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FACTS ABOUT BABE RUTH
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 Read more
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MYTH: THE DUTCH BOUGHT MANHATTAN ISLAND FOR $24 WORTH OF BEADS AND TRINKETS
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. Read more
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THE PATTY HEARST KIDNAPPING
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 Read more
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JUMBO THE ELEPHANT
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 Read more
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THE ORIGINS OF GROUNDHOG DAY
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 Read more
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THE LOAN EXECUTION
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 Read more
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THE SAIGON EMBASSY ATTACK
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 Read more
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THE ANT AND THE SHELL
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 Read more
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H.H. HOLMES AND HIS CASTLE
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 Read more
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MYTH #15: JOHN SMITH AND POCAHONTAS
Don’t learn your history from Disney. Actually, the movie “Pocahontas” did not invent the legend. The tale of Pocahontas saving John Smith’s life is almost surely a myth. In the famous story, Smith had been captured by her father Read more