invented by happy accidents born from spills, mix-ups, or kitchen improvisations.

Potato chips
Back in 1853, a cranky diner in Saratoga Springs, New York, complained that his fries were too thick. Irritated, Chef George Crum sliced them paper-thin and fried them crisp to prove a point. To everyone’s surprise, the customer loved them.
A moment of frustration turned into America’s favorite salty snack.

Popsicles
In 1905, 11-year-old San Francisco native Frank Epperson accidentally left a cup of soda powder and water outside overnight, with a stick still in it. The next morning, it had frozen solid in the chilly air.

Epperson dubbed it the "Epsicle," which was later renamed the Popsicle, one of the most enduring summer treats.

Chocolate chip cookies
Ruth Wakefield ran out of baker’s chocolate when she was making traditional chocolate cookies at her Massachusetts inn, the Toll House, in the 1930s. She chopped up Nestlé chocolate snack bars instead. She expected them to melt evenly into the dough, but they stayed in chunks. The warm, gooey results became an instant hit with her guests. Nestlé soon partnered with her to print the recipe on chocolate bar wrappers.!

Corn flakes
In 1898, the Kellogg brothers accidentally left cooked wheat, unprocessed wheat kernels simmered until tender, sitting out overnight at their Michigan sanitarium, where they promoted a healthy living based on vegetarianism, exercise, sunlight, and strict hygiene. By morning, it had gone stale, but when they rolled and baked it, the flakes came out crisp and tasty. That happy mistake inspired a new breakfast idea..

Coca-Cola
In one of the most profitable blunders of all time, Atlanta pharmacist John Pemberton was mixing a headache tonic in 1886 when he mistakenly blended his syrup with carbonated water instead of plain water. Finding the result quite tasty, Pemberton opened a local soda fountain and found immediate success.

Cheeseburgers
In the 1920s, a teenage cook in Pasadena accidentally dropped a slice of cheese onto a sizzling hamburger. Instead of tossing it out, he served it to the customer. The melted topping added a rich, savory twist that caught on fast. Soon, diners across America began adding cheese to burgers.

Hard pretzels
One Pennsylvania baker in the 1800s left his soft pretzels in the oven too long, burning them to a deep brown. Expecting a disaster, he tried one and loved the unexpected crunch. The overbaked batch became the first hard pretzel. The crispy, salty snack soon gained fans nationwide.

Slurpees
In the 1950s, a Kansas soda shop’s cooler broke down, freezing its drinks halfway. Instead of throwing them out, the owner sold the icy concoctions to customers. They loved the slushy texture so much that he built a machine to reproduce it. The Icee — and later the Slurpee.

Tortilla chips
In 1940s Los Angeles, a tortilla factory ended up with piles of leftover tortillas. Rather than waste them, workers cut them into triangles and fried them up.
The crunchy bites were a surprise hit.

Tootsie Rolls
Crafty candy maker Leo Hirschfeld wanted to stretch his chocolate supply in 1896, so he experimented by blending in other ingredients such as sugar, corn syrup, and condensed skim milk. The texture turned chewy instead of smooth, but the flavor was rich and lasting. He named it after his daughter’s nickname, "Tootsie."

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
Back in 1928, a former Hershey employee, H.B. Reese, was tinkering with leftover chocolate at home when he combined it with sweetened peanut butter. The unexpected pairing turned out to be a great-tasting treat. His home experiment evolved into a small business, and later became a candy legend when Hershey acquired the brand.

Clock towers reach high above rooftops and marketplaces. These architectural timekeepers have marked the passage of hour...
08/11/2026

Clock towers reach high above rooftops and marketplaces. These architectural timekeepers have marked the passage of hours for centuries. While we no longer rely on them to schedule our days, their presence is more than nostalgic — it’s deeply symbolic.

Clock towers connect us to an era when time was a shared resource, when clocks were heard on the hour (and sometimes on the half-hour and quarter-hour) and seen from nearly every corner of a town center. Today, they stand as reminders of our shared past and of the beauty in building something meant to last.

These landmarks remind us that time isn’t just about minutes and hours, but also about memory, identity, and connection.

Having a clock tower was once a mark of prestige for towns and cities. In the Middle Ages and Renaissance era, public clocks symbolized a town’s wealth, technological abilities, and political status. These structures weren’t just functional — they were an architectural flex, built to impress both residents and visitors.

Before watches or phone screens, time was a communal experience. Most people didn’t own personal timepieces until the late 19th century, so towns relied on a clock tower to keep track of the minutes and hours. Positioned in market squares, atop town halls, or on church steeples, clock towers helped everyone from farmers and merchants to schoolchildren and their teachers stay on schedule. In towns where personal timepieces were rare or unavailable, the clock tower served as the central, public authority on time. Its bell signaled the community’s schedule, helping people coordinate their activities. Markets opened, laborers began their work, and life flowed according to the bell's toll. This communal timekeeping was a reflection of the collective daily rhythm — time was not a personal concept but something shared by everyone in the town.

