In 1794, U.S.-born inventor Eli Whitney patented the cotton gin, a machine that revolutionized the production of cotton by greatly speeding up the process of removing seeds from cotton fiber. By the mid-19th century, cotton had become America’s leading export. Despite its success, the gin made little money for Whitney due to patent-infringement issues. Also, …
Continue reading “Eli Whitney Patented the Cotton Gin on March 14, 1794”
Pi (often represented by the lower-case Greek letter π), one of the most well-known mathematical constants, is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. For any circle, the distance around the edge is a little more than three times the distance across. Pi has interested people around the world for over 4,000 years. …
Insurrections often are propagated upon misinformation. So too are the most recent band of domestic terrorist who like to hide behind our most sacred American institutions. In this series, I want to explore the Bill of Rights and why some of the hype and hyperbole thrown around by the extremist is not just wrong but …
Well, today we lose an hour of sleep to the interest of commerce. Don’t worry, you will get it back in November. 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. …
Continue reading “Ben Franklin DID NOT Invent Daylight Savings Time!”
When it comes to arcane historical terms for spirits and other alcohol, proof is one of the frustrating ones. In our modern vernacular, with the blessing of modern analytical chemistry as support, we simply think of “proof” as two times the alcohol by volume (ABV). But why is this measure even a thing? After all, …
Continue reading “Basic Colonial Brewing #18 — Proof your Whiskey, Sir”
If you are like most reenactors, you consume all the popular media on the 18th Century no matter how well done it is. We look at the costumes, the misrepresentations of history, and criticize the portrayal of people whose lives and customers we are much more immersed in that the TV or movie producers. Occasionally, …
Insurrections often are propagated upon misinformation. So too are the most recent band of domestic terrorist who like to hide behind our most sacred American institutions. In this series, I want to explore the Bill of Rights and why some of the hype and hyperbole thrown around by the extremist is not just wrong but …
When reenacting or acting as a historical interpreter, its good to have a few historical dates and stories to share. This series will publish a few. March 7, 1778Frigate Randolph (32 guns) blown up in an engagement at sea The Randolph engaged the British 64-gun ship-of-the-line HMS Yarmouth. Rather than trying to flee from the …
I have all these 18th C portraits that cycle through my PC desktop wallpapers. I am not sure why but today, this one caught my attention. Let me draw your attention to his hands… While this hand gesture is often seen as a victory sign (“V for Victory”), with the palm outward, and still today …
I just spent the morning with the producer for Discovery Channel’s “Moonshiners” at Fort Mifflin. They want to learn to brew Spruce Beer and we’re going to teach them. March 13 — All Day I have it on good authority they will spend at least part of the day in shackles. They will attempt to …
Michael Carver -- Historical Interpreter/Reenactor 