Oh yes, it’s true. Believe it or else, there is a place where it’s Christmas all the time. Christmas Island is a tiny postage-stamp-sized piece of property (~50 square miles) located about 300 miles south of Jakarta, Indonesia. The island, discovered in 1643 on Easter Sunday, was known fo… …just kidding. It was discovered on [...]
Archive for March, 2008
Merry Christmas!!!
Posted in Pacific, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1942, Christmas Island, Japan on March 31 | Leave a Comment »
The Army-Navy Game
Posted in Pacific, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1942, Admiral Chester Nimitz, General Douglas MacArthur on March 30 | Leave a Comment »
The early part of 1942 had been particularly kind to Japan’s military. Not only had it scored a staggering victory at Pearl Harbor, it had added insult to injury by taking the Philippines, Hong Kong, Singapore and the Malay Peninsula, the Dutch East Indies, and islands in the Aleutians. For the American military, the task of battling [...]
Patience, Grasshopper…
Posted in Early nineteenth century (1810-1850), tagged Mexican War, siege, Winfield Scott on March 29 | 1 Comment »
Other than perhaps a blockade, the siege seems like the most boring of all military maneuvers. It’s very effective, of course, and it means a low number of casualties for the siege-er. But it’s slow and dull – unless you happen to be the one being sieged, I guess. Needing to establish a base in [...]
Not So Sure About Censures…
Posted in Early nineteenth century (1810-1850), tagged Andrew Jackson, censure on March 28 | Leave a Comment »
Andrew Jackson hated the very idea of a national bank. Of this there is no doubt. He called the Bank of the United States ”a monster” and said that it “corrupted” and “threatened” our liberty. He instructed the Treasury Secretary to withdraw the country’s deposits from the bank in order to cripple it. And then when that [...]
Canary Islands Disaster
Posted in Later twentieth century (1961-2000), tagged 1977, Boeing 747, Canary Islands, Seconds From Disaster, Tenerife Island on March 27 | 2 Comments »
It was March 27, 1970 when the Concorde made its first supersonic flight, but airplanes not yet off the ground are the subject of Today’s History Lesson and are what dominated the news for months following this date in 1977. The Canary Islands are famous for tourism and vacation getaways, but the island of Tenerife [...]
A Little Peace and Quiet
Posted in Pacific, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1945, Bonin Islands, General Tadamichi Kuribayashi, Iwo Jima on March 26 | Leave a Comment »
Today’s History Lesson marks an ending. The Battle of Iwo Jima, begun on February 19, 1945, had been fought with tenacity and brutality. Three U.S. Marine Divisions had slogged it out against more than 20,000 Japanese soldiers for more than a month. The prize? Three airfields and less than ten square miles of property. But [...]
The Case of the Missing Forts
Posted in Armies. Troops, Civil War period (1861-1865), Confederate States of America, tagged Fort Stedman, Grant, Lee, Petersburg on March 25 | Leave a Comment »
In accordance with his nature, Robert E. Lee wanted to make one final assault in what everyone knew to be the last days of the Confederacy. All he hoped to do, he told Jeff Davis, was “delay the impending disaster.” He decided that an assault on Fort Stedman just outside Petersburg, VA might break the [...]
The 3 R’s – Ruthless, Relentless, Remorseless – Pt. 2
Posted in Mediterranean, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1944, Ardeatine Caves, Catacombs, Herbert Kappler, Rome on March 24 | Leave a Comment »
By noon of March 24, 1944, Kappler (with the help of Roman police chief Pietro Caruso) had his list completed, and it contained 320 names, 10 for each of the 32 soldiers killed. When a 33rd soldier died, Kappler added another 10 names to the list. A great many were simply political prisoners, along with a number of [...]
The 3 R’s – Ruthless, Relentless, Remorseless – Pt. 1
Posted in Mediterranean, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1944, Herbert Kappler, Partisans, Rome on March 23 | Leave a Comment »
March 23, 1944 – 3:40pm - A troop of SS policeman walked in formation up the Via del Traforo and turned left on to the Via Rasella. Most of the men, too old to fight in actual combat, were charged with maintaining order in the city of Rome, but that was becoming an increasingly difficult task. [...]
Happy Birthday, Chico!!
Posted in Late nineteenth century (1865-1900), tagged 1887, Animal Crackers, Leonard Marx, Marx Brothers on March 22 | Leave a Comment »
I write mostly about World War II but, on occasion, I simply have to take detours. Today is one of those days. March 22nd marks the birthday of Leonard Marx, better known as Chico, one of the Marx Brothers. Chico (shown on the far right in the photo) was born in 1887 and, along with his [...]
