Archive for February 17th, 2011

17th February
2011
written by Richard

Art gallery in the Carnegie Library.

As a target for art thieves, the Public Library would seem an unlikely place. Nevertheless, janitor Robert Butler had an unwelcome surprise when he opened the doors of the library on Friday morning, February 5, 1909. As Butler climbed the stairs to the art gallery on the second floor, he was shocked by the sight of empty picture frames strewn along the baseboards. Fifteen oil paintings on loan from prominent local artists had disappeared. . .

The story of the Carnegie Library Art Heist.

17th February
2011
written by Richard

James Russell with his “Lobe” chute. Courtesy San Diego Air & Space Museum

In the “Air Capital of the West,” a young parachute designer named James Russell leaped from airplanes to test his own experimental designs. Russell parachutes were standard equipment for both military and civilian flyers. The story of “The Pioneer of Parachutes.”