THE USS VINCENNES INCIDENT

Before America celebrates its greatness tomorrow, let’s take time to remember that our country is not perfect.                 In 1983, the U.S. was outraged when a Soviet jet shot down a Korean airliner killing 269.  Five years later, the U.S. was on the other side of a similar tragedy.  With Read more

THE GARFIELD ASSASSINATION

                On July 2, 1881, Pres. James Garfield was looking forward to a summer trip to New England.  He and his teenage sons headed for the railway station in the morning.  He was accompanied by Secretary of State James G. Blaine.  He had no body guards.  At 9:20, Charles Guiteau Read more

GET OUT OF PRISON FREE CARD

                Christopher “Clutty” Clayton Hutton was a pilot in the Royal Air Corps in WWI.  After the war he worked as a journalist and publicist in Hollywood.  When WWI broke out, his country needed him.  Someone in the Military Intelligence Section 9 (MI9) remembered that in 1915, Hutton had challenged Read more

REMARQUE’S SISTER

                When Erich Remarque was fighting on the Western Front in WWI, he made the acquaintance of Adolf Hitler.  They participated in the Third Battle of Ypres.  After the war, their paths diverged.  Remarque became a writer.  In 1927, he wrote a novel based on his experiences.  Two years later, Read more

HELEN KELLER LEARNS TO SPEAK

                Helen Keller was born on June 27, 1880 in Tuscumbia, Alabama.  Her father had been a captain in the Confederate army and was running a cotton plantation at the time.  She was a normal child until age 19 months when she caught what doctors called “brain fever”.  It was Read more

The Satichaura Ghat Massacre

                The Sepoy Rebellion was from 1857-1859.  It is noted for some infamous atrocities by both the Indian rebels and the British colonialists.  One of those incidents was the Siege of Cawnpore.  Cawnpore was a garrison town for the British East India Company.  Gen. Hugh Wheeler was in command of Read more

THE OTHER BABE

Happy Birthday to one of the greatest woman athletes in American History.        Two of the greatest athletes of the 20th Century were nicknamed Babe.  One of them was possibly the greatest female athlete in history.  She was born Mildred Ella Didrikson.  Her parents were Norwegian immigrants.  She grew up Read more

BATTLE OF SLUYS

                In 1337, the Hundred Years’ War began when French King Philip IV died and English King Edward III claimed the throne.  On June 24, 1340, Edward’s fleet won the first major battle of the war at the port of Sluys.  Sluys was one of the biggest ports in Europe Read more