When the members of British Parliament debated the Tea Act, some were skeptical of the measure’s success. William Dowdeswell stood up and said, “I tell the Lord Noble [the bill's author] now, if he don’t take off the duty, they won’t take the tea.” He had little idea how accurate he would be. The majority of Parliament’s members didn’t [...]
Archive for November, 2011
Dartmouth: The Tea Party’s First Guest Arrives
Posted in Colonial history (1607-1775), United States, tagged 1773, Boston Tea Party, British East India Company, Dartmouth, Samuel Adams on November 28 | Leave a Comment »
Howard Carter Discovers Gold in Egypt
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged 1922, Egypt, Howard Carter, Pharoah Tutankhamun, Valley of the Kings on November 26 | Leave a Comment »
When I was a junior high student, I maintained a somewhat modest fascination of King Tut. Well, that may not be strictly true, as I knew (and cared) not at all about his short 20-year life. His time as Egypt’s leader didn’t register, either. The cause of his death?…not my concern. Nope. I was interested in all [...]
President Madison Loses his VP
Posted in Early nineteenth century (1810-1850), The War of 1812 (1812-1815), United States, tagged 1814, Elbridge Gerry, Gerrymandering, Hemorrhage, President James Madison on November 23 | Leave a Comment »
It’s Thanksgiving Eve, and while it may not carry the same weight as Christmas Eve, it’s reason enough to keep things brief. For President James Madison, 1814 had not been a particularly kind year. The same could be said for most of the fledgling Union over which Madison served as Commander-in-Chief. The war with Britain [...]
Lake Peigneur: A Volatile Mix of Oil and Salt
Posted in Later twentieth century (1961-2000), United States, tagged 1980, Diamond Crystal Salt Company, Lake Peigneur, Louisiana, Texaco on November 20 | Leave a Comment »
Last summer (the rain-drenched summer of 2010), Lake Delhi ceased to exist. Located in eastern Iowa, the lake was kept in place by a dam. In late July, a 24-hour period of intense rain (more than 10″ fell) simply overwhelmed the dam, collapsing it and sending millions of gallons of water downstream. In general, I’m guessing this [...]
Suchow Feels the Wrath of War
Posted in Period between World Wars (1919-1939), tagged 1937, China, General Nakajima Kesago, Nanking, Suchow, Suzhou on November 19 | Leave a Comment »
The Japanese capture of Shanghai in November of 1937 left the Chinese army retreating to the west. Chiang Kai-shek’s forces had done what they could to protect the important Chinese port, but they were simply overmatched, if not in numbers, then in technology, organization, and firepower. From the Japanese point of view, there were a [...]
Cape Ann Temblor Turns Citizens to Quakers
Posted in Colonial history (1607-1775), United States, tagged 1755, Boston, Cape Ann, Cape Ann Earthquake, Earthquake, Massachusetts on November 18 | Leave a Comment »
Several months back I got a smartphone. I really didn’t have much interest in one at the time, but since our company was planning to build a mobile version of one of our websites, it kind of made sense (as one of the developers) to have one. So now we’re developing the site, and it’s [...]
Fire and Brimstone at Church in Coventry
Posted in Europe, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1940, Coventry, England, St. Michael's Cathedral, The Blitz on November 14 | Leave a Comment »
For Richard Howard and Jock Forbes, this night would be a lot like preceding nights, and that meant little sleep, a lot of stress, and constant vigilance. Howard was the provost of St. Michael’s Cathedral and Jock was the caretaker. It was November 14, 1940, it was Coventry, it was England, and it was the middle [...]
Eliza: “Ever yours” – A H
Posted in Middle nineteenth century (1848-1861), United States, tagged 1854, Alexander Hamilton, Elizabeth Hamilton, President James Madison, President James Monroe on November 9 | Leave a Comment »
“For Eliza Hamilton, the collapse of her world was total, overwhelming, and remorseless. Within three years, she had had to cope with four close deaths: her eldest son, her sister Peggy, her mother, and her husband, not to mention the mental breakdown of her eldest daughter.” So begins the epilogue to Ron Chernow’s sweeping and [...]
A Rainstorm of Bombs on Rabaul
Posted in Pacific, World War II (1939-1945), tagged 1943, New Britain, Operation Cartwheel, Rabaul, Task Force 38 on November 5 | Leave a Comment »
Rabaul. In all of the readings here (which now number more than 700), there has been precious little said about Rabaul. That’s going to change…at least for today. As you might know, there isn’t a whole lot to say about the present-day place…oh, where is it? Ok, go to your globe and find Australia. Then [...]
