When Ho Chi Minh declared independence, he borrowed from the Declaration of Independence. “All men are created equal. The Creator has given us certain individual rights, the right to life, the right to be free, and the right to achieve happiness.” When the new and supposedly improved M-16 machine Read more…
– On August 4, 1964, President Johnson went on national television to tell about an unprovoked attack on American warships off the coast of North Vietnam. He announced that the U.S. had already launched retaliatory air raids on North Vietnam. Three days later, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution which Read more…
On August 3, 1943, Gen. George Patton visited a field hospital on the island of Sicily. He was coming off the capture of the city of Palermo and was moving on Messina. “Old Blood and Guts” toured the hospital, stopping at beds to chat with the wounded soldiers. He Read more…
The last of the three battles of Red Cloud’s War occurred on August 2, 1867. The war was an attempt by the Sioux and Cheyenne Indians to force whites to abandon the Bozeman Trail, which crossed Indian lands to get to the gold fields of Montana. Earlier, the Indians Read more…
It is estimated that around 400 women disguised themselves as men to serve as soldiers in the Civil War. One of the most famous was born Sarah Edmonds in Canada. The youngest of five daughters of a disciplinarian father who preferred sons, she worked on the farm doing men’s Read more…
In 1864, Gen. Grant’s campaign to capture Richmond and destroy Lee’s Army of North Virginia ran into a brick wall at Petersburg. Both sides dug in and if you think trench warfare began in WWI, think again. There was even a no man’s land between the front lines. In Read more…
July 28 is National Buffalo Soldier Day. July 28 was chosen because on that day in 1866, Congress passed the Army Organization Act. Four black (colored was the term used at the time) regiments – the 9th and 10th Cavalries and the 24th and 25th Infantries. Although all the Read more…
The first month of the Korean War was chaotic and full of military failures for the South Korean army and its allied U.S. Army. The invasion came as a complete surprise and the North Korean army quickly captured Seoul and rolled southward with little opposition. American forces had been Read more…
Colonial New England had an interesting custom known as “bundling” (also called tarrying). It was used for courting The practice originated in either Holland or Great Britain and was brought over to the colonies where it was especially popular in Pennsylvania with the Dutch settlers.. A young couple would Read more…
You may have heard the creepy children’s story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. The most common version comes from the Brothers Grimm. The city of Hamelin in Germany was having a rat problem when a man dressed in multi-colored clothing (“pied”) offered to remove them. The city fathers Read more…