We know Nice News subscribers are big readers, so we want to hear about the book that changed your life. Interpret that prompt how you will — your answer could be the childhood novel that kicked off a love of reading, the memoir that altered how you view the world, the short story collection that made you laugh until you cried, or anything in between. Your response may appear in an upcoming article (and get added to our own TBR lists). Click here to share.
— the Nice News team
Featured Story
Lesser-Known Facts to Celebrate the National Park Service’s 110th Anniversary This Week
National Park Service
Most Americans know that there were 13 original U.S. states, but what about thefirst 35 national parks and monuments? Back in 1916, the Department of the Interior managed these spots, but on Aug. 25 of that year, President Woodrow Wilson signed legislation officially uniting them under the National Park Service.
Today, the NPS encompasses 433 sites spanning over 85 million acres in all 50 states, including the 63 national parks. These sites “tell the story of the United States — from the battlefields where the nation was forged, to the landscapes that shaped our identity, to the historic sites that honor the people and events that built the country,” Comptroller Jessica Bowron said in a news release.
In honor of the service’s 110th anniversary on Tuesday, join us as we take a hike back through time to share some of our favorite notable facts about U.S. national parks in their infancy.
Federal financial aid may not cover the full cost of college. If there’s a gap, a private student loan can help with tuition, housing, books, and other qualified education expenses.
Comparing lenders side by side with Money can help you review rates, repayment terms, and features before you decide. It’s not about borrowing more — it’s about finding an option that fits your education and your budget.
Greece’s All-Marble Olympic Stadium Is Getting a Serious Scrub Down
Jakub Porzycki—NurPhoto/Getty Images
For the first time in over a century, the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens is getting a deep clean (and no, Windex doesn’t seem to be part of the cleaning tool kit).
The stadium — made of the same marble used on the Acropolis — was rebuilt for the first modern Olympics in 1896 and has become the ceremonial send-off point for the Olympic flame. It’s also a tourist attraction that continues to welcome visitors and host concerts, fashion shows, marathons, and more, so it’s accumulated the dirt and grime you’d expect with decades of foot traffic.
Now, watching crews clean the iconic monument is a sight in itself. According to the Associated Press, workers are systematically using clean water at “carefully controlled, low pressure” to spray off dirt while vacuums suck up the runoff. Steam then removes the rest of the residue, much of which comes from chewing gum, high heels, and soft drinks, per stadium officials.
Tier by tier, the venue is slowly being restored to the former glory that earned it the nickname of Kallimarmaro, which means beautiful marble. “We call it Kallimarmaro because it is made of the finest marble, the best that was ever produced. … We are very proud of it,” said Isidoros Kouvelos, president of the Hellenic Olympic Committee. See the deep cleaners in action.
Humanity
A Man Biked Across the US in 1979 With a Stranger — 45 Years Later, They Reconnected
Courtesy of Kelly Greenia
In 1979, when New Yorker Joel Greenia was in his early 20s, he decided to embark on an adventure he’d dreamed about for years: riding coast to coast on his bicycle. Finding someone willing to join in on such a journey isn’t easy, so when Greenia sought a buddy to accompany him, he placed an ad in the classified section of his local newspaper.
“Lo and behold,” his daughter Kelly Greenia shared in an email to Nice News, “he got a response.” It came from another young 20-something named Ray Halbert, also from upstate New York and raring to go. The pair settled on starting their trek in Northern California, flew across the country from Buffalo with their bikes, and hit the pavement.
Over the next 57 days, Greenia (left) and Halbert rode from Santa Cruz to Hartford, Connecticut, covering a total distance of 3,485 miles. They made lasting memories over those eight weeks — sometimes sleeping on park benches and even being “pulled over” by police. But when they got back home, the two men went their separate ways, getting jobs and starting families (it was during the trip that Greenia decided to propose to his now-wife of 46 years).
More than four decades later, though, the duo would reconvene. Read the story of their reunion and see more photos from then and now.
Culture
World’s First Motel Hits the Market on California’s Central Coast, Iconic Sign Included
Courtesy Natalie Stone
Just off U.S. Highway 101 in San Luis Obispo, California, roughly halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, is the site of what’s considered the world’s first motel — and also of what might be the start of something entirely new.
The Milestone Mo-Tel, developed by architect Arthur Heineman and later renamed the Motel Inn, opened in December 1925 as a novel overnight pit stop. Guests could drive right up to their rooms and sleep in a bed for about a buck per night, the equivalent of around $24 today. Legend has it that the original plan was to call it the Milestone Motor Hotel, but a painter couldn’t fit all the letters on the sign, and the word “motel” was born.
Now, over a century later, this piece of hospitality history is for sale. The 4.2-acre property at 2223 Monterey St. — with an undisclosed asking price — features a Spanish Mission-style bell tower, the original lobby, and an iconic sign that’s seen decades of American life.
Read our full article to learn more of the motel’s history (including which famous people stayed there) and check out a rendering of how it could be transformed in the future.
Sunday Selections
Deep Dives
While some friends feel like family, these two childhood pals just found out they really are sisters
“The group comes first”: Her name rarely appears on lists of influential Civil Rights Movement leaders — but it should
In what The Atlantic called “a deeply layered novel about masculinity,” author Chang-rae Lee channels the likes of Holden Caulfield and Huck Finn for this moving coming-of-age story. The protagonist, a Korean-American named Jeon-Gi, takes readers back to New York City in 1976, the year he turned 11. As he teeters on the precipice of manhood, the preteen is torn between making his immigrant parents proud and fitting in with the rebellious neighborhood kids. The series of events he becomes entrenched in that summer spark questions about his identity that stay with him long into adulthood.
The lateMary Oliver is one of America’s most beloved writers, her poetry and prose at once profound and accessible. This documentary traces the Pulitzer Prize winner’s life from her solitary childhood spent enamored by nature to her adulthood as a complicated woman whose sunny poetry may have obscured the “storm” within. It features rare interviews and photos of Oliver as well as readings from Steve Buscemi, Oprah Winfrey, Helena Bonham Carter, and more — often set against the beautiful landscapes that inspired the poet. You can rent or buy the film on Apple TV now, or catch it Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET on PBS.
This Week in History
The First Televised MLB Game Airs
August 26, 1939
Diamond Images/Getty Images
You’d be hard-pressed today to find an American who’s never seen a Major League Baseball game on TV. But for the estimated 3,000 peoplewho switched on their tubes in 1939, the experience was a whole new ball game, so to speak.
Telecast by NBC, the game took place at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, the first of two in a doubleheader between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Cincinnati Reds (Reds won the first, Dodgers the second). Television was still an incipient technology, so understandably, the broadcast was nothing like today’s televised games: There were just two cameras filming in black and white, and fast-moving plays were hard to capture. Still, we bet the cheers from at-home fans rivaled any you might hear in a sports bar today. Watch a clip from another 1939 broadcast, showing Joe DiMaggio scoring a run with the Yankees.
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