An interesting historical story.
At 5:13 A.M. on Tuesday April 18, 1906, San Francisco was hit by an earthquake that has been estimated to be an 8.5 on the Richter scale. It was felt 730 miles away. It destroyed electric lines, trolley tracks, water pipes, bridges, and buildings. Communications, transportation, and medical services Read more…
The Great Roman Fire started on the night of June 18, 64 A.D. It most likely started either in an apartment building or a shop. Poor Romans lived in multi-story apartment buildings called insulae. People cooked in their apartments. Some of the shops sold fast food or sold flammable Read more…
In 1939, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union divided Poland. Within two years, Hitler broke their nonaggression pact and invaded Russia. By 1943, the Red Army was pushing German forces back into Eastern Europe. On April 13, 1943, the Germans uncovered mass graves in the Katyn Forest near Smolensk Read more…
William Pitsenbarger was 21 when he sacrificed his life for others. He was born in Ohio on July 8, 1944. As a high school junior, he tried to enlist in the Marines, but his parents refused to sign off. After graduating, he enlisted in the Air Force and volunteered Read more…
So how did we get a rabbit associated with the Resurrection of Jesus Christ? In the Neolithic Age into the Iron Age, some cultures buried people with a rabbit as a symbol of rebirth. The ancient Greeks associated rabbits with Aphrodite and her son Eros was sometimes depicted holding Read more…
America had Jesse James. Australia had Ned Kelly. And England had Dick Turpin. All three were popular heroes who were noted for their “rob from the rich and give to the poor” Robin Hoodish careers in crime. Unlike Robin Hood, all three men were actual historical figures and the Read more…
I still enjoyed teaching, even after 39 years, because I looked forward to telling anecdotes. But I also enjoyed telling jokes. I started each class with one of my story jokes. And occasionally I was able to squeeze one into a lesson. The joke below was told as part of Read more…
One of the most remarkable small unit actions in American History occurred on the night of June 15, 1966. In the Vietnam War, small units of soldiers or Marines would sometimes be dropped off in the jungle to scout for enemy formations. This could be dangerous if the unit Read more…
It is believed that Dolley Madison mentioned hosting an Easter egg roll and Abe Lincoln apparently hosted a private party. Here is the chronology for what is now officially held the Monday after Easter Sunday. 1872 – the first public Easter egg roll was held on Capitol Hill in Read more…
The relationship between the American media and the military has often been adversarial. However, while the news media pats itself on the back for reporting the truth in war (e.g., the My Lai Massacre), we also have examples of the media “enhancing” stories (sometimes with Pentagon collusion). America went Read more…