In 1791, a young Andrew Jackson married Rachel Donelson. Both believed her first husband, Captain Lewis Robards, had suc...
08/03/2026

In 1791, a young Andrew Jackson married Rachel Donelson. Both believed her first husband, Captain Lewis Robards, had successfully finalized their divorce. Apparently, Robards didn’t file the petition, making her marriage to Jackson technically bigamous. Once the divorce went through in 1794, they officially remarried.

During the 1828 presidential campaign, Jackson’s political opponents used this legal mistake against him. They branded Rachel a loose woman and a bigamist in pamphlets scattered across the country. The intense public shaming broke her spirit and deteriorated her health. She suffered a fatal heart attack just days before Jackson’s inauguration, leaving the newly elected president heartbroken and extremely bitter toward his political rivals for the rest of his life.

One of the world’s most famous slogans came from a death row sentence. Another arose from observing soldiers eat chocola...
07/24/2026

One of the world’s most famous slogans came from a death row sentence. Another arose from observing soldiers eat chocolate that wouldn’t melt during the Spanish Civil War. And one turned a fast-food order into a promise of total control. And most of them are on the tip of your tongue.

I’m lovin’ it

McDonald’s tapped into the 2003 zeitgeist with its slogan "I’m lovin’ it," one of its most enduring campaigns. It also has a catchy tune originally produced by Pharrell Williams, and Justin Timberlake was paid millions to sing the first radio edit and make it cool.

The catchphrase hits home because it focuses on happy emotions we can all relate to. The active grammar of "I’m lovin it", instead of the passive "I love it", implies an ongoing pleasurable experience, not just one isolated bite.

Just do it
Actualizing our ambitions isn't as easy as it sounds which is what Nike captured so well in its iconic slogan, "Just do it", because it motivates action, inspiring a resilient and go-getter attitude. But the origin story is darker than most people know. It was Gary Gilmore, a convicted murderer, who uttered the words "Let’s do it" before his ex*****on in 1977. Advertising executive Dan Weiden later said that that blunt line inspired the slogan.

Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there

At the end of the day, everyone wants a good neighbor. State Farm, one of the largest insurance companies in the U.S., turned a faceless corporation into a helpful friend next door through this jingle, created by Barry Manilow in 1971. It is still widely used today, alongside the "Jake from State Farm" character.

Have it your way

Burger King promises that at this eatery, you can "Have it your way". Introduced in 1974, it emphasizes customization by letting customers choose their toppings and make the burger their own; turning it into a promise of choice, like no pickles or extra sauce. Here, at least, buyers are the boss.

Melts in your mouth, not in your hands

"Melts in your mouth, not in your hands" is the 1954 catchphrase promoting M&M’s candy-coated chocolates. The outer shell is what keeps it from melting, letting you enjoy it without the sticky mess. Reportedly, it was during the Spanish Civil War (1936 -1939) that the creator, Forrest Mars, saw soldiers eating a chocolate pellet that wouldn’t melt in the heat. In fact, during World War II, M&M’s were sold exclusively to the US military for this reason.

Can you hear me now?
How many times have you asked this during a call, a Zoom, or a FaceTime? A bad connection leads to poor communication, and Verizon turned that frustration into a memorable message.

Launched in 2002, "Can you hear me now?" reminds us of all the times we’ve asked this question when trying to talk with someone, highlighting signal reliability over cheaper plans. The actor Paul Marcarelli was featured in various locations across the country yelling the question and, after a pause, saying, "Good". The catchphrase and Marcarelli became so well known that people would shout it at him in real life, and, allegedly, even at his grandmother's funeral.

Pasta is a culinary staple worldwide. In Italy it’s also a cultural institution. Yet during the 1920s and 1930s, Benito...
07/01/2026

Pasta is a culinary staple worldwide. In Italy it’s also a cultural institution. Yet during the 1920s and 1930s, Benito Mussolini’s fascist government pushed a campaign against pasta that was framed as an attempt to improve public health. Some officials and allies of the regime argued that a modern, stronger nation would be better off with fewer carbohydrates and more protein. People who ate pasta, proponents claimed, were sluggish and bloated, and merely trying to fill an insatiable emotional emptiness.

The campaign had ulterior motives. Pasta relied heavily on imported wheat, the anti-pasta rhetoric was really an effort to reduce foreign economic dependence and to tighten control over everyday civilian life by increasing domestic crops such as rice.

Italians resisted Mussolini’s efforts. In the rice fields of northern Italy, working-class women known as the mondine organized strikes and protests over poor wages and conditions.

The mayor of Naples defended pasta by saying, “The angels in Paradise eat nothing but vermicelli al pomodoro.” By the 1940s, the fascist control over Italians’ everyday diet had shifted, overtaken by the realities of World War II and a population far more concerned with eating at all than with the details of the menu.

Founded in 1800, the Library of Congress is the oldest federal cultural institution in the U.S., and works as a de facto...
06/22/2026

Founded in 1800, the Library of Congress is the oldest federal cultural institution in the U.S., and works as a de facto national library. Its main purpose is to serve as a research library for the U.S. Congress, but in addition to this, it houses one of the world’s most extensive collections of books, manuscripts, and artifacts in the world, many of them rare and unique. Take a look at the following.

