Most of us are comfortable with pilotage. This is the practice of navigating from one landmark to the next in a sequence to find your way to your destination. In fact, most of us have given directions like, “go down Main Street to the third light and turn left, then …” But what do you …
Author Archives: Michael Carver
Edmund Halley, the famous astronomer. also designed the world’s first diving bell
Although best known for his proof that comets follow regular orbits around the sun, Edmond Halley was also an inventor. Halley invented and tested one of the world’s first submersible. In this diving bell as many as four men could descend beneath the surface of water and spend hours observing life on the bottom or …
Continue reading “Edmund Halley, the famous astronomer. also designed the world’s first diving bell”
Spy vs Spy: George Washington’s and King George’s Spies (#16)
“M” — John André In the James Bond films, the spymaster is never known by their name, only their codename. In 1777, Britain’s master spy was John André. John André was a British Major officer on the staff of General Henry Clinton (Commander in Chief of British Forces in North America). In 1774, André was …
Continue reading “Spy vs Spy: George Washington’s and King George’s Spies (#16)”
Historical Tidbits — The Revenue Act
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. June 26, 1767 The Revenue Act — placed taxes on glass, lead, painters’ colors, and paper. It gave customs officials broad authority to enforce the taxes and punish smugglers …
Swearing and Profanity in 18th Century England
Well, sometimes you just have to let someone know what you think and polite words don’t work. We’ve all been at events when we wanted to let loose on one or more of the “brilliant” attendees who “know everything.” Well, its just a matter of speaking the right language (Ik mompel gewoon in het Nederlands …
Continue reading “Swearing and Profanity in 18th Century England”
Spy vs Spy: George Washington’s and King George’s Spies (#15)
The Spy who Loved Me… — Peggy Shippen Margaret “Peggy” Shippen was the second wife of American General Benedict Arnold and perhaps the highest-paid spy in the American Revolution. The Shippen family was a prominent Philadelphia family with Loyalist tendencies. During the British occupation of Philadelphia, Peggy Shippen was courted by British Head of Intelligence, …
Continue reading “Spy vs Spy: George Washington’s and King George’s Spies (#15)”
Surveyor, astronomer, calculator, clock builder and instrument maker David Rittenhouse was a man of great and varied talents
David Rittenhouse was a highly respected scientist during the formative years of the United States. Anyone who has attempted to survey knows that straight lines are much easier than curves. Rittenhouse ran the survey that established the circular boundary between Pennsylvania and Delaware, a circle of 12-mile radius, with Newcastle as its center. He later …
Barbary Pirates
Typically, when we think of pirates, images of Long John Silver with an eye patch and a parrot come to mind. This is, of course, fiction. There were some pirates in the Caribbean (although most of them were Jews displaced by the Spanish Reconquista) but by far most pirates hailed from ports in Asia and …
Reinheitsgebot
The Reinheitsgebot, literally “purity order”, is a series of regulations limiting the ingredients in that can be used to make beer and how beer can be sold in the states of the former Holy Roman Empire. The best-known version of the law was adopted in Bavaria in 1516. According to the 1516 Bavarian law, the …
Treason is a hard case to prove: The Burr Conspiracy.
When Vice President Aaron Burr killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel in 1804, he also killed his chance to be president. Wanted for murder in New York, he fled the state and went to Philadelphia. Realizing that he had no future on the east coast, Burr, in a frantic effort to salvage his destroyed political …
Continue reading “Treason is a hard case to prove: The Burr Conspiracy.”
