Anecdote
GERTRUDE EDERLE
Gertrude was born on Oct. 23, 1905 in New York City to German immigrants. She loved to swim as a girl and dropped out of school as a teenager to train as a competitive swimmer. She joined the Women’s Read more…
Anecdote
FACTS ABOUT TIMOTHY LEARY
He was born on Oct. 22, 1920 in Springfield, Massachusetts. He claimed he was conceived the day before Prohibition went into effect. His dentist father left his family when Timothy, Jr. was 14. He went to West Point, but didn’t Read more…
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ALEXANDER HAMILTON, JR.’s REVENGE
Alexander Hamilton, Jr was studying law when his father was shot in the most famous duel in American History. The duel took place at the same place where his older brother Phillip had been killed by a Burr supporter. Read more…
Anecdote
MATA HARI
On Oct. 15, 1917, the most infamous WWI spy was executed. She had been born 41 years earlier in Holland as Margaretha Zell. She married a Dutch soldier and they moved to Malaysia. It was there that she learned Read more…
Anecdote
THE BULL MOOSE GETS PINKED
In 1912, Teddy Roosevelt was running for President for the Progressive Party, better known as the Bull Moose Party. The ever-energetic Teddy was travelling the country giving numerous speeches. On Oct. 14, Roosevelt was in Milwaukee for a speech. Read more…
Anecdote
MOLLY PITCHER
Revolutionary War heroine Mary Hays was born on Oct. 13, 1754 (or 1744). She may have been a servant before she married William Hays. When William Hays joined the Continental Army, she went along as a camp follower. Read more…
Anecdote
THE CHINESE FOG OF WAR
The ancient Chinese are credited with inventing biological warfare. In the 7th Century B.C., the fumigation of homes to kill pests gave the military the idea for chemical agents. Historians have uncovered hundreds of recipes for them. One was Read more…
Anecdote
CLEVELAND’S SECRET OPERATION
With Presidential health in the news lately, here is the first in my series on Presidents who had health problems. After Grover Cleveland had been elected for the second time, he noticed a small bump on the roof Read more…
Anecdote
“AMERICA’S ACE OF ACES”
One of the greatest fighter pilots in American History was born on Oct. 8, 1890. He was born Eddie Rickenbacher to Swedish immigrants. He later changed the spelling to Rickenbacker to be less German-looking. He added the middle name Vernon Read more…
Anecdote
NAPOLEON VERSUS THE RABBITS
In 1807, after signing the Treaties of Tilsit which ended a war between France and Russia, Napoleon proposed a celebratory rabbit hunt. He put his chief of staff Alexandre Berthier in charge. Berthier found a rabbit farmer in the Read more…