President Truman’s daughter Margaret wanted to be a professional singer. It turned out that she was not very good at it. On Dec. 6, 1950, she gave a concert at Constitutional Hall. The next day, the Washington Post’s music Read more…
His mother was an American socialite who was introduced to Lord Randolph Churchill at a regatta by future King Edward VII. His mother had a snake tattoo on her wrist. She remarried twice, both men were twenty years younger. He Read more…
On December 8, 1814, a British fleet reached Ship Island 60 miles east of New Orleans. British rowboats armed with small carronades and carrying British soldiers ran off a motley American flotilla. The British crossed bayous to put an army Read more…
Long before Benedict Arnold, there was Gaius Marcius Coriolanus. Gaius grew up in a patrician family. When he reached adulthood he became an officer in the Roman army. In 493 B.C., a Roman army was laying siege to the Read more…
Roman military history is a popular subgenre in military history. Many books have been written about this period. Unfortunately, most of the original sources have been lost to history. For instance, Livy wrote a History of Rome from its Read more…
The B-17 bomber was called “Ye Olde Pub”. It was on its first mission. The target was a German aircraft factory in Breman, Germany. The date was May 25, 1943. Its pilot was 2nd Lt. Charles “Charlie” Brown. Bremen Read more…
In 1966, the US began a bombing campaign in the Vietnam War called Operation Rolling Thunder. Most of the bombs were dropped by F-105 Thunderchiefs (called Thuds) fighter-bombers. The pilots faced some of the best air defenses in history. Read more…
The Peloponnesian War was a war pitting Athens and Sparta. Although Athens was the cultural heart of ancient Greece, it had provoked the war. By 415, both sides had suffered defeats and celebrated victories. A tenuous peace was in Read more…
In 295 B.C.E., Rome was faced with the chilling prospect of four peoples combining against it. The situation was so dire that Rome had five men who were given imperium. In other words, the Romans had five armies in Read more…
Publius Clodius Pulcher was one of the most notorious Roman politicians. He was born in 93 B.C. to an important patrician family. In 73 B.C., he accused Cataline of sex with a Vestal Virgin. Cataline was found innocent and Read more…