Stanford White was the most famous architect in New York City during the Gilded Age. His architectural firm had designed buildings for J.P. Morgan and Cornelius Vanderbilt and other rich families. From 1879 on, the firm designed 900 hotels, private clubs, libraries, museums, universities, and churches. A tower that Read more…
In 207 B.C., Hannibal had been dominating Italy for 11 years. He had defeated every Roman army that faced him. By this time, the Romans were avoiding battle and just trying to contain him. It was obvious that he could not take Rome, but they could not take him. Read more…
In 1756, the British East India Company was a powerful force in India. It had its own army to protect its trade. In June, the Seven Years War with France loomed near and the company was anticipating it by improving the defenses of Fort William in Calcutta. The local governor Read more…
It occurred on June 19-20, 1944. America had invaded Saipan in the Mariana Islands. Admiral Raymond Spruance (the victor of Midway) headed a large fleet that participated in the invasion and protected the transports after the invasion. The Japanese navy was determined to bring on a decisive naval battle that Read more…
It was actually fought in Belgium three miles south of Waterloo. The French called it the Battle of Mont Saint-Jean Ridge, which was where the British army was placed. Wellington had his headquarters in the town of Waterloo and he decided the battle would be named after it. The British Read more…
In 1909, Sonora Smart Davis sat in a church on Mothers’ Day and heard a sermon that gave the idea of a similar day for fathers. Her father had raised her and her five siblings after their mother died in childbirth. Sonora was inspired by Anna Jarvis, who had Read more…
On March 22, 1944, two white girls disappeared while bicycle riding looking for flowers. The bodies of 11-year-old Betty Binnicker and 7-year-old Mary Thames were found in a ditch the next day. They had been brutally beaten by a blunt object. 14-year-old George Stinney, Jr. had spoken to the Read more…
The 2021 National Defense Authorization Act requires all Army bases named after Confederate generals to undergo a name changes. On June 13, 2023, the military base known as Fort Polk in Louisiana had its name changed to Fort Johnson. It is one of nine military bases that have had Read more…
When his mummy was tested, the DNA showed he had malaria and it might have caused his death. This is the oldest evidence of malaria ever found. The tomb includes a dagger that the Egyptians considered of “extraterrestrial origin”. It turns out it was made from a meteorite. The innermost Read more…
Today is the anniversary of one of the worst war crimes in WWII. Is the death of one Nazi leader worth the death of thousands of people? Reinhard Heydrich was a protégé of Heinrich Himmler. He was the head of the Reich Main Security Office and then was appointed Read more…