Category Archives: Ideas

Timothy Matlack (March 28, 1736 – April 14, 1829) was a brewer and beer bottler who emerged as a popular and powerful leader in the American Revolutionary War, Secretary of Pennsylvania during the war, and a delegate to the Second Continental Congress in 1780. He became one of Pennsylvania’s most provocative and influential political figures, …

Continue reading “A Gentleman, Scholar, Soldier and a BREWER!”

There simply is no credible historical evidence — letters, diaries, newspaper accounts, bills of sale — that Betsy Ross, then known as Elizabeth Claypoole, either made or had a hand in designing the American flag in 1777.  That said, her story is a very tenacious piece of fiction and popular American Myth that is constantly …

Continue reading “Betsy Ross DID NOT make the First Flag of the United States”

Double Agent — Major John Clark John Clark was commissioned as a first lieutenant in the 1st Continental Infantry (Pennsylvania Rifles) on January 1, 1776, and was made a major of the 2nd Pennsylvania Battalion of the Flying Camp on September 14, 1776. He originally came to the attention of George Washington during the evacuation …

Continue reading “Spy vs Spy: George Washington’s and King George’s Spies (#3)”

America’s Most Famous Spy — Nathan Hale In the early years of the Revolutionary War, spying was not exactly considered honorable. Nathan Hale, however, volunteered to spy on the British Army after reportedly confiding in his classmate that he longed to be useful to the American cause.  He joined the Connecticut militia, becoming a First …

Continue reading “Spy vs Spy: George Washington’s and King George’s Spies (#2)”

America’s Most Famous Spy — Dr. Benjamin Church Long before Benedict Arnold defected to the British, Benjamin Rush committed treason against the Continental Congress and the Army. Like Arnold, Benjamin Church seemed the paragon of the patriot cause but he was likely paid for his treason and ultimately died in disgrace. Church was a member …

Continue reading “Spy vs Spy: George Washington’s and King George’s Spies (#1)”

A traditional gentlemen’s club was a private social club originally set up by and for British upper-class men in the 18th century.  These clubs were, in effect, “second homes” in the center of London where men could relax, mix with their friends, play parlor games, get a meal, and in some clubs stay overnight.  Expatriates, …

Continue reading “A Proper Gentleman’s Club”

We all know about Saturn’s rings. They were first observed by Galileo in 1610 but what about the planet itself. Turns out most of the focus of early astronomers (indeed even modern astronomers) has been on the rings but take a look at this letter in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London …

Continue reading “A Belt on the Disc of Saturn”