A cast of characters tumbles out of the pages of this book, beginning with the courageous settlers who tamed the wilderness. By the 1890s, dynamic denizens of St. Joseph and Benton Harbor harvested fruit, established factories, and opened tourist attractions. Drake and Wallace's Silver Beach Amusement Park, with its roller coaster, fun house, and Lake Michigan beach, attracted visitors from Chicago. So did the curative mineral waters. Al Capone took "the baths," despite their stinking like rotten eggs. The Israelite House of David, a Christian sect founded by Benjamin and Mary Purnell, welcomed summer visitors to their amusement park. Despite an infamous scandal and trial involving Benjamin, the House of David thrived for decades. The cities spawned inventors like Augustus Herring, who flew an airplane five years before the Wright brothers; Emory Upton, who developed an electric-powered washing machine manufactured by a company now known as Whirlpool; and Walter Miller, inventor of a record-changing machine manufactured by V-M. By the 1980s, manufacturing in the area had declined, and the cities suffered. Present-day entrepreneurs, artists, and community activists have jump-started their return to vitality.

When conventional medicine fails, reservations about alternative healing methods disappear. This factor led to the young Armenian-Persian faith healer Avak Hakobian being invited to the USA in 1947. His mission: to heal a paralyzed Californian millionaire`s son. Then as now, charismatic healers benefit from the assumption that they have access to a mystical source or transcendent energy. Not a few people entrust such supposed healers with their physical as well as their spiritual well-being. "Avak Hakobian - From Fame to Failure" is the previously untold story of one such healer who for a time made headline news.

If you?re planning a trip, it?s relatively easy to find the fastest route by visiting Yahoo or MapQuest internet web sites or ? if you?re hopelessly old-fashioned- unfolding a map. But how do you choose the most interesting route, and create a trip that is more than just a blur of mile markers and exit signs? Exploring America?s Highways: Wisconsin Trip Trivia may have the answer!Exploring America?s Highways: Wisconsin Trip Trivia provides travelers a guided tour along specific routes throughout the state. Travelers will obtain a wide range of interesting information along the highway including: ? Place Name? Historical Markers? Local Landmarks? Prominent People? Industry and Inventions? Geological? General TriviaDid you know that: ? Frederick Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids features the world?s largest bronze sculpture of Leonardo da Vinci?s American Horse. ? Thomas Edison was born in Port Huron in 1847. or French explorer Antoine de la Mother Cadillac named Detroit, Ville d?Dtroit meaning CITY of the Strait.?These are just a few of the fun things revealed in this book.There is no reason anybody needs to dread long hours of driving time anyway. Just find your route (highlighted in the table of contents) and read along, city by city. It?s that simple.

During the 1930s in the United States, the Works Progress Administration developed the Federal Writers’ Project to support writers and artists while making a national effort to document the country’s shared history and culture. The American Guide series consists of individual guides to each of the states. Little-known authors—many of whom would later become celebrated literary figures—were commissioned to write these important books. John Steinbeck, Saul Bellow, Zora Neale Hurston, and Ralph Ellison are among the more than 6,000 writers, editors, historians, and researchers who documented this celebration of local histories. Photographs, drawings, driving tours, detailed descriptions of towns, and rich cultural details exhibit each state’s unique flavor. Published in 1941, the WPA Guide to Michigan documents the rich history and economies of the Great Lake State. From the Upper Peninsula to the Lower, and the Straits of Mackinac between, the guide features many photographs of the distinctive geography as well as essays about marine lore, architecture, and—in the essay on Detroit—the nation’s burgeoning auto industry.

Describes fifty-two weekend trips within three hundred miles of Chicago.

This provocative new book provides the truth and perspective needed to remind us of how high the stakes can be when we get the Bible wrong. Throughout history and around the world, people have made bizarre or dangerous claims in the name of God. They continue to do so today, citing biblical passages out of context or inappropriately. Doing so has led to a wide range of disasters, from executing other Christians for theological differences, to wild activities in the name of evangelism, and more. Is the Bible at Fault? examines these historical errors, problematic biblical interpretations, and tragedies to reveal how and why the Bible has been misused to justify and rationalize profound acts of persecution, destruction, violence, human rights abuse, and downright strange behavior. Is the Bible at Fault? explores twelve different cases of abhorrent behavior in the name of Scripture. These terrible, destructive movements have led people astray, brought irreparable spiritual and emotional harm, and even cost countless people their lives. The members of the Ku Klux Klan had no doubt that their actions were justified in the eyes of God. The murderous armies of the Fourth Crusade rationalized slaying other Christians in the name of the church. Detroit's Prophet Jones locked his followers in all-night revival meetings and often wouldn't let them out until they made financial contributions to the cause -- the cause being his lavish lifestyle. Some Christian missionaries not only condoned the wholesale slaughter of Australia's native Aborigines people, they participated in it -- with a clean conscience. These are real, historical people and events, and we'll explore every one of them and more in these pages.