Today, “Red Tape” is a derisive term for rigid conformity to formal government regulations that slow or prevent action and decision-making. Usually applied to government and corporate bureaucracies, we associate “red tape” with filling out of seemingly unnecessary paperwork and various low-level rules that make conducting one’s affairs slower and more difficult. It may surprise …
Category Archives: General history
Historical Tidbits — New York Stock Exchange
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. May 17, 1792 – Goods, loans and future livestock began to be traded under a buttonwood tree on Wall Street in New York City. This daily meeting would eventually …
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How Cartridge Paper almost killed King George
In order to facilitate rapid loading during battle, 18th Century musket cartridges were made from rolled brownish-white paper. This paper tube held both the powder and the ball was its own self contained wadding. For training, reviews and firing a “feu de joie” or celebratory musket salute, however, blank rounds were needed. Numerous accidents were reported …
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Historical Tidbits — Constitutional Convention
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. May 14, 1787 Constitutional Convention Four years after the United States won its independence from England, 55 state delegates, including George Washington, James Madison and Benjamin Franklin, convene in …
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Historical Tidbits — Smallpox Vaccination.
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. May 14, 1796 – Edward Jenner publishes his procedure for smallpox vaccination. His procedure differed from previous attempts at vaccination in that he injected a milder “attenuated” version of …
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US Marines in the American Revolution — John Adams Reviews John Paul Jones’ Marines
13 May 1779 On 13 May 1779, soon after John Adams, American Commissioner to France, arrived at the Port of L’Orient, France, on board the Continental frigate Alliance, he and 16 other officers and gentlemen were given an elegant dinner by John Paul Jones at L’Epee Royal, a fashionable inn situated on the port’s waterfront. …
Sugar Cones or Loaves and the Making of Rum
During Antiquity and the Middle Ages, sugar was rare and expensive commodity. Beginning in the 15th century, however, sugar cane plantations developed in the West Indies, then South America, particularly in Brazil. Sugar was the top colonial commodity. It was at the root of the ‘triangular trade’, where European shipowners exchanged trinkets for African men, who were then sold as slaves …
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WMD — Weapons of Musical Destruction
From 1745 to 1996, the Kingdom of Great Britain considered the bagpipes weapons of war, not instruments played in battle, like the fife and drum that is used to direct troops, but an actual physical weapon, like a sword or a musket. Those of you who have heard bagpipes may not be completely shocked, but …
Historical Tidbits — TEA 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. May 10, 1773 – TEA ACT The Tea Act of 1773 was one of several measures imposed on the American colonists by the heavily indebted British government in the …
Historical Tidbits — 2nd Continental Congress
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. May 10, 1775 2nd Continental Congress As the first Continental Congress adjourned in December 1774, they agreed that should Parliament not repeal the Coercive Acts by May, they would …
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Michael Carver -- Historical Interpreter/Reenactor 