Historical Tidbits — 1st Continental 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. September 4, 1774           1st Continental Congress The First Continental Congress, which was comprised of delegates from the colonies, met at Carpenters Hall in Philadelphia in 1774 to devise an …

Historical Tidbits — Treaty of Versailles

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. September 3, 1783           Peace proclaimed – Treaty of Versailles Following the disastrous defeat at Yorktown and subsequent sequestering of British Forces in New York City, the British peace commissioner …

US Treasury Department Founded: September 2, 1789

During the American Revolution, the Continental Congress had no power to levy and collect taxes, nor was there a tangible basis for securing funds from foreign investors or governments. Left with no real money, the delegates resolved to issue paper money in the form of bills of credit, promising redemption once the war was won. …

Historical Tidbits — Switching to the Gregorian Calendar

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. September 2, 1752 (sort of) – The British Empire ended their use of the Julian Calendar, switching to the Gregorian resulting in a 12-day shift.  The next day on …

Colonial Spymaster will be in Princeton

September 15, 202410 AM – 4 PMPrinceton Battlefield500 Mercer StreetPrinceton, NJ 08540 Going into the Revolution, Americans were at a huge disadvantage to the European powers when it came to spy-craft and cryptography.  The British and French employed master spies who had the benefit of centuries of experience in coding and deciphering secret communication between public officials.  …

John Chapman Worked to Make the World a Little Better

John Chapman was born in Massachusetts in 1774 and was a student of Emanuel Swedenborg, who espoused a secular humanist creed. This is similar to the Jewish concept of tikkun olam (תִּיקּוּן עוֹלָם). Secular humanism teaches that the world is innately good but that there is always room for us to improve it.  Ethics are, …