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
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...
Today in History June 6
“When there is no vision the people perish.” The President rallies the nation.
President Hoover, Mr. Chief Justice, my friends: This is a day of national consecration. And I am certain that on this day my fellow Americans expect that on my induction into the Presidency, I will address them with a candor and a decision which the present situation...
This Day in History
- Discovery of Ozone Hole announced
- Pioneering TV journalist Barbara Walters signs off
- French dauphin, Louis, marries Marie Antoinette
- Worker protests mount in France
- Warsaw Ghetto uprising ends
- First Academy Awards ceremony
- Basketball great, Magic Johnson, plays center as a rookie, wins championships
- Senate acquits President Andrew Johnson of high crimes and misdemeanors
- Satirical writer, Voltaire, is imprisoned in the Bastille
- A nurse stabs expectant mother to death, steals unborn baby
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