In 1859, the leader of Bryant’s Minstrels came to Daniel Decatur Emmett, his main song writer, and asked him to come up with a new “walkaround”. Minstrel shows ended shows with a song acted out by a few minstrels, who would then be joined by the whole troupe. It Read more…
Lacrosse is the oldest team sport being played in North America today. It is believed to have originated around 1100. It was connected to Native American mythology. Eastern Woodland Indians felt it was part of the creation of man. A gift from the gods. It was played birds versus Read more…
Gen. John Burgoyne had a brilliant plan to march from Canada into New York and cut the New England colonies off from the rest. Divide and conquer – a tried and true tactic. And it would be so easy because his British army with its ferocious Indian allies could Read more…
One week after his game-changing victory at Trenton, Washington decided to tempt fate by recrossing the Delaware. It was a very risky move that could have (and should have) lost the Revolution. British General Cornwallis, seeking revenge, swooped down on the Rebel army. His superior army arrived in the Read more…
George Rogers Clark was a great hero of the Revolutionary War. He led a group of frontiersmen in fighting the British in the Ohio River Valley. His greatest feat was the capture of the British fort and settlement at Vincennes. To reach it, he led his men on a Read more…
The Battle of Saratoga was the turning point of the Revolutionary War. The victory resulted in France’s entry into the conflict on the side of the Colonies. The win would not have happened without the valorous leadership of Benedict Arnold. He led a decisive charge and was wounded in Read more…
John Paul Jones was famously losing the battle with the HMS Serapis when he uttered his famous response to a surrender demand: “I have not yet begun to fight!” At the time, this seemed an act of false bravado and the statement would have been forgotten if Jones had Read more…
Button Gwinnett was born on March 3, 1735 in England. He became a merchant, but in 1762 he and his family moved to America. He ended up purchasing a plantation (with its slaves) in Georgia. He went into politics and was elected to the Second Continental Congress. He signed Read more…
In 207 B.C., Hannibal had been in Italy for 11 years. It had been 9 years since his stunning victory at Cannae. In that battle, he destroyed a Roman army of 80,000 men, but he was not able to get Rome to concede that the war was lost. Since Read more…