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…
America’s independence was not celebrated until after the War of 1812. It was then decided that July 4 would be the day. This was a bad decision because the United States actually declared independence on July 2. That was the day that a resolution by Richard Henry Lee was approved Read more…
On June 30, 1908, a tremendous explosion occurred over a remote part of Siberia in Russia. It was equivalent to a 20-megaton explosion. It was 1,000 times the power of the Hiroshima atomic bomb. The area was called Tunguska and it was so off the beaten path that the Read more…