If you think America originated using a rodent to predict the weather, you would be wrong! The ancient Celts had a pagan festival celebrating the coming of spring called Imbolc. This evolved into the Christian festival of Candlemas on Read more…
Sometimes a picture can influence history. Such was the case for a photo taken on Feb. 1, 1968. It was the second day of the Tet Offensive in Saigon. Just the day before, a Viet Cong sapper squad had Read more…
On Jan. 31, 1968, as part of the Tet Offensive, a 19-man Viet Cong sapper team broke into the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. Their mission was to seize the main building and take hostages. They approached in a truck Read more…
Most of you know the famous Icarus story, but here is the rest of the story. When King Minos found out that Daedalus had given his daughter the sword and string that Theseus used to kill the Minotaur, he Read more…
Henry Mudgett was born to a middle-class family in New Hampshire. His childhood was uneventful and yet he would grow up to be one of America’s first serial killers. He graduated from medical school, but never became a practicing Read more…
Don’t learn your history from Disney. Actually, the movie “Pocahontas” did not invent the legend. The tale of Pocahontas saving John Smith’s life is almost surely a myth. In the famous story, Smith had been captured by her father Read more…
17 astronauts have died in the space program. The first three perished in an accident on Jan. 27, 1967. Virgil Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee were training for the first Apollo mission. It was scheduled for Feb. 21. Read more…
In military terminology, “Broken Arrow” is an accident involving a nuclear bomb that does not result in detonation. From 1950-1980, there were 21 declassified incidents where nuclear bombs were lost, accidentally dropped, ejected from a plane for safety reasons, or Read more…
Several phrases we use today originated in the Royal Navy in the days of wooden warships. “chock-a-block” – this refers to the blocks used on pulleys to raise cargo onto the ship. When the two blocks got next to Read more…
A typical seaman in the Royal Navy in the early 19th Century was awakened at 3:40. He and his mates gathered on the deck for muster and inspection and then morning watch began. Each tar (as the sailors were Read more…