Missiles and missile rocket technology is a mainstay in the modern military. In fact, most modern fighter aircraft have dispensed entirely with guns and typically are armed with various offensive and defensive rocket powered munitions. While we are all familiar with the Chinese invention of fireworks, it was actually the INDIANS who turned these interesting …
Author Archives: Michael Carver
Basic Colonial Brewing #17 — Make an 18th Century Toast
“To drink at a table without drinking to the health of someone special, should be considered drinking on the sly, and as an act of incivility.” Throughout history, toasting began after a meal and could last for hours. Toasts would solidify the bonds of groups, not only through the competitive element of drinking, but by …
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Historical Tidbits
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. September 11, 1777 Battle of Brandywine The eleventh of September was greeted with a heavy fog. Washington received reports of different contents about the movements of the British troops. …
Historical Tidbits
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. September 11, 1786 — Meeting of Commissioners to Remedy Defects of the Federal Government (AKA the Annapolis Convention) convened at Mann’s Tavern in Annapolis, Maryland. Twelve delegates from five …
Historical Tidbits
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. September 11, 1777 — BATTLE OF BRANDYWINE: General Sir William Howe and General Charles Cornwallis launch a full-scale British attack on the Patriot outpost at Brandywine Creek near Chadds …
Hoisting the Blue Flag
CFHS September 11th Battle at Chadds FordSaturday, September 11, 2021, 10:00am – 5:00pm The Chadds Ford Historical Society will be hosting a battle reenactment and encampment on September 11th, 2020 to commermorate the 1777 British invasion and subsequent engagement with George Washington’s troops at Chadds’ Ford and Brandywine. There will be military skirmishes between 1st …
Benedict Arnold was not Alone in his Treason
Colonel Rudolphus Ritzema was an American officer in the New York Line during the American Revolutionary War, and later changed sides, serving as a lieutenant colonel in a British regiment. On June 30, 1775, Ritzema was appointed lieutenant colonel of the 1st New York Regiment. In July he seized British armaments in New York City. On November 28, 1775 he was …
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Does Anybody Know what Day it Really is? 1752 was a really Bizarre Year.
In accordance with a 1750 act of Parliament, England and its colonies changed calendars in 1752. By that time, the discrepancy between a solar year and the Julian Calendar had grown by an additional day, so that the calendar used in England and its colonies was 11 days out-of-sync with the Gregorian Calendar in use in …
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Either Fly the Flag or Don’t
Okay, this is a rant but I’ve had enough. First, under the guise of “honor” the right-wing extremist mutilated our flag with selective discoloration and even the pictures of hate mongers. Then they took the Betsy Ross Flag and imbued it with connotations of hate (alluding to a time when slavery was legal), then those …
A New Name for the New Nation
On September 9, 1776, the Second Continental Congress formally renamed our nation the United States of America. This replaced the term United Colonies, which had been in general use. In a declaration dated September 9, 1776, the delegates wrote: “That in all continental commissions, and other instruments, where, heretofore, the words ‘United Colonies’ have been used, the …
Michael Carver -- Historical Interpreter/Reenactor 