The LOC has The Gutenberg Bible. It was the first book to be printed after the invention of movable type printing, around the year 1455. Nowadays, only 49 copies have survived from the 180 believed to have been printed by Gutenberg himself, and only 21 are considered complete copies. The copy kept in the Library of Congress is one of three complete copies printed in vellum —a parchment made from animal skin.

The Library of Congress has the first ‘rough draft’ of the Declaration of Independence written by Thomas Jefferson, with notes from Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and the other committee delegates. It was part of Jefferson’s personal library and papers, which were acquired by the Library of Congress in 1815.

The lOC holds the only surviving copy of the Waldseemmuller Map. Created in 1507, the map by Martin Waldseemüller was an ambitious project that aimed to depict the geographical discoveries of the past few decades, including those made by Amerigo Vespucci after his voyages in 1501 and 1502, which confirmed that the ‘new world’ was not part of the Indies, but a separate continent altogether. To honor this, Waldseemüller named the continent America, and this map was the first to utilize the name.

Strung instruments created by the luthier Antonio Stradivari and his family in the 17th and 18th centuries, Stradivarius instruments are renowned for their exquisite craftsmanship and sound, and are valued in the millions. It is estimated that 650 instruments have survived out of the around 1100 made. Six of them —two violas, three violins, and a cello— are kept in the Library of Congress.

The Bat Psalm Book was the first book to be printed in British North America, and it dates to the year 1640, just 20 years after the arrival of the Pilgrims. This copy lacks a title page, and 12 of its pages have been removed. One of 11 surviving copies, it is a valuable testimony to America’s printing history.

The Wright brothers are credited with the invention, building, and flying the world’s first successful airplane in North Carolina in 1903. This collection of their papers in the Library of Congress comprises 10,121 items related to them, including notebooks, photographs, papers, drawings, prints, correspondence, and more.

Before the invention of movable type printing, most Bibles were handwritten, a laborious task that could take years to complete. The Great Bible of Mainz is one of the last Bibles made in this way, and it is dated around the year 1452. Made from 459 vellum skin leaves and embellished with illuminated initial letters and borders, this Bible was gifted to the Library of Congress in 1952.

Composed of 8 sheets of amatl —a pre-Hispanic Nahuatl type of paper—, this 1521 codex registers a legal complaint against a colonial administrator. The Nahua people of Huexotzinco were part of Hernán Cortés’s estate after aiding him in his campaign against the Aztec Empire. During one of Cortés’s trips, the administrators of the estate implemented abusive taxes. After his return, Cortés and the Nahua presented a joint formal complaint, and they were successful. The case was retried in Spain, where the courts and King Charles both agreed with the initial verdict and ruled that excess taxes were returned to the Nahua.

One of the most significant speeches of the American Civil War and of American History, the Gettysburg Address was delivered by President Lincoln on the occasion of the inauguration of the Soldiers' National Cemetery, now Gettysburg National Cemetery. Of the five surviving manuscript copies of the short speech —it lasted roughly two minutes— only two were written before the occasion, which were gifted by Lincoln to his personal secretaries, and were later donated to the Library of Congress.

Chances are you’ve had your fingerprints taken. They’ve been used to establish people’s identities for thousands of year...
06/15/2026

Chances are you’ve had your fingerprints taken. They’ve been used to establish people’s identities for thousands of years, but it wasn’t until the early 20th century that police used them to track criminals. Before that, the Bertillon system was the standard identification method in much of Europe and the U.S. It measured more than a dozen different body parts — including the ears, nose, arms, head circumference, sitting height, and standing height — to identify suspects and criminals. Eye color, scars, and other distinguishing features were noted on a standardized card that also included a mug shot.

The system was named for its creator, French anthropologist Alphonse Bertillon, who developed it in 1879. By 1898, 10 American cities including New York, Philadelphia, and Boston had begun using the system and coordinating with one another. But its flaws soon came into focus during the Will West case. Two men, named Will West and William West, who looked nearly identical and whose Bertillon measurements were likewise indistinguishable, ended up in the same prison, and it wasn’t until their fingerprints were compared that Will was able to prove his (relative) innocence. The case marked a turning point in police methodology, with fingerprinting emerging as the standard form of identification.

Ancient Egyptian royals were often buried with objects they believed were needed in the afterlife. Items such as jewelry...
06/08/2026

Ancient Egyptian royals were often buried with objects they believed were needed in the afterlife. Items such as jewelry and games were common inclusions in their tombs, as were everyday staples such as clothing and food. And while we might expect any ancient food to decompose past the point of recognition, archaeologists have actually uncovered 3,000-year-old pots of honey that were, remarkably, intact — and still edible.

Honey’s extraordinary shelf life is the result of Its low water content and high sugar levels creating an environment that’s inhospitable to bacterial growth, and it also contains trace amounts of hydrogen peroxide, which acts as a natural microbial inhibitor. Bees use their rapidly flapping wings to evaporate most of the honey’s water, and an enzyme in their stomachs contributes to honey’s unique antibacterial property. Egyptians were some of the earliest known organized beekeepers, and along with sending honey into the next life with the deceased, they also offered the sweet substance to their deities.

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