*** Today is the birthday of the luckiest assassin in history. Gavrilo Princip was born on July 25, 1894. The story of his assassination of Franz Ferdinand was partly responsible for my love of history and history anecdotes in particular. Read more
The first time she saw a plane, at the 1908 Iowa State Fair, she was not impressed. Years later, during WWI, she volunteered as a nurse’s aide at Toronto’s Spadina Military Hospital. She hung around with the pilots at the Read more
Well, it’s taken more than a year, but I have finally completed my Today in History pages. Go to each month to find out who was born and what interesting historical events occurred on each day. Plus I have a Read more
In August, 1587, 115 settlers arrived at Roanoke Island in what is today North Carolina. A couple of months later, John White sailed back to England to get more supplies. He left his daughter and his granddaughter Virginia Dare. Read more
On this day in 1871, the English Football Association established the FA Cup. The first final was played the next year with the Wanderers beating the Royal Engineers 1-0. Rules were quite a bit different back then. Here are Read more
She was born Norma Jean Mortenson. The head of new talent at Fox suggested the first name Marilyn because he looked like a Marilyn to him. Specifically, the actress Marilyn Miller. Norma chose Monroe as her last name to honor Read more
Douglas Corrigan took a plane flight for $2.50 as a teenager, he instantly fell in love with flying. He got into aviation and became a pilot. He also worked as a mechanic. He was one of the mechanics who Read more
Historians messed up on her name. Her actual name is not clearly known, but it was not Joan of Arc. The candidates include: Jehanne d’Arc, Jehanne Tarc, Jehanne Romee, or Jehanne de Vouthon. She was called Jehannette when she was Read more
Billy the Kid, probably named Henry McCarty or alias William Bonney, was killed on July 14, 1881. The events that led to the incident started in 1878 when Billy’s rancher boss was murdered in a range war. Billy vowed Read more
Today is Medal of Honor Day in honor of the award instituted on this day by Pres. Lincoln in 1861. There have been over 3,500 recipients. Here are some interesting facts: 1. It is simply called the Medal of Honor, Read more