Today is the birthday of Emanuel Leutze. Born on May 24, 1816, he painted “Washington Crossing the Delaware” in 1850-51. Leutze grew up in America and then returned to his homeland. He had learned to draw while sitting at the bedside of this dying father. He set up a studio Read more
On this day in 1900, William Carney received his Medal of Honor. William Carney was born a slave in Virginia. He used the Underground Railroad to reach relatives in Massachusetts. In 1863, he enlisted in the famous 54th Massachusetts Regiment. (The unit depicted in the movie “Glory”.) The 54th Read more
It’s easy to think the partisanship in Congress could not be worse, but it has been in the past. As vicious as some of the rhetoric can get, at least we have not had any physical altercations, yet. On May 22, 1856, the rhetoric went far beyond jawing. On Read more
One “Crime of the Century” occurred on this day in 1924. Nathan Leopold (18-years old) and Richard Loeb (19) thought they had committed the perfect crime when they kidnapped and killed 14- year old Bobby Franks. They hadn’t, but they became the poster boys for the botched perfect crime. Read more
If I might get personal, today my grandson Rhys graduates from kindergarten. His mother got him a teddy bear as a graduation present. This reminded me of one of my favorite stories about my favorite President. One of the most famous toys in history was named after an American Read more
I hesitated to research this event and then I pondered whether to post it. But American History teachers can not ignore the bad moments in our history. Not that I would pass this one on to your students. It is important that it is not forgotten, which it was even Read more
On May 17, 1987 the USS Stark was hit by two missiles from an Iraqi jet. 37 crewmen were killed. The incident occurred in the Persian Gulf during the waning days of the Iran-Iraq War. The frigate was on routine patrol outside the designated war zone. When what appeared to Read more
On May 16, 1868, Pres. Andrew Johnson came within one vote of being removed from office. That one vote was that of Sen. Edmund Ross. On March 3, Johnson had been impeached by the House 126-47. Although Johnson was a Republican, every Democrat voted no (and two Republicans) because Read more
Eleven days after the Kent State incident, two African-Americans were killed by police on the campus of Jackson State in Jackson, Mississippi. It was reported as a sequel to Kent State, but in reality it was not about the Vietnam War. It was about racism. Lynch Street abutted the Read more
The Dust Bowl occurred in the 1930’s. The decade was called the “Dirty Thirties”. The worst years were 1930-31, 1934, 1936, and 1939-40. The states that were most effected were Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Nebraska. It was caused by a combination of bad farming methods, high winds, Read more