history on film
Today in history: The United States purchased Alaska from Russia in 1867, a couple years after the end of the Civil War. Here's something of related interest from today's issue of The Writer's Almanac:
The writer Vladimir Nabokov, who was born in Russia in 1899 — just 32 years after the Alaska Purchase — and who emigrated to the United States in 1940, wrote in his memoir, Strong Opinions, about how he was once asked to list "scenes from the historical past which he wished he could have witnessed on film." He replied: "Shakespeare in the part of the King's Ghost. The beheading of Louis the Sixteenth, the drums drowning his speech on the scaffold. Herman Melville at breakfast, feeling a sardine to his cat. Poe's wedding. Lewis Carroll's picnics. The Russians leaving Alaska, delighted with the deal. Shot of a seal applauding."
Vladimir Nabokov -- Strong Opinions
How about you? What would be on your list?