In 1892, a Baptist minister named Francis Bellamy composed a pledge of allegiance to the flag. He was unhappy with the current pledge devised by George Balch. Balch had been a general in the Civil War. His pledge read: “We give our heads and hearts to God and our Read more
He was born George Herman Ruth on Feb. 6, 1895. (For many years he thought his birthday was Feb. 7, 1894. He discovered the true date when he applied for a passport for a baseball tour of Japan.) He was not an orphan when he entered St. Mary’s Industrial School Read more
Americans school children have laughed at the Indians who sold Manhattan Island for more than three hundred years. “Those primitive savages sold this valuable real estate for only $24 worth of beads and trinkets.” Or so the story goes. But it’s Native Americans who should be laughing. In actuality, Read more
Patty Hearst was the granddaughter of newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst. On Feb. 4, 1974 three members of the Symbionese Liberation Army broke into her apartment in Frisco, California and abducted her. They beat up her fiancé and a neighbor who tried to help. They fired guns at eyewitnesses. Read more
On Feb. 3, 1882, the most famous elephant in the world was sold to American showman P.T. Barnum. Two-year-old Jumbo was captured in the Sudan in 1862 after hunters killed his mother. He ended up in a Paris zoo and then was traded to the London Zoo in 1865. Read more
If you think America originated using a rodent to predict the weather, you would be wrong! The ancient Celts had a pagan festival celebrating the coming of spring called Imbolc. This evolved into the Christian festival of Candlemas on Feb. 2. It honored the presentation of Jesus at the Read more
Sometimes a picture can influence history. Such was the case for a photo taken on Feb. 1, 1968. It was the second day of the Tet Offensive in Saigon. Just the day before, a Viet Cong sapper squad had attacked the U.S. Embassy and now there were guerrilla attacks Read more
On Jan. 31, 1968, as part of the Tet Offensive, a 19-man Viet Cong sapper team broke into the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. Their mission was to seize the main building and take hostages. They approached in a truck and a taxi. Saigon police in their path ran away. Read more
Most of you know the famous Icarus story, but here is the rest of the story. When King Minos found out that Daedalus had given his daughter the sword and string that Theseus used to kill the Minotaur, he imprisoned Daedalus and his son in a tall tower. All Read more
Henry Mudgett was born to a middle-class family in New Hampshire. His childhood was uneventful and yet he would grow up to be one of America’s first serial killers. He graduated from medical school, but never became a practicing doctor. During school, he stole some cadavers and used them Read more