On June 2, 1886, 49-year-old Stephen Cleveland got married. It’s not a big surprise, because lots of people get married at some point in their lives and, as you all know, June is the month when most weddings take place. So why waste Today’s History Lesson on a such a “common little miracle”?
Well, Stephen Cleveland [...]
Archive for the ‘Late nineteenth century (1865-1900)’ Category
No Folsom Prison Blues for President Cleveland
Posted in Late nineteenth century (1865-1900), United States, tagged 1886, Frances Folsom, President Grover Cleveland, Wedding, White House on June 2 | Leave a Comment »
The Other “Great Flood”
Posted in Late nineteenth century (1865-1900), United States, tagged 1889, Johnstown, Pennsylvania, South Fork Dam on May 31 | Leave a Comment »
Last summer, we looked at the devastating effects of flooding when we discussed the failure of the Lawn Lake Dam in Rocky Mountain National Park. Three people were killed, millions of dollars in property was destroyed, and the Park was left indelibly marked. But that failure, occurring at 11,000′ above sea level, was actually pretty [...]
President Johnson Nearly Fired for Firing
Posted in Late nineteenth century (1865-1900), United States, tagged 1868, Edwin Stanton, Impeachment, President Abraham Lincoln, President Andrew Johnson, Tenure of Office Act on May 26 | Leave a Comment »
Andrew Johnson took over as President of the United States when President Lincoln was assassinated. And because Lincoln had been killed so early in his 2nd term, President Johnson ended up serving nearly a full term. But, as many of you know, he came within an eyelash of being removed from office.
When Johnson became President, [...]
Casey Jones: Engineer, Hero, Legend
Posted in Late nineteenth century (1865-1900), United States, tagged 1900, Cannonball Express, Casey Jones, Memphis, Tennessee on April 30 | Leave a Comment »
©Water Valley Casey Jones
Railroad Museum
I’m guessing that many of us remember bits of stories we heard as kids. I certainly do, and I’ve spent a little keyboard time telling you about them. I’ve mentioned Dad’s reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to us and the old Uncle Remus stories that grew up in the deep [...]
Oklahoma Sooners: Long-time Bane of Title-Seekers
Posted in Late nineteenth century (1865-1900), United States, tagged 1889, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Land Run of 1889, Sooners on April 22 | 1 Comment »
All you fans of college sports, have you ever thought about where the University of Oklahoma got their team name? Me neither. But when putting together a little article for today, I learned where “Sooners” originated…and then I kind of wondered why I hadn’t thought about it before.
At precisely 12:00pm on April 22, 1889, the Oklahoma [...]
Seward’s Folly: “A Dark Deed Done in the Night”
Posted in Late nineteenth century (1865-1900), United States, tagged 1867, Alaska Purchase, Gold, Oil, Prudhoe Bay, Russia, William Seward on March 30 | Leave a Comment »
Secretary of State William Seward was a genius. I don’t know if that’s strictly true, but in retrospect, his push for the purchase of Alaska from Russia was a masterstroke for the United States. People scoffed at the idea of yet another huge land purchase, despite its ridiculously cheap price of $.02 per acre. “Seward’s [...]
Give us This Day our Daily Read
Posted in American literature, Late nineteenth century (1865-1900), United States, tagged 1885, Brer Rabbit, De Tar Baby, Mark Twain, Reading, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Uncle Remus on February 18 | 1 Comment »
One of the things I remember about growing up were the times that Dad would read to us. Sometimes it would be on one of our beds, with us kids sitting around him. Other times, it would be in the morning before the van came to take him to work. We’d sit in the bean-bag chairs in [...]
Charles Guiteau Takes Rejection Badly
Posted in Late nineteenth century (1865-1900), United States, tagged 1881, Charles Guiteau, President James Garfield, Williams College on September 19 | Leave a Comment »
The 50 years that span 1860-1910 were especially tough ones for U.S. Presidents. The Civil War was catastrophic. Reconstruction was painful and expensive. The mending of a fractured Union was difficult. The end of slavery represented (at least for the South) a real paradigm shift in labor laws. And the beginning of an entirely new Industrial Revolution presented vast [...]
Uno de Mayo!!
Posted in Late nineteenth century (1865-1900), United States, tagged 1884, May Basket, May Day on May 1 | Leave a Comment »
Ok, this is a little off the beaten path, but it’s May Day, so that’s reason to celebrate. I don’t know all the traditions surrounding it, but here’s what I do know. You’re supposed to make May Baskets and fill them with treats, candies, and non-mousetrap surprises. Then go to the homes of friends, family, boyfriends, and [...]
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 [...]
“Tilden Defeats Hayes”
Posted in Late nineteenth century (1865-1900), tagged elections, Hayes on March 2 | 3 Comments »
March 2, 1877 – U.S. Congress decides the presidential election between Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel Tilden
And we thought Bush v. Gore was contentious. In the election of 1876, Democrat Samuel Tilden racked up the most popular votes and was the presumptive nominee when he awoke the day after the voting. But “irregularities” in Florida [...]
