The danger of always marching in lockstep

If you’ve ever been part of an organization that marches — not just the military but even marching bands and re-enactors (sort of) — you know what it means to march in lockstep.  Everyone steps in precision to a standard cadence (usually 120 steps/min, 28 in/step) and one person takes a step with his left …

The dye that causes people to die

Wallpaper with Scheel Green In the mid-1700s, Carl Wilhelm Scheele discovered a copper derivative that was a particularly vivid green. Scheele’s discovery — known as Scheele’s Green — was used as a pigment for all sorts of artistic works, particularly among the European elite. Wallpaper, in particular, was made using Scheele’s Green to achieve the …

THE BILL OF RIGHTS: A BRIEF HISTORY #10

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 …

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. March 29, 1780 – SIEGE OF CHARLESTON:  After approximately six weeks of siege, Major General Benjamin Lincoln, commanding the Charleston garrison, surrendered his forces to the British. It was …

THE BILL OF RIGHTS: A BRIEF HISTORY #9

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 …

Could one of our Founding Fathers have been a Jew?

While writing the blog on Chanukah in Colonial America, I came across some lectures and articles by Andrew Porwancher, a professor at the University of Oklahoma, who has an interesting hypothesis.  It seems that while researching the early life of Alexander Hamilton, Porwancher uncovered some interesting facts. Alexander Hamilton is the son of Rachel Faucette …