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. June 29, 1767 The Indemnity Act –reduced taxes on the British East India Company when they imported tea into England. This allowed them to re-export the tea to the colonies more …
Category Archives: Ideas
Spruce was NEVER a Substitute for Hops
There is a persistent myth that Spruce was added to beer in lieu of hops. Let me set the record straight, Spruce Beer is NOT Gruit! Gruit ale is an herbed beer, originating in the Low Countries (Netherlands, Flanders, and Rhineland