A Welcomed Massacre
Posted in Colonial history (1607-1775), tagged colonies, Indian relations, Jamestown on March 22 | 2 Comments »
On this day way back in 1622, a well-coordinated surprise attack by Algonquian Indians outside of the settlement of Jamestown left 347 men, women and children dead – almost a third of the entire population of the Virginina colonies. So let’s see… Jamestown was founded in 1607, so that it means it took just 15 years [...]
If You’re a Poet and You Know It…
Posted in Later twentieth century (1961-2000), tagged 1999, UNESCO, World Poetry Day on March 21 | 1 Comment »
…it’s a day to celebrate!! In 1999, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, better known as UNESCO, declared March 21st to be World Poetry Day. Some form of World Poetry Day has been celebrated for hundreds of years, but the date has varied…sometimes in October, occasionally in November. But no matter the date, [...]
Hitler, the German Folk-Nero
Posted in Europe, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1945, Adolf Hitler, Albert Speer, Nero Decree, Scorched Earth on March 19 | Leave a Comment »
By March 19, 1945, the War in Europe was, for the Germans, lost. For those living in Germany at at the time, life was spent trying to find food to stay alive while avoiding the incessant rain of artillery shells, bombs, and bullets, also in an effort to stay alive. Allied troops were closing in on [...]
La Salle’s La Mutiny
Posted in Colonial history (1607-1775), tagged explorers, La Salle, Mississippi on March 19 | Leave a Comment »
We celebrated a birth here a few days ago. I guess it’s time we look at the anniversary of a death. On March 19, 1682, Rene-Robert La Salle was mutinied by his own men while trying to set up a colony near the Gulf of Mexico. What could cause such violence? Well, let’s see. The 300 [...]
Ashes to Ashes…
Posted in Mediterranean, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1944, Italy, Mt. Vesuvius, North American B-25 Mitchell, Volcano on March 18 | 2 Comments »
It has often been said that volcanoes wait for no man. Well, it hasn’t been said all that often…ok, it probably hasn’t been said at all. But, while I’m no expert, it’s pretty safe to say that volcanoes do run on their own timetables. Anyways, if you’re like me (and I know I am), you’ve been fascinated with [...]
Yes Retreat, No Surrender
Posted in Colonial history (1607-1775), tagged Boston, Dorchester Heights, George Washington on March 17 | Leave a Comment »
After more than 6 months of occupying Boston, the city at the heart of the Revolution, General Howe was more than ready to leave. As early as January, London had given him permission to take his troops to New York City, a much better spot to lanuch an offensive campaign, but by the time word [...]
Goodbye, Versailles!!
Posted in Period between World Wars (1919-1939), tagged 1935, John Simon, Versailles Treaty on March 16 | 2 Comments »
On March 16, 1935, Adolf Hitler took the terms of the Versailles Treaty (which ended World War I) and tossed them in the garbage. He established universal military service and created a peacetime army of nearly half a million men, a Navy, armoured divisions, and an official Air Force…and then he waited. He waited for France [...]
Happy 247th!
Posted in Early nineteenth century (1810-1850), tagged James Madison, War of 1812 on March 16 | 2 Comments »
Birthday wishes go out to James Madison, our 4th president, who would turn a ripe, old 247 today - if he had made it this long. Despite his impressive resume (principal author of both the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and Commander-in-Chief during the country’s 2nd American Revolution), he’s not thought of that highly by historians. He had the [...]
Good Strategy Gives Hitler Czech-mate
Posted in Period between World Wars (1919-1939), tagged 1939, Adolf Hitler, Czechoslovakia, Dr. Emil Hacha, Neville Chamberlain, Sudetenland on March 15 | Leave a Comment »
My chess game is pretty lousy. I’ve won a few games, mostly by scouting my opponents carefully and sitting opposite the weak, the infirmed, the visually impaired, infants, small tranquilized dogs, and tulips. Chess takes strategy, forethought, good analysis, and sometimes a bit good of fortune. Chess matches not played on chessboards require much the same. Adolf [...]
“Only a boy named David…”
Posted in Scandanavia, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1940, Finland, Josef Stalin, Mannerheim Line, Soviet Union, Winter War on March 13 | 1 Comment »
If you haven’t heard the story of David (the little teenager) and Goliath (the nine-foot giant warrior), it’s pretty simple. Goliath mocks Israel, David challenges Goliath with rocks, Goliath mocks David, David “rocks” Goliath. Fast-forward about 3,000 years to the fall of 1939. The Soviet Union had been bullying Finland for several months, requesting land as a [...]
