Yesterday, I was dismayed at the lack of stocking in my local Giant supermarket. Voltaire once remarked that Parisians required only “the comic opera and white bread.” But bread has also played a dark role in French history and, namely, the French Revolution. The storming of the medieval fortress of Bastille on July 14, 1789 …
Continue reading “Supply Chain Issues? — The Bread Famine in 18th-century France.”
When George Washington was elected president in 1790, he chose Alexander Hamilton to be the first Secretary of the Treasury. Hamilton served in this capacity until 1795 and during this time he set our modern banking system, establishing the federal budget process, and established the Bank of the United States. At the time, there were …
Continue reading “So You Think RENEWABLE Energy is a New Thing?”
During the 1700’s, executions in France were public events where entire towns gathered to watch. A common execution method for a poor criminal was quartering, where the prisoner’s limbs were tied to four oxen, then the animals were driven in four different directions ripping the person apart. Upper-class criminals could buy their way into a …
Benjamin Franklin was born on January 17, 1706 in the city of Boston in a small house on 17 Milk Street, across the street from the Old Meeting House. His father was Josiah Franklin, a chandler (soap and candle maker). Josiah Franklin, emigrated from England in 1682. He had seven children with his first wife, …
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. January 17, 1773 – HMS Resolution, under the command of James Cook, became the first vessel to cross the Antarctic Circle. The Royal Society and the government were eager …
Continue reading “Historical Tidbits — Cook Crosses Antarctic Circle”
It is great to argue that the first Congress was inspired to adopt the Establishment Clause[i] by stories of Puritans and other separatist fleeing religious persecution in Europe and some mythical ideal that Americans are somehow more tolerant of other religions than their forebears but this is clearly NOT TRUE. Jews, atheists, Wiccans and Muslims …
Continue reading “The Secular Argument for the Establishment Clause of Amendment 1”
When you visit the Philadelphia State House (AKA Independence Hall), you will be told the story of the Liberty Bell and it multiple recastings before being hung in the tower behind the hall. You will no doubt hear the bells (now the Centennial Bell) as it chimes on the hour and of course most photos …
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. January 10, 1776 – Common Sense, a fifty-page pamphlet by Thomas Paine, was published. It sold over 500,000 copies in America and Europe, influencing both the authors of the …
On January 7, 1789, the Congress of the United States of America, having recently adopted the Constitution, held its first presidential election. Despite having retired to his Virginia plantation after the war, the Electoral College cast a unanimous vote (69 electoral votes) for George Washington. Under the original Constitution, the electors each cast two …
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. January 6, 1777 1st Encampment at Morristown Remnants of the American forces (2,000 – 4,000 troops) after the battles of Trenton and Princeton are billeted in homes and structures …
Continue reading “Historical Tidbits — 1st Encampment at Morristown”
Michael Carver -- Historical Interpreter/Reenactor 