History

100 Years Ago Society notes From the Times social columns: "Mrs. Allen Pittman of Ellicott City is still a patient at St. Agnes Hospital and is looking forward to convalescing at home. Her friends in the community are looking forward to her recovery. "Mrs. Arthur Kolb has returned home from a visit with friends in Baltimore. "Miss Nellie Charter has returned to her home in Somerset county, after spending some time with friends and relatives near Lisbon. " Somerset's most well-known town is probably Crisfield, where the annual National Hard Crab Derby and Fair is held every year.

The networks might be struggling on Sunday nights but not basic cable's the History Channel. The miniseries beat everything in sight Sunday night with record ratings for "The Bible. " I think this quote from executive producers Roma Downey and Mark Burnett might be a little over the top: "Today, more people are discussing God's chosen people -- Moses and Abraham -- in one day than ever before," Downey and Burnett are quoted as saying in a History Channel statement.   Still, you have to be impressed by the numbers.

Don't look for a $3,000 suit or slicked-back hair. Don't expect to hear empty flattery or bragging about an extensive list of superstar clients. None of that is Joe Linta. "If you met him and he told you he was a sports agent, you wouldn't believe him," says recently retired Ravens center Matt Birk, a client of Linta's for all 15 of his NFL seasons. Linta built his Connecticut-based agency around guys like Birk, who were drafted in the later rounds and became excellent players at unglamorous positions.

A fledgling organization devoted to the history of the Continental Congress — and creating a permanent home in Annapolis for examining that period in American history — took steps last week toward its goal. The Annapolis Continental Congress Society announced that it will hold its second festival Sept. 14-18 in the city, according to Mark Croatti, director of the organization. The first festival was held last year. In addition, a 16-member board of directors of the National Continental Congress Center Founders' Association has been formed with the goal of finding a permanent home for the organization.

Each Wednesday, blogger Matt Vensel will highlight five statistics that really mean something for the Orioles. seven -- the number of Orioles hitters who struck out 100 or more times in 2012, the most in baseball history. The Orioles swung for the fences in 2012 and it often paid off as they ranked second in the majors with 214 home runs. They also struck out a lot, finishing with 1,315, sixth most in baseball. They made history while doing so. According to Sports Illustrated , the Orioles were the first team in baseball history to have seven batters strike out 100 or more times in one season.

Long after what might have been his last - or second-to-last - practice as a member of the Washington Wizards, Jordan Crawford hardly looked like a man worried about his future or prepared to distance himself from his teammates. Engaged in a shooting contest with Bradley Beal, A.J. Price, Chris Singleton, Garrett Temple and Cartier Martin, Crawford giggled and talked trash as the players attempted long jumpers near center court. But as he headed to the locker room, Crawford blew past reporters, ignoring requests to speak to him, likely aware that the line of questioning would revolve around his diminished role and the possibility that he will be dealt by today's 3 p.m. trade deadline.

Colonial Players offers a gem in historical and dramatic substance in its current production of Joanna McClelland Glass' "Trying," continuing through March 2 in Annapolis. This two-person "memory play" is set in 1967 and finds Judge Francis Biddle, 81, a nonfiction character, trying to finish his memoirs with assistance from newly hired Canadian secretary Sarah Schorr, 25. She has been forced on Biddle by his wife, and the two spend the play learning to adjust to each other. Glass waited until she was in her 60s to write of her experiences as secretary to Biddle, the Harvard-educated Philadelphia patrician who became her mentor.

100 Years Ago Yankee Doodle Dandy "Ford's Grand Opera House: Week, February 24th, Cohan and Harris offer, a new satirical comedy, The Children of Today, by Clara Lipman and Samuel Shipman. Representative Company. "Children of Today, a play which will appeal to all classes and to every parent, is a modern satirical comedy full of fun and good sense, entertaining from start to finish. It is by Clara Lipman and Samuel Shipman and produced under the auspices of Messrs Cohan and Harris.

People driving down a two-lane road in Jacksonville often slow down at a large Maryland Historical Society marker with the heading "Quinn. " It reads: "500-acre grant in 1704 to Thomas Mac Nemara. Later called Sweet Air. Charles and Daniel Carroll, Mac Nemara's kinsmen, acquired the property and sold it in 1751 to Roger Boyce, who built the present house. It was purchased in 1785 for Henry Hill Carroll, who died here in 1804. His son, Henry Carroll, sold it in 1838. " This could almost be a page from a 200-year-old courthouse document, were it not for the fact that a three-story, brick colonial sits at the end of the lane as a monument to the past.