On this day in 1904, Theodor Geisel, better known to the world as Dr. Seuss, the author and illustrator of such beloved children’s books as “The Cat in the Hat” and “Green Eggs and Ham,” is born in Springfield, Massachusetts. Geisel, who used his middle name (which was also his mother’s maiden name) as his pen name, wrote 48 books–including some for adults–that have sold well over 200 million copies and been translated into multiple languages. Dr. Seuss books are known for their whimsical rhymes and quirky characters, which have names like the Lorax and the Sneetches and live in places like Hooterville. Geisel, who was born on March 2,…

    The Civil War, Part 1: The Places http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2012/02/the-civil-war-part-1-the-places/100241/ Feb 8, 2012 | 261  Last year marked the 150th anniversary of the start of the American Civil War, a milestone commemorated by The Atlantic in a special issue (now available online). Although photography was still in its infancy, war correspondents produced thousands of images, bringing the harsh realities of the frontlines to those on the home front in a new and visceral way. As brother fought brother and the nation’s future grew uncertain, the public appetite for information was fed by these images from the trenches, rivers, farms, and cities that became fields of battle. Today’s collection is part…

Davy Jones, Monkees vocalist: Dec. 30, 1945 to Feb. 29, 2012 http://mediagallery.usatoday.com/Davy+Jones,+Monkees+vocalist+Dec+30,+1945+to+Feb+29,+2012/G3443 February 29, 2012   Davy Jones, Monkees Singer, Dies at 66 By MARGALIT FOX Davy Jones, a singer and, by long-held public consensus, the handsomest and most popular of the Monkees, the collectively young, longhaired, wildly famous and preternaturally buoyant pop group of the 1960s and afterward, died on Wednesday in Indiantown, Fla. He was 66. The apparent cause was a heart attack, his publicist, Helen Kensick, said. Created in 1966, the Monkees comprised Mr. Jones, Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork. The group sold millions of records. Its recording of “Daydream Believer,” by John Stewart, became…

Found: Ancient Warrior’s Helmet, Owner Unknown A 2,600-year-old bronze helmet is found in the waters of Haifa Bay, in Israel. Wed Feb 29, 2012 10:03 AM ET Content provided by Owen Jarus, LiveScience Contributor THE GIST A Greek bronze helmet was found in the waters of Haifa Bay in Israel. The helmet is about 2,600 years old and likely belonged to a wealthy Greek mercenary. Covered with gold leaf (now somewhat corroded), this 2,600-year-old bronze helmet was discovered in the waters of Haifa Bay, in Israel.  Israel Antiquities Authority A Greek bronze helmet, covered with gold leaf and decorated with snakes, lions and a peacock’s tail (or palmette), has been…

In the Details By JENNIFER B. McDONALD   THE LIFESPAN OF A FACT By John D’Agata and Jim Fingal 123 pp. W. W. Norton & Company. Paper, $17.95. This book review would be so much easier to write were we to play by John D’Agata’s rules. So let’s try it. (1) This is not a book review; it’s an essay. (2) I’m not a critic; I’m an artist. (3) Nothing I say can be used against me by the subjects of this essay, nor may anyone hold me to account re facts, truth or any contract I have supposedly entered into with you, the reader. There are to be no…