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. April 28, 1777 Sybil Ludington’s night ride On April 26, 1777, Colonel Ludington received word from a rider that the nearby town of Danbury was under attack by British …
Category Archives: General history
Historical Tidbits — Mutiny on the Bounty
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. April 28, 1789 Mutiny on the HMS Bounty The HMS Bounty had left England in 1787 on a mission to collect and transport breadfruit plants from Tahiti to …
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Historical Tidbits — The Library of 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. April 24, 1800The Library of Congress is formally established in the new US Capitol Building. The Library of Congress was established as the fledgling legislature of the new Republic …
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US Marines in the American Revolution — Whitehaven Raid
22 April 1778 Early in April 1778, Captain John Paul Jones in the 20-gun Continental sloop Ranger sailed from Brest in France for the Irish Sea. His intention was to “end the barbarous ravages perpetuated by the British in America.” To accomplish this seemingly impossible task, he proposed to descend upon an English port, destroy …
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Historical Tidbits — Lexington Green
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. April 19, 1775 Shot heard round the world. About 700 British Army regulars were given secret orders to capture and destroy Colonial military supplies stored by the Massachusetts militia …
Historical Tidbits — The Midnight Ride
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. April 18, 1775 The Midnight Ride of William Dawes and Paul Revere. Thanks to Longfellow, hardly a scholar or school child alive does not know the name of Paul …
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 …
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Historical Tidbits — Abolish Slavery!
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. April 14, 1775 The Society for the Relief of the Free Negros Unlawfully Held in Bondage first meets in Philadelphia. The Society for the Relief of Free Negroes Unlawfully …
US Marines in the American Revolution — A Marine Lieutenant Dies
6 April 1776 The voyage northward following the raid on New Providence was routine. An hour into the midnight watch on 6 April 1776, however, the situation changed ; two unidentified sails were sighted to the southeast. All hands were called to quarters as the distance closed, and it became clear that one of the …
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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 …
Michael Carver -- Historical Interpreter/Reenactor 