Anecdote
DRUMMER BOY OF CHICKAMAUGA
Johnny Clem ran away from home to join the Union Army in the Civil War. He hooked up with the 22nd Michigan Infantry which adopted him as a mascot and drummer boy. Drummer boys were common in the war. Read more…
Anecdote
THE MERCHANT OF DEATH
Alfred Nobel made a lot of money perfecting the blowing up of things. He came from a family of inventors. His father invented plywood. His brothers started the Russian oil industry. Alfred was not a happy man. He suffered Read more…
Anecdote
THE TURTLE SHIPS
The Turtle Ships were used in the Seven Year War (1592-1599) between Japan and Korea. Although they had existed before 1592, Admiral Yi Sun-Shin improved the ship and used it to defeat the Japanese navy in several battles. The Read more…
Anecdote
“I HAVE NOT YET BEGUN TO FIGHT”
John Paul Jones had already made a name for himself before his signature battle. His Ranger was part of the fledgling American navy. In 1778, he had conducted some daring and well-publicized raids on the British coast. In 1779, Read more…
Anecdote
THE LIGHTHOUSE AT PHAROS
The youngest of the wonders is the lighthouse in the harbor of Alexandria, Egypt. It was built around 250 B.C. It stood 380 feet tall which made it only behind the great pyramids as the tallest structure on Earth. Read more…
Anecdote
THE COLOSSUS OF RHODES
This was a 110 foot statue of the god Helios that was located somewhere in the harbor of Rhodes. It was probably on a pedestal near the entrance. It almost surely did not straddle the entrance, as is sometimes Read more…
Anecdote
THE MAUSOLEUM AT HALICARNASSUS
The temple was built as a tomb for a Persian satrap named Mausolus. It was located in what is today southwestern Turkey. It was completed around 353 B.C. by his wife Artemisia. It was made of white marble Read more…
Anecdote
THE SANDBAR DUEL
James Bowie grew up in Louisiana. As a boy he tamed wild mustangs and rode alligators (you grab their upper jaw and gouge their eyes). He and his brothers made a lot of money in a scam with the Read more…
Anecdote
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 Berkeley, California and abducted her. They beat up her fiancé and Read more…
Anecdote
LEE’S LOST ORDER
You could argue the South lost the Civil War on Sept. 13, 1862. That was the day Corporal Barton Mitchell of the 27th Indiana Volunteers found a paper wrapped around three cigars at a campsite near Frederick, Maryland. The camp Read more…