Okay, let’s be honest. For people who don’t speak either English or German, learning Dutch is confusing. For starters, many Dutch words are hard to pronounce and because, like German, you combine nouns in Dutch, you end up with words that frankly make you give out an angstschreeuw (cry of fear). Then there are the …
Continue reading “Historical Tidbits — When Rabbits Ruled the Netherlands”
On January 6, 2021, following the defeat of U.S. President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election, a mob of his supporters attacked the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. The mob sought to keep Trump in power by preventing a joint session of Congress from counting the electoral college votes. While still President …
Continue reading “The New Guy Fawkes — the real legacy of Donald Trump”
Well, today we say goodbye to Daylight Savings time. I hope you all enjoyed your extra hour of sleep. Before the middle of the 19th Century, keeping time was more of an art than a science. Time pieces and clocks were available, even common in certain circles but they were notoriously inaccurate. However, the act …
Continue reading “Ben Franklin DID NOT Invent Daylight Savings Time!”
Coffee was most certainly a popular drink in the Americas in the 17th and 18th Centuries. There are records of John Smith bringing coffee to the Jamestown Colony and even trading it with the Indians, but remember, the British were not the only colonial powers. Coffee would not take on importance in the British Empire …
On January 6, 2021, following the defeat of U.S. President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election, a mob of his supporters attacked the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. The mob sought to keep Trump in power by preventing a joint session of Congress from counting the electoral college votes. While still President …
Continue reading “The New Guy Fawkes — the real legacy of Donald Trump”
Early American settlers enjoyed fortifying their drinks. Stone fences mix hard cider and rum, shrubs mix wine with switchel, rattleskulls mix rum with beer, and the coo woo even fortifies brandy with rum. Rum, whiskey, and other spirits were staple goods produced to help farmers ship bulky products like corn and sugar to distant markets. …
Duels have a deep history in American History. Alexander Hamilton was the most celebrated casualty of the dueling ethic, having lost his life in an 1804 feud with Aaron Burr on the fields of Weehawken, New Jersey, but there were many more who paid the ultimate price— congressmen, newspaper editors, a signer of the Declaration …
If you hang around Fort Mifflin very long you will, no doubt, be regaled with stories of the supernatural and the pseudoscience that supports its existence. These are all good fun but let’s be clear, SOME people actually believe these things and even though the scientifically minded dismiss THESE beliefs, they are quick to then …
On January 6, 2021, following the defeat of U.S. President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election, a mob of his supporters attacked the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. The mob sought to keep Trump in power by preventing a joint session of Congress from counting the electoral college votes. While still President …
Continue reading “The New Guy Fawkes — the real legacy of Donald Trump”
Wall Street was not always just the New York Stock Exchange, in the 1600’s, it got its name because it WAS THE CITY WALL protecting the Dutch West India Company’s colony of New Amsterdam. In the 1600s, the English and the Dutch were major commercial rivals (Dutch West India Company vs English East India Company). …
Continue reading “That Insignificant Dutch Colony of New Amsterdam becomes New York City”
Michael Carver -- Historical Interpreter/Reenactor 