John Banks
A longtime journalist, Banks was a senior editor for ESPN.com and The Dallas Morning News. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, Civil War Times, Civil War Monitor, Civil War News, America's Civil War and Military Images, among other publications.
Articles From This Author
Who Invented Hockey?
The origins of ice hockey may date to stick-and-ball games played during the Middle Ages or even ancient Greece and Egypt. Some believe the game evolved from the ancient Irish game of hurling. But ice hockey’s beginnings—like those of many other sports—remain murky. “There’s a ...read more
Abraham Lincoln in Photos: How the Presidency Aged Him
Abraham Lincoln aged significantly during the Civil War, unsurprising to those who were close to him. “[H]e was in mind, body and nerves a very different man” in 1865 than in 1861, wrote his secretary, John Hay. The war wasn’t his only burden. He was grappling, politically and ...read more
Abraham Lincoln's Frontier Childhood Was Filled With Hardship
Abraham Lincoln summed up his early years on the frontier in Kentucky and Indiana as "the short and simple annals of the poor." But the hardships he endured there as a youth weren’t unique. Life was harsh for most frontier families in the early 1800s. “Life on the frontier was ...read more
Abraham Lincoln's Family: Meet the Key Members
Abraham Lincoln came from the humblest of beginnings. His wife Mary Todd hailed from a wealthy clan. Their lives together were marked by personal tragedy. Lincoln’s mother, sister and three of his sons died young. Losing the boys crushed Lincoln and Mary, who also ...read more
The 18-Year-Old Woman Who Struck Out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig
In the depths of the Depression, Joe Engel, the "Baron of Baloney," would do almost anything to promote his minor league baseball team. The owner of the Chattanooga (Tennessee) Lookouts traded a shortstop for a 25-pound turkey, placed singing canaries in grandstands, and featured ...read more
The NFL's Longest Game: How a Soccer Player-Turned-Kicker Secured the Win
The longest game in NFL history featured 13 future Hall of Fame players, two future Hall of Fame head coaches, starting quarterbacks who would finish their careers with a combined three Super Bowl titles and an unlikely star for the losing team. But the 1971 Christmas Day playoff ...read more
Fog Bowl: The Most Bizarre Game in NFL History
Foul weather, from ice, snow and below-freezing temperatures to downpours and excessive heat, has adversely affected NFL games since the dawn of the league more than 100 years ago. But no game in NFL history matches the weird weather at the "Fog Bowl” playoff game between the ...read more
How Pitcher Cy Young Achieved an 'Awe-inspiring' Record For MLB Wins
Days after Hall of Fame pitcher Cy Young's death in 1955, acclaimed New York sports columnist Red Smith predicted the righthander’s Major League Baseball record of 511 career wins would never be broken. “It is demonstrably unthinkable,” wrote Smith, “an impossibility provable as ...read more
When a $3.5-Million Sale of Oakland A's Stars Rocked Baseball
At roughly midseason every year, Major League Baseball teams swap players, with floundering teams often dealing stars for prospects. No MLB trade deadline period, however, rocked the sports world quite like 1976. Minutes before the trade deadline on June 15, Oakland A’s owner ...read more