The bugle sounded, followed by the Rebel Yell. What followed was the most infamous massacre of the Civil War. In March, 1864 Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest launched a cavalry raid into western Kentucky and Tennessee. One of his targets was Fort Pillow, located on the Mississippi River near Read more…
In March, 2004, four military contractors were killed in Fallujah, Iraq. When their bodies were burned and hung from a bridge, the Pentagon decided it was time to clean out the city. Operation Phantom Fury was planned as a massive effort by the Marines to go street by street, Read more…
After three days without food or water (or bathroom facilities), the two men emerged from the wood pile and began their journey to freedom. Rudolf Vrba (19 years old) and Alfred Wetzler (26 years old) were inmates in Auschwitz. Both men were obsessed with bringing the true story of Read more…
The words “My country ‘tis of thee, sweet land of liberty” rang out to the crowd of 75,000 in front of the Lincoln Memorial to begin the most famous concert ever held in the national capital. The nation listened via NBC Radio. The singer, contralto Marian Anderson, became Read more…
This is my favorite fable from Aesop. A boy returned home one day with a book that he had stolen from a classmate. Instead of scolding and punishing her son, the mother asked him if anyone had seen him take it. When her son said no, she complimented him. Read more…
Willie Kellogg was born the seventh of sixteen kids on April 7, 1860 in Battle Creek, Michigan. A poor student, Will dropped out after sixth grade and went to work as a broom salesman for his father’s broom company. After eight years, he took a three-month business course and Read more…
He was born Erik Weisz in Hungary on March 24, 1874. His family moved to Wisconsin when he was 4. He was nicknamed Harry. As a child he developed a love of magic. In particular, he idolized a French magician named Jean-Eurgene Robert-Houdin. He adopted his name, adding an i Read more…
This story was a popular one for Spartan parents to tell their sons. Once upon a time, there was a Spartan boy living in the barracks with other boys his age. The boys never seemed to get enough food. This was to toughen them up and they were encouraged Read more…
We do not know the date of the first Easter. In fact, we are not even sure what year Jesus was crucified. I used 30 A.D. in my Western Civ class, but I have also seen 33 A.D. The idea of celebrating the Resurrection goes back to the early Read more…
On April 3, 1860 the most famous mail service in American History started. It went from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California. It normally took ten days (in comparison to 25 by way of stagecoach). The record was the delivery of Lincoln’s first inaugural address in March, 1861 in 7 Read more…