Lafayette In The The Spring

Bookmark and Share

LafayetteNo, that is not a typo. It’s a reference to a classic optical illusion. You probably have seen it—a triangle that contains three lines. The first line is “Paris.” The second line is “in the.” The last line is “the Spring.” People will often read it as “Paris in the Spring,” not the correct “Paris in the the Spring.”

I know, I know … This thought immediately pops into your head: “But it’s obvious that the word ‘the’ is repeated.”

And you wouldn’t be wrong.

Until you look at the picture of the triangle with the words in it.

Why is that?

Believe it or not, there’s a scientific explanation for this. It comes from vision science, and it’s called a “saccade.” This term refers to what happens when both eyes move simultaneously in Continue Reading “Lafayette In The The Spring”

Lafayette’s Farewell Tour: Gaslighting The General

Bookmark and Share

Previous: Special Delivery To Westfield, A Fitting First

The first week of June in 1925 saw unusually warm temperatures across the northeast.1 Nearby Jamestown had record-breaking highs in the low 90s.2 You can imagine the temperature on Main Street in Fredonia at 2:45 in the afternoon on Thursday, June 4. Still, the crowds came. So many, in fact, that the village had to redirect traffic away from the primary road running through its downtown.3

The ceremony was spear-headed and organized by the Benjamin Prescott chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Citizens marched down the flag-decorated streets and assembled to see the unveiling of a new marker dedicated to memorializing two major events in this small rural community.4 One hundred years to the day earlier, General Continue Reading “Lafayette’s Farewell Tour: Gaslighting The General”

You cannot copy content of this page

Skip to content