HIRAM REVELS

                Hiram Revels was born to free parents in North Carolina on Sept. 27, 1827.  He became an ordained minister in 1845.  During the Civil War, he helped organized two African-American infantry regiments and served as a chaplain.  In 1870, he became the first black elected to Congress when he Read more…

THE TITANIC’S BINOCULARS

                When second officer Charles Lightoller took his new position on the Titanic, he neglected to ask his predecessor for the keys to the locker where the binoculars were stored.  On the fateful night, a lookout spotted the iceberg with his naked eyes.  The ships engines were immediately stopped and Read more…

HISTORY OF PEPSI-COLA

   There were many copycats to Coke and usually Coke was successful in suing them out of business.  In 1893, a North Carolina pharmacist named Caleb Bradham came up with “Brad’s Drink” which he renamed Pepsi-Cola to imply pepsin which was good for stomach ailments.  His company went bankrupt due Read more…

TUNNEL 57

                The greatest mass escape from East Berlin during the period of the Berlin Wall occurred on the nights of October 3 and 4, 1964.  It all started because a boy wanted to reunite with his girl.  Joachim Neumann had escaped in 1961 using a borrowed passport, but he had Read more…

BOUDICCA

                When King Prasutagus of the Iceni tribe in Roman Britain died, he left half his kingdom to the Romans to pay off his debts to them.  The Romans, being greedy, decided they wanted the whole kingdom.  When Prastagus’ wife stood up to the Romans, she was flogged and her Read more…

MAD JACK CHURCHILL

                John Churchill was born on Sept. 16, 1906.  He graduated from Sandhurst military academy and served in Burma.  In 1936, he left the army and became a newspaper editor.  He also modeled.  He became a world class archer and competed in the 1939 World Archery Championship.  His archery skills Read more…

LEE’S LOST ORDER

                You could argue the South lost the Civil War on Sept. 13, 1862.  That was the day Corporal Barton Mitchell of the 27th Indiana Volunteers found a paper wrapped around three cigars at a campsite near Frederick, Maryland.  The camp had been used by the Army of Northern Virginia Read more…

CALVIN GRAHAM

                Calvin Graham wanted to serve his country after Pearl Harbor.  The problem was he was only 12.  However, the recruiter either did not have a good eye for age or didn’t care, so with the help of forging his mother’s signature, Calvin became the youngest serviceman in the U.S. Read more…