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…

OPERATION EICHE

                On July 19, 1943 Rome was bombed with significant damage.  This was the last straw for Mussolini’s reign.  A week later, the Grand Council took a vote of no confidence and the next day Il Duce was summoned to the palace.  He was surprisingly shocked to learn that he Read more…

THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE

                9/11 is remembered for the terrorist attack, but it is also the day of another atrocity motivated by religion.  In 1857, the Mormons were settled in Utah, but not getting along with the U.S. government, which controlled the Utah Territory.  President Buchanan was sending federal troops to exert control Read more…

CHARLES DARWIN’S VOYAGE

                On Oct. 2, 1836 the HMS Beagle returned to Great Britain after a five-year voyage around the world.  The ten-gun brig’s most famous passenger was a young naturalist named Charles Darwin.  Darwin had turned to naturalism after dropping out of medical school (much to the displeasure of his doctor Read more…