Edgar Wilson (Bill) Nye

A Humorous History of the United States: from the Magic Lamp Classic Humor Series Edgar Wilson (Bill) Nye

As the biography of Mr. Nye to the right side of this page indicates, it's very possible that he might have been an influence on the producers of humorous history films like Mel Brooks' "History of the World." Nye starts the book with a letter delivered to Queen Isabella of Spain, advising her that if she grows tired of her current staff 'discover,' that a new one named Chris is recommended. Ultimately, she decided to put up a couple of bucks for this young fellow, and the rest is, well... you know. From what Nye tells us, "America had many other discoverers besides Columbus, but he seems to have made more satisfactory arrangements with the historians that any of the other." Having set the tone with those first two chapters, Nye continues to chronicle the growth of this great country all the way up the Chicago World's Fair in 1893, when the country was so fully developed that there probably wouldn't be room for much more improvement.