An interesting historical story.
*** 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…
Douglas Corrigan took a plane flight for $2.50 as a teenager, he instantly fell in love with flying. He got into aviation and became a pilot. He also worked as a mechanic. He was one of the mechanics who worked on Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis. In 1938, he Read more…
Historians messed up on her name. Her actual name is not clearly known, but it was not Joan of Arc. The candidates include: Jehanne d’Arc, Jehanne Tarc, Jehanne Romee, or Jehanne de Vouthon. She was called Jehannette when she was growing up. At her trial, she called herself “Joan la Read more…
Billy the Kid, probably named Henry McCarty or alias William Bonney, was killed on July 14, 1881. The events that led to the incident started in 1878 when Billy’s rancher boss was murdered in a range war. Billy vowed revenge and targeted a Sheriff and Deputy who were in Read more…
Today is Medal of Honor Day in honor of the award instituted on this day by Pres. Lincoln in 1861. There have been over 3,500 recipients. Here are some interesting facts: 1. It is simply called the Medal of Honor, not the Congressional Medal of Honor. There are three versions Read more…
The bad blood began in 1790 when Burr defeated Hamilton’s father-in-law for the Senate. Hamilton considered Burr to be a dangerous opportunist and opposed him when he ran for Vice President in 1796. In 1800, Burr leaked a Hamilton letter criticizing John Adams. In the Election of 1800, Jefferson ended Read more…