“The immense house was still unfinished. It reeked of wet plaster and wet paint. Fires had to be kept blazing in every fireplace on the main floor to speed up the drying process. Only a twisting back stair had been built between floors. Closet doors were missing. There were no bells to ring for service. [...]
Archive for the ‘United States’ Category
“…The Best of Blessings on this House…”
Posted in Constitutional period (1789-1809), United States, tagged 1800, Alexander Hamilton, Executive Mansion, Federalist, President John Adams, White House on November 1 | 1 Comment »
Bob Ross: 30 Minutes of Awesome
Posted in Twentieth century (1901-1960), United States, tagged 1942, Bob Ross, Public Television, The Joy of Painting on October 29 | 5 Comments »
It’s a special day at Today’s History Lesson. I’m just brimming with stuff to talk about, though I have but one subject.
For those of you that grew up watching Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, you know how relaxing…and calming…and soothing…and gentle that program was. Rambunctious children like you, by the millions, exorcised their “energy” demons with this magic [...]
Hamilton, Madison, and Jay: Ministers of Defense
Posted in The Confederation (1783-1789), United States, tagged 1787, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, President James Madison, Publius, The Federalist Papers, The Independent Journal on October 27 | 1 Comment »
As we saw a few months back, the ratification of the U.S. Constitution caused no end of debate among the Colonists. The new charter called for a stronger central government than the Articles it replaced, albeit a 3-sided government designed to hold itself in check.
But its passage, in September of 1787, had the effect of dividing the [...]
The Blue Flame: Sun, Salt, and Speed
Posted in Later twentieth century (1961-2000), United States, tagged 1970, Blue Flame, Bonneville Salt Flats, Craig Breedlove, Gary Gabelich, Land Speed Record on October 23 | Leave a Comment »
This was a somewhat bizarre and puzzling piece to put together, and I’ll explain why in a couple minutes. But first…
When I was a kid, I spent a lot of time looking at a paperback copy of the Guiness Book of World Records. It was a blue paperback (as I recall), and I believe it [...]
Black Monday: Stock Market Crash and Burn
Posted in Later twentieth century (1961-2000), tagged 1987, Black Monday, Dow Jones Industrial Average, Stock Market Crash on October 19 | 2 Comments »
It seems like October is “stock market” month. In the years since 1791, when the Bank of the United States first issued stock, millionaires by the thousands have been made and destroyed through the vicissitudes of the market (ah, there’s that cool word again…remember it?) as it has navigated through this particular 31-day cycle.
A year [...]
A Mexican Jumping Beamon
Posted in Later twentieth century (1961-2000), United States, tagged 1968, Bob Beamon, Long Jump, Mexico City, Olympics on October 18 | Leave a Comment »
Over the years, the Olympics have provided us with some really memorable moments. Of the various Games I’ve seen, there are some I recall with varying degrees of clarity.
There was Bruce Jenner’s improbable Gold Medal in the decathlon. Nadia Comaneci, the young Romanian whose perfect 10 stunned the gymnastics world. Remember the diminutive Mary Lou Retton [...]
Meriwether Lewis’ Sad Departure
Posted in Constitutional period (1789-1809), United States, tagged 1809, Grinder's Stand, Lewis and Clark Expedition, Louisiana Territory, Meriwether Lewis, Natchez Trace, Tennessee on October 11 | 4 Comments »
The death of Meriwether Lewis is generally considered by modern scholars to have been a suicide. There have been accusations of foul play, but eyewitness accounts don’t seem to bear that out. Still, there’s just enough uncertainty with his final hours to give some small amount of room for speculation.
Lewis, along with William Clark, had [...]
BlackBird: Last Flight of the Uni-Tasker
Posted in Later twentieth century (1961-2000), United States, tagged 1999, Alton Brown, Kelly Johnson, Lockheed Skunk Works, Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird on October 9 | Leave a Comment »
When the U.S. military buys aircraft, they sort of subscribe to the “Alton Brown” philosophy of “no uni-taskers in the kitchen”. Our armed services tend to favor multi-role aircraft that can do lots of missions well rather than simply excelling at one thing. It keeps the runways uncluttered.
It’s why aircraft like Lockheed’s F-16 Fighting Falcon [...]
Chiseled in Stone
Posted in Twentieth century (1901-1960), United States, tagged 1927, South Dakota, Gutzon Borglum, Mount Rushmore National Memorial on October 4 | Leave a Comment »
South Dakota is one of the least populated states in the Union. With roughly 800,000 people calling it home, only Wyoming, Vermont, Alaska, and North Dakota have fewer residents. But between 2 and 3 million people call South Dakota “my/our vacation destination” every year as they venture to Mount Rushmore, one of the most famous National Parks [...]
An Act of Rigid Justice
Posted in The Revolution (1775-1783), United States, tagged Alexander Hamilton, General George Washington, Benedict Arnold, Yoast Mabie's Tavern, 1780, Major John Andre on October 2 | Leave a Comment »
In their 25-year relationship, George Washington and Alexander Hamilton didn’t disagree on very many things. But the differences they had were pronounced. Over time, we’ll look at a couple of them. Today, we’ll look at one.
The disposition of Major John André.
If you recall, André had been found with plans to the fort at West Point which [...]
Hoff: The KITT’s Meow
Posted in Late nineteenth century (1865-1900), United States, tagged 1982, Knight Rider, David Hasselhoff, KITT, Knight Industries Two Thousand on September 26 | Leave a Comment »
The early 80’s saw a plethora of action shows that my younger brother and I watched regularly, and it seems that many of them were centered around a really cool vehicle. The A-Team had that van that Mr. T and that Hannibal (who was wanted for a crime he did not commit) always doctored up. 240 Robert [...]
Benedict Arnold’s British Defect
Posted in The Revolution (1775-1783), United States, tagged 1780, Benedict Arnold, HMS Vulture, Major John Andre, Peggy Shippen, Treason on September 25 | 1 Comment »
On September 25, 1780, Benedict Arnold was in a bad state. But truthfully, being on the wrong side of right was nothing new to the General.
Arnold had enjoyed a pretty lavish lifestyle among Philadelphians, a choice which saddled the General with a sizeable debt. He began looking for ways to supplement his income, and found [...]
Major John André: Behind Bars in the Bar
Posted in The Revolution (1775-1783), United States, tagged Benedict Arnold, West Point, New York, 1780, Major John Andre, Treason on September 23 | Leave a Comment »
The trip out here to Colorado was really good. A snafu at the car rental place meant we lost about 3 hours of sleep Tuesday night, but gained a brand-new 2010 Caravan Town and Country for our trouble. The dash lighting is ugly, though the interior lighting is super-cool. It was pretty comfortable, but didn’t have enough [...]
Fire has New York City Citizens Seeing Red
Posted in The Revolution (1775-1783), United States, tagged 1776, Fire, General George Washington, New York City on September 21 | Leave a Comment »
It seems like every major city has, at some point, a major fire to go with it. London had one, Chicago had one, and Washington, D.C. had one. San Francisco had one, but that that more to do with the big earthquake that preceded it. Still, fire is fire, and when it rages uncontrolled, it’s [...]
President Washington’s Goodbye
Posted in Constitutional period (1789-1809), United States, tagged 1796, Alexander Hamilton, Claypoole's American Daily Advertiser, Farewell Address, President George Washington on September 19 | Leave a Comment »
There is little doubt that President George Washington could have held his position as Commander-in-Chief longer than he did. The people, to some degree, revered him. It’s true that, during his second term in office, the gloves of his political opponents had come off and a significant amount of venom had been spit at “His [...]
Constitutional Framers Put it in Writing
Posted in The Confederation (1783-1789), United States, tagged 1787, Alexander Hamilton, Articles of Confederation, Gouverneur Morris, James Madison, Philadelphia, Roger Sherman, U.S. Constitution, William Paterson on September 17 | Leave a Comment »
In May of 1787, men from all over the United States (it probably still sounded a little strange to them) gathered in Philadelphia to discuss the Articles of Confederation. As the country’s first constitution, it had met a need as the Revolution was winding down. But there were weaknesses. Issues like foreign and inter-state commerce, tax [...]
Fort McHenry, At the Twilight’s Last Gleaming
Posted in The War of 1812 (1812-1815), United States, tagged 1814, Admiral Alexander Cochrane, Baltimore, Fort McHenry, Francis Scott Key, General Robert Ross, General Samuel Smith, Major George Armistead, Maryland on September 13 | Leave a Comment »
As summer turned to autumn in 1814, things weren’t looking too good for the United States in its war with Britain. Having begun more than two years earlier, the early flush of exchanging musket and cannon fire war with the former homeland had given way to the realization that the British were a very tough [...]
Continental Army Not (Chadds) Ford Tough
Posted in The Revolution (1775-1783), United States, tagged 1777, Battle of Brandywine Creek, Brandywine Creek, Chadds Ford, General George Washington, General William Howe, Philadelphia on September 11 | 1 Comment »
The trip from Cooch’s Bridge in northern Delaware to Chadds Ford spans but 30 miles, give or take. But in 1777, General Washington certainly wished that distance had at least one more zero at the end. He needed space between himself and the British army coming at him.
The loss of Cooch’s Bridge the week before, [...]
The Battle of the Chesapeake
Posted in The Revolution (1775-1783), United States, tagged 1781, Yorktown, Chesapeake Bay, Battle of the Chesapeake, Sir Thomas Graves on September 5 | Leave a Comment »
The Battle of the Chesapeake was an incredibly important naval engagement late in the American Revolution. But it wasn’t the battle itself that was so important, as it essentially was a draw.
When we think of modern-day naval battles, we envision long-range standoff platforms like Aegis-class cruisers acting as vanguards for massive aircraft carriers that project [...]
