Last spring, through the efforts of Darryl Thompson, the current authority on varieties of fruits and vegetables developed by the Shakers, the Shaker Museum received a rooted cutting from a gooseberry plant that is thought to be a direct descendent of a variety of gooseberry...

On May 19, 1780, the skies over New England and New York darkened for a full day. In the preceding days, the sun and moon had appeared red-tinted, and by noon of May 19, the sky was nearly dark as night. It was known as “The Dark Day.” One contemporary observer wrote, “Th...