Image via Complex Original
"Acres of Diamonds," the third episode of season four of HBO's Boardwalk Empire, airs tonight at 9. As the story progresses, certain details and figures of American history will populate the story. Instead of blissfully nodding your head and putting foolish trust in your faint memory of ninth-grade history, get prepared with our spoiler-free precap. Hell, it might even elevate the experience for you.
It's a good feeling to be in the know.
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Boola Boola
An extremely popular Yale University fight song, one that is synonymous with campus sports, "Boola Boola" was presented for the first time in 1900.
"When men make themselves into brutes it is just to treat them like brutes."
This quote comes from British-American novelist Amelia Barr's The Belle of Bowling Green (1908). She wrote with a strongly religious bent.
Russell Conwell and "Acres of Diamonds"
Aside from founding Philadelphia's Temple University, Russell Conwell achieved global fame and wealth after delivering his historical and controversial "Acres of Diamonds" speech. At the heart of the lecture was the idea that everything one needed to succeed is rooted in one's neighborhood.
Paul Whiteman
Paul Whiteman and his orchestra were a massively successful jazz ensemble, reaching the height of their popularity in the 1920s. He was nicknamed the "King of Jazz."
Owney Madden
In 1923, Owney "The Killer" Madden seized control of the Jack Johnson's club, which he would then rechristen The Cotton Club. Though chartered to be a whites-only establishment, several black luminaries and Hollywood celebrities performed and frequented the venue, from Duke Ellington to Mae West, Langston Hughes to Richard Rodgers.
Universal Negro Improvement Association
Grounded in the belief that the only way to uplift the conditions and status of Africans and African-Americans alike was through organized unity, Marcus Garvey founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association in 1914. The movement enjoyed its greatest success during the 1920s.
Tampa Bay, Fla.
At the turn of the 20th century, the manufacturing of cigars was an invaluable part of Tampa's economy. Hand-rolled cigars reached the half-billion mark by the end of the '20s.