History Matters
“We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation rather than share it, would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy. And this effort very nearly succeeded. But while democracy can be periodically delayed, it can never be permanently defeated.
In this truth, in this faith, we trust. For while we have our eyes on the future, history has its eyes on us.” – Amanda Gorman
AP Was There: Battle of the Bulge
AP WAS THERE: Battle of the BulgeIn 2020, the world marked the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II. Sterling Publishing, in cooperation with The Associated Press, released an illustrated book called "Victory: World War II In Real Time," filled with original AP...
Thanksgiving Proclamation by Abraham Lincoln
Proclamation of Thanksgiving This is the proclamation which set the precedent for America's national day of Thanksgiving. During his administration, President Lincoln issued many orders similar to this. For example, on November 28, 1861, he ordered government...
Boston Globe: Escaped slave and Navy sailor recounted his remarkable Civil War story in a diary. Now Dedham looks to honor his legacy
“Here is a man who under the most difficult, adverse circumstances that one can imagine was able to stand up, speak in a mature and independent fashion, and evaluate the world around him critically." Escaped slave and Navy sailor recounted his remarkable Civil...
An American Coup d’Etat: The Founders didn’t prepare for a president who refuses to step down, historians say
So why didn’t the founders plan for this particular scenario, of a president simply denying that he had lost an election? Because they couldn’t even fathom it, Engel said. “They couldn’t fathom two things: a person who had become president who was so utterly lacking...
CNN: 60 years ago, 6-year-old Ruby Bridges walked to school and showed how even first graders can be trailblazers
"For me, being 6 years old, I really wasn't aware of what was going on," Bridges, now 66, told NPR in 2010. "I mean the only thing that I was ever told by my parents that I was going to attend a new school and that I should behave." 60 years ago today,...
CNN: Military carrier pigeon message turns up 110 years after it was sent
A message lost by a carrier pigeon has been found some 110 years after it was sent. Carrier pigeon message found 110 years after it was sent A message lost by a carrier pigeon during military exercises has been found in France some 110 years after it was...
We Are Not Enemies
The United States in 1861 was even more divided than we are today. Abraham Lincoln, running on the Republican platform of no expansion of slavery, won the presidency without one Southern vote (he was not on the ballot in Southern States). Before his inauguration,...
In 1960 Richard Nixon (yes, Nixon) put country ahead of victory
On Wednesday afternoon, November 9, 1960, Nixon officially conceded the election to Kennedy. He told his friend, journalist Earl Mazo, that “our country cannot afford the agony of a constitutional crisis.”
Playing the Religious Card: A Long American History
Clay Jenkinson The closest analogy to the Trump declaration that his opponent would “hurt God” came in the infamous election of 1800, when Thomas Jefferson challenged his old friend John Adams for the presidency. Jefferson kept his religious views mostly to himself,...
Today’s Judicial Authority Results from an Attempted Early Power Grab
The recent passing of Justice Ginsburg and the ghoulish dancing on her grave by GOP “leaders” presents us with another episode where where we might learn from our own history. The United States two party political system is an outgrowth of an intense conflict during...
This Day in History
- Hollywood icon Lauren Bacall dies
- American golfer Jack Nicklaus sets title record
- King Philip’s War ends
- JAL flight 123 crashes into Mount Otsuka
- Cleopatra dies by suicide
- Armistice ends the Spanish-American War
- Skeleton of Tyrannosaurus rex discovered
- FDR and Churchill meet on ship, map out Atlantic Charter
- “The Wizard of Oz” movie premieres in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin
- James Bond creator Ian Fleming dies
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