Mary, Mary, quite contrary,How does your garden grow?With silver bells, and cockle shells,And pretty maids all in a row. “Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary” was first published in 1744. There are various theories with regard to its meaning. The most likely is it refers to Queen Mary of England. The daughter Read more…
The Civil War is sometimes called the “brothers’ war” because some families were split in allegiance. Some family members joined the Union Army and others the Confederate Army. During the Seven Days Battle fought outside Richmond in 1862. The last battle was the Battle of Malvern Hill. Gen. McClellan’s Read more…
Thomas Austin thought it would be great to do some rabbit hunting. Australia already had domesticated rabbits, but they weren’t fun to hunt. The wealthy Australian had 24 wild European rabbits imported from the other side of the world. In 1859, the bunnies were set free on his land. Read more…
Today is the fifth anniversary of this website. Thank you to all the teachers who have used it and all others who have visited. Jane Grey was born in 1517 to a noble family. She was the great granddaughter of Henry VII. At age 10, she joined the Read more…
Port Chicago was a Navy loading area near San Francisco. It was located about a mile from the Port Chicago Naval Magazine. Trains would bring bombs and other explosives to the liberty ships. Most of the loaders were African-Americans who were given no training for the job. They had Read more…
In May, 1779, British Gen. Henry Clinton marched out of New York City with 8,000 men. He was headed for West Point hoping to provoke Washington into a decisive battle. On the way, he captured the abandoned fort at Stony Point. Stony Point was a steep, rocky peninsula that jutted Read more…
The most famous conqueror almost didn’t conquer anything. In 334 B.C., Alexander (not the Great, yet) invaded Asia Minor to begin his conquest of the Persian Empire. His first battle was at the River Granicus. The Persian army, stiffened by Greek mercenaries, defended the opposite river bank. The ever-bold Read more…
In 480 B.C., Athens learned that a huge Persian army and fleet were coming to get revenge for the Battle of Marathon. The chances of defeating the Persians were small. Many Greek city-states gave “earth and water” symbolizing surrendering to Persian control. It was that or be sacked. Some Read more…
This post is about the signers of the Declaration. Keep in mind that most of them signed on August 2, 1776. Only John Hancock signed it on July 4. The last to sign was Thomas McKean of Delaware. He signed sometime in 1777. The youngest was Edward Rutledge from South Read more…
On July 2, 1776, the Second Continental Congress approved a resolution by Richard Henry Lee. It stated that the States were declaring independence. The Committee of Five was appointed to draft the declaration. It consisted of John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert Livingston. Adams was Read more…