An interesting historical story.
He was the sixth of eleven kids from a poor upper-class family. He was sent to sea under his uncle at age 12. His uncle famously said that perhaps a cannon ball would take off his head and thus solve his financial straits. He took to life at sea, but Read more…
In Feb., 1839, Portuguese slave hunters kidnapped hundreds of Africans and brought them to Cuba for sale. Two Spanish plantation owners bought 53 at auction. They were loaded on a ship called the Amistad (“friendship”) and sailed for the Caribbean island where they had their plantations. The cargo consisted Read more…
He was the illegitimate son of Sir Thomas Chapman. Chapman had an affair with the governess to his children and then left his wife for her. They lived as man and wife under the name Lawrence. They moved around a lot and all five sons were born in different parts Read more…
Catherine of Aragon – Henry became king at age 17 in 1509. Six weeks later, he married his brother Arthur’s widow. She was 24. She was the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella. She had Mary in 1516, but had several failed pregnancies which increasingly angered Henry, who was obsessed with Read more…
It was created in 1908 under President Teddy Roosevelt and was originally simply called the “special agent force”. One year later, it became the Bureau of Investigations and then the Department of Investigations. It became the FBI in 1935. J. Edgar Hoover got his first job with the Department of Read more…
*** Today is the birthday of the luckiest assassin in history. Gavrilo Princip was born on July 25, 1894. The story of his assassination of Franz Ferdinand was partly responsible for my love of history and history anecdotes in particular. I first heard the story in 6th grade American History Read more…
The first time she saw a plane, at the 1908 Iowa State Fair, she was not impressed. Years later, during WWI, she volunteered as a nurse’s aide at Toronto’s Spadina Military Hospital. She hung around with the pilots at the nearby airfield and enjoyed watching their flights. The bug hit Read more…
In August, 1587, 115 settlers arrived at Roanoke Island in what is today North Carolina. A couple of months later, John White sailed back to England to get more supplies. He left his daughter and his granddaughter Virginia Dare. Virginia was the first English child born in America. Unfortunately, Read more…
On this day in 1871, the English Football Association established the FA Cup. The first final was played the next year with the Wanderers beating the Royal Engineers 1-0. Rules were quite a bit different back then. Here are some interesting facts about early soccer rules. In 1848, various Read more…
She was born Norma Jean Mortenson. The head of new talent at Fox suggested the first name Marilyn because he looked like a Marilyn to him. Specifically, the actress Marilyn Miller. Norma chose Monroe as her last name to honor her grandmother. Her grandmother and mother both had mental issues. Read more…