Gregory Boyington was born on December 4, 1912. He grew up loving planes. When he was 6 years old, he convinced famous stunt pilot Clyde Pangborn to take him aloft. (Pangborn was the first person to fly nonstop across the Pacific.) He went to the University of Washington where Read more
The most famous beard in American History almost did not come about. Prior to the Election of 1860, Abraham Lincoln was clean-shaven and frankly, ugly. Or, as more charitable observers put it, homely. Lincoln, ever the jokester, made light of his visage. He liked to tell audiences this story: Read more
The only mass escape from a concentration camp occurred on Oct. 14, 1943. Sobibor was an extermination camp located in eastern Poland. As part of Operation Reinhard, trains full of Polish Jews were taken to the camp starting in May, 1942. In the next 18 months, 170.000-250,000 Jews were Read more
Here is the story of a battle in the Korean War. A battle that was sadly typical of that war. By mid-1951, the Korean War was in a stalemate. Armistice negotiations had begun, but no end to the war was in sight. We now know there would be two Read more
John was notoriously bad King of England. His rule was so bad that the barons revolted after John broke his promises made in the Magna Carta in 1215. The following year, John launched a whirlwind campaign to defeat them. He marched north to confront an invading Scottish army that Read more
Robert Jenkins was a British ship captain. In 1731, he was pulled over for smuggling in the Caribbean. The Spanish captain abused him and cut off his left ear with his sword. Seven years later, he appeared before Parliament with his severed ear in a jar. Some politicians were Read more
When I was teaching American History, I used to end each unit with a biography of a person the was a role model from that unit. For my WWI unit, the role model was Eddie Rickenbacker. He was born on Oct. 8, 1890. Here are the notes I gave for Read more
The most serious concentration camp uprising occurred on Oct. 7, 1944 at Auschwitz-Bergen. The mutiny was by the Sonderkommandos. These Jewish men were forced to help with the gas chambers. Some of them worked the “changing room” where the victims had to disrobe and turn over possessions. Others had Read more
By 1777, there was no love lost between the Patriots and the Redcoats. The British had recently routed Washington’s army at Brandywine and had taken the city of Philadelphia. The commander of the Continental Army felt he needed to do something to stop his losing streak so he developed Read more
On Oct. 5, 1877, a gallant trek ended with the bad guys winning. The Nez Perce had inhabited the Wallowa Valley in Oregon (and more) for generations. They had remained peaceful despite white provocations that went unpunished by white authorities. For example, a friend of Joseph named Wilhautyah was murdered. Read more