Well, it’s the last day of February, and that means another year of Today’s History Lesson is about to enter the history books. I’ll have to do a count of the number of pieces that have come out since March 1st of last year. Three years. That’s how long we’ve been together. Some of the [...]
Archive for February, 2011
Jefferson Upset About Washington’s Secretary
Posted in Constitutional period (1789-1809), United States, tagged 1792, Alexander Hamilton, President George Washington, President Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of the Treasury on February 28 | 2 Comments »
A-Scouting We Will Go…
Posted in Pacific, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1944, Admiralty Islands, Alamo Scouts, General Douglas MacArthur, General William Kreuger, Los Negros Island, Lt. John McGowen, Manus Island on February 27 | Leave a Comment »
Los Negros Island is another one of those places that probably doesn’t ring a bell with too many people. I’ve never been there, but part of its obscurity might have to do with its location – far, far away from the United States and pretty close to Australia. Or maybe it’s the island’s size – [...]
Los Banos: In the Shadow of Suribachi
Posted in Pacific, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1945, Alamo Scouts, Iwo Jima, Los Banos, Luzon, Manila, Mount Suribachi, Philippines, Rescue on February 23 | Leave a Comment »
In the early months of 1945, Douglas MacArthur’s forces worked to reclaim Philippino territory from the Japanese that they had captured back in those “dark” months of 1941 and early 1942. And as the Japanese retreated, their death-before-capture philosophy took a more sinister turn. News filtered back to Allied lines that the Japanese were killing POWs [...]
Kamikazes Take Final Carrier Victims
Posted in Pacific, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1945, Bonin Islands, Iwo Jima, Kamikaze, Mount Suribachi, USS Bismarck Sea, USS Saratoga on February 21 | Leave a Comment »
On February 21, 1945, the fight for the small island of Iwo Jima was entering its third day. Featuring less than 10 square miles of black volcanic residue, Iwo’s main lookout point consisted of Mount Suribachi, from where enemy artillery pieces could shell just about any point on the island. The task of taking Suribachi [...]
Defeat and Victory at Kasserine Pass
Posted in Africa, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1943, Algeria, Battle of Kasserine Pass, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, Kasserine, Tunisia on February 19 | 1 Comment »
The Grand Dorsal sounds like some part of a large dolphin, but it has nothing to do with swimming mammals. To learn a little more about it, you need to consult an atlas. Go to west-central Tunisia, just a stone’s throw (or an artillery shell’s throw, in this case) from the country of Algeria, and [...]
A Valentine can Fix (Almost) Anything
Posted in Later twentieth century (1961-2000), United States, tagged 1976, Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, Valentine's Day on February 14 | Leave a Comment »
Happy Valentine’s Day! I’ve known Ben for seven or eight years, and he’s a good friend of mine. We share a love of baseball and the Atlanta Braves and talk back and forth across a Braves forum quite a bit. We talk on the phone at least once a month, giving our thoughts on baseball [...]
William Symmes Breaks Massachusetts Deadlock
Posted in United States, The Confederation (1783-1789), tagged Boston, U.S. Constitution, 1788, Massachusetts, Ratification, William Symmes on February 5 | 3 Comments »
When a Representative or Senator goes to Washington and doesn’t do what he or she was elected to do, the responses from the constituents are generally predictable. Some will call and gently remind the official of the promises made before the election. Others will call and be somewhat less gentle. A few traditionalists will write [...]
Japanese Holdouts Give it up on Peleliu
Posted in Pacific, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1945, General Douglas MacArthur, General William Rupertus, Peleliu, Surrender on February 1 | Leave a Comment »
The weather outside is frightful for us this evening. It’s been a year since we’ve had a winter storm as nasty as this one, and here in the middle of Iowa, we’ve got it way better than many. It’s a quickie tonight… We’ve haven’t talked about Peleliu for some time, though we’ve visited it several [...]
