On July 20, 1917, Eugene Bullard became a pilot in the Lafayette Flying Corps. Eugene Bullard was the grandson of a slave. He was the seventh child of a poor family in the American South. At age ten, he witnessed the near lynching of his father. Determined to escape racism, Read more…
This is the third anniversary of this site. In honor of that, I am posting one of my favorite anecdotes. It’s a Civil War story and makes light of the fact that many underage boys enlisted. It is estimated that between 260,000 – 420,000 under age teenagers enlisted in the Read more…
The Chicago White Sox were the best team in baseball in 1919. They were the clear favorites to win the World Series. But they didn’t. Because some of the players cheated. It all started when infielder Chick Gandil contacted some gamblers and offered to fix the games. Gamblers slipping underpaid Read more…
Archimedes was one of the greatest minds of the Ancient World. He lived in Syracuse on the island of Sicily. In 215 BCE, Roman general Marcellus laid siege to the city. Being a patriot, Archimedes aided the defense of the city with some amazing weapons. He designed large catapults Read more…
GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER’S EDUCATION – One day in 1878, Mariah Watkins found a fourteen year-old African-American boy sleeping in her wood pile. She took him in and enrolled him in the local one room school house. He did chores and studied until he felt he had learned all he could Read more…
In 1752, the 19-year-old Washington was on an expedition in the wilds of Pennsylvania. His Indian guide took a shot at him that whizzed by his head. In 1755, Washington was serving as an aide to British Gen. Braddock and participated in the Battle of the Monongahela. He had two Read more…
In 1351, France hosted the Breton War of Succession (1341 – 1365). This was a sub-war to the Hundred Years’ War. It was fought for control of the Duchy of Brittany. Jean de Beaumanoir, a prominent knight of the House of Blois, challenged Robert Bemborough, a captain of the Read more…
Here’s the true story of the most famous moment in railroad history. It occurred on May 10, 1869. The finishing of the transcontinental railroad at Promontory, Utah was a big event. A huge crowd was gathered, including many railroad and government officials. The last tie was specially made of Read more…
On April 25, 1777, a force of 2,000 redcoats landed at Westport, Connecticut and marched on Danbury. There they burned homes and destroyed rebel supplies. The raid was similar to the one on Concord, Massachusetts a year earlier. Col. Henry Ludington was in command of the militia forces in Read more…
One of the most dangerous jobs in a Civil War army was carrying your unit’s flag into battle. The colors, as they were called were carried at the front of the unit as it moved towards the enemy. This made them a clear target for enemy fire, plus there Read more…