A WWI machine gun could fire 600 bullets per minute. It had a range of 3,000 yards. A competent infantryman armed with a bolt action rifle could fire 15 rounds in a minute. The average rifle had a range of 1,500 yards. The first flamethrower was used by the Germans Read more…
In 1875, Alexander Graham Bell began work on a device to send multiple telegraph messages over the same wire using harmonics. He did not envision it transmitting voices, but one day he heard a twang and expanded the idea to creation of a “harmonic telegraph”. He hired an electrical Read more…
Today is the birthday of Barbara Millicent Roberts. Although 62 years old, she has kept her figure, although her waist has expanded. Ruth Handler noticed that her daughter Barbara liked playing with adult women paper dolls. In 1956, she and her children Barbara and Kenneth made a trip to Read more…
Rome was devastated by the Great Roman Fire on July 18, 64 A.D. It is believed to have broke out in an area of merchant shops near the Circus Maximus. It raged for six days and then reignited for three more. 71% of the city was destroyed, including Nero’s palace. Read more…
Pancho Villa was a folk hero in Mexico and a villain to Americans. He was born Doroteo Arango, the son of a poor peasant farmer. One day at age 16, he came home to find a local upper class man assaulting his sister. He shot the man and headed Read more…
Pete Gray was born on March 6, 1915. He was a regular kid until a wagon accident at age 6. He fell off a moving wagon and got his right arm caught in the wheel spokes. He had to have his arm amputated at the elbow. Pete loved baseball and Read more…
In Sept., 1939, Doris (the midwife that delivered him was sure he was a girl) Miller rode in the back of a bus to enlist in the U.S. Navy. Back then, the Navy greatly limited opportunities, but for a high school dropout who came from a poor family, it Read more…
This is my favorite story by Herodotus from his The Histories. It may not be true, but Herodotus loved a good story and included it in the book. (I’ve taken some liberties to flesh out the story.) Once upon a time in Ancient Egypt, an elderly man was on Read more…
Today is the anniversary of the dedication of Mount Rushmore on March 3, 1933. John Gutzon Borglum was a sculptor who began work on Mount Rushmore in 1927. He chose a 6,000-foot high mountain in the Black Hills of South Dakota. He chose Washington because he won independence and Read more…
On October 10, 1809, the famous Western explorer Meriwether Lewis arrived at the inn of Robert and Priscilla Grinder to stay for the night. Lewis was traveling the famous Natchez Trace on his way to Washington, D.C. Robert was away so Priscilla had to deal with her strange-behaving guest. Read more…