The U.S. Military Academy was founded in 1802. It was located at West Point on the Hudson River in New York. It soon gained a reputation for hard partying. In 1817, Sylvanus Thayer was appointed Superintendent with the understanding Read more…
After WWII in Europe ended, Gen. George Patton’s main motivation was to continue his war in the Pacific. But Gen. MacArthur did not want to share the spotlight, so Patton’s fighting days were over. He did not fit peacetime Read more…
Task Force 38 had faced a lot of “divine wind” (kamikazes) during the Philippines campaign, but on Dec. 18, 1944 it faced an actual wind. This storm was officially Typhoon Cobra, but it is better known as Halsey’s Typhoon. Read more…
Deborah was born on Dec. 17, 1760 in Plympton, Mass. She was the great-great granddaughter of William Bradford. She was one of seven kids. When she was five, her father did not return from a sea voyage. It was Read more…
Everyone knows one of Thomas Edison’s greatest inventions was the light bulb. I taught that. Unfortunately, I was passing on a myth. As early as 1761, inventors knew that you could pass electricity through wire to make it incandescent. Read more…
1861 – first documented game (similar to rugby) played in Toronto, Canada 1869 – first college football game – Princeton defeats Rutgers 6-4 / the field is 120 yards long / 25 players on each side 1875 – ball is Read more…
In 1903, British sportswriter Henry Chadwick riled America when he claimed that the “nation’s game” of baseball was actually an evolution of the British game called “rounders”. He seemed to have a strong argument. Rounders involved hitting a thrown ball Read more…
Earlier this week, I was posting my Today in History and saw that Dec. 4 was Crazy Horse’s birthday. I thought to myself “how do they know that date was when he was born”? Indians did not keep records of Read more…
On November 7, 1872, the brigantine (a two-masted sailing ship) left New York harbor on a trip to Genoa, Italy. On board were Captain Benjamin Briggs, his wife and their two-year-old daughter. And a crew of eight. On Dec. Read more…
There is a new war movie out entitled “Devotion”. It is based on the true story of the first black naval aviator and his white friend and wing man Thomas Hudner. The movie is commendably accurate. The climactic incident in Read more…