For sixteen years, Hannibal roamed Italy defeating every Roman army that he faced. But he could not capture Rome and few Italian cities allied with him. The only way to end this dominance was to have a general equal Read more
Phillis Wheatley was born in western Africa. She was shipped to America as a slave around age 7. Transported to Boston, she was bought by the Wheatley family. As was common, she took their last name. Phillis was the Read more
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 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 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 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 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. 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 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 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 Read more