Let’s get less serious today. It happens to be the birthday of my favorite cartoonist. I know this information may not be useful in a History class, but I know some of you who read this are fans, too. In 1976, Gary Larson was a struggling jazz guitarist who had Read more
Governor Diego Velazquez of Cuba gave Cortes approval to explore the coast of Mexico, make contact with the natives, and do a little trading. When he learned that Cortes planned to conquer, he rescinded the approval, but Cortes had hastily sailed to escape the disapproval. He left with 11 ships Read more
Ford went through Models A through S before arriving at the Model T in 1908. He replaced it in 1927 with the Model A (since it was a totally new car, he decided not to call it the Model U). Ford did not invent the assembly line. Ransom Olds developed Read more
His parents died at age 10. Two years later he moved to Lisbon, Portugal to become a page to the queen. He went to the page school and learned about cartography, astronomy, and navigation. He first went to sea as a soldier. He fought for Portugal in Malaysia and Morocco. Read more
Charles Manson was born to an unwed 16-year-old. She was an alcoholic criminal who once traded her baby to a waitress who wanted a child for a pitcher of beer. His uncle had to track him down. His mother went to prison when he was 5 for stealing a car Read more
The most famous train robbery in British history occurred on August 8, 1963. It was the robbery of the Royal Mail train on its run from Glasgow to London. The robbery had been planned for a long time and involved 16 men, most of them career criminals. Their leader Read more
It was the first battle in American History where all branches of the current military participated: Navy, Army, Air Force, and Coast Guard. Signalman First Class Douglas Munro became the only member of the Coast Guard to ever earn the Medal of Honor. He led a rescue mission of a Read more
There were five cities on the list of potential targets: Hiroshima, Kokura, Yokohama, Nigata, and Kyoto. Secretary of War Henry Stimson removed Kyoto because he argued it was a cultural center (and he had spent his honeymoon there). Nagasaki took its place. Tokyo was not on the list because it Read more
On this day in 1305, William Wallace was captured by the British. The following is part of my review of the movie “Braveheart” on my blog The War Movie Buff (https://warmoviebuff.blogspot.com/2011/04/67-braveheart.html ). As history teachers, movies can be a good supplement to our lessons, provided they are reasonably accurate. In Read more
This week marked a milestone in the history of this site. I have completed all the basic sections with the recent addition of the areas of anecdotes prior to 1870. This means American History teachers now have access to stories from Exploration, Colonization, the Revolution period, Early America, Manifest Destiny, Read more