When someone asks you ‘Are you a God?’, you say YES!”.

In the movie Ghostbusters[i], Gozer asks Ray “Are you a God?”   After the first disastrous encounter, he is then admonished by Winston:  “Ray, when someone asks you ‘Are you a God?’, you say YES!”  The problem with that is then you might have to prove your omnipotence.  Eclipses often were viewed as supernatural phenomena and …

Historical Tidbits — John Adams inaugurated President

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 4, 1797    John Adams inaugurated President At the time of the founding of our republic, monarchs led nearly every other nation. Even as democratic systems began to spread, …

US Marines in the American Revolution — Landing at New Providence

3 March 1776 Two weeks to the day after leaving Cape Henlopen, Delaware, ships of the Continental Fleet under Esek Hopkins rendezvoused three leagues north of Nassau harbor in the early morning hours of Sunday, 3 March 1776. The sounds of alarm that greeted the Americans’ careless show of force argued the wisdom of an …

The “Star-Spangled Banner” becomes the US national anthem (March 3, 1931)

On After witnessing the massive overnight British bombardment of Fort McHenry during the War of 1812, Francis Scott Key composed the lyrics to “The Star-Spangled Banner” in September 1814 but this did not become our national anthem for another 117 years.  Even though throughout the 19th century, “The Star-Spangled Banner” was regarded as the national …

The Critical Role of Spain in the American Revolution

The American mythology is that George Washington and Marie-Joseph du Motier (Marquis de La Fayette) and the Continental Army defeated Charles Cornwallis (also a Marquess) at Yorktown in October of 1781 and the British immediately surrendered and went home.  It’s a nice story but it does not pass the sniff test. Why would Brittan surrender.  …

Historical Tidbits — Marbury vs Madison

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. February 24, 1801            Marbury vs Madison Politics in 1800 were contentious. Thomas Jefferson and his political party, the Democratic-Republicans, had soundly beaten John Adams, a Federalist, in the …

Happy Birthday General Washington

General Washington had the first public celebration of his birthday done by his wife, Martha, at the encampment at Valley Forge in the winter of 1778.  The next official acknowledgement of Washington’s birthday would not occur for fifty-four years.  At the recommendation of Henry Clay of the Senate and Philemon Thomas of the House, Congress …

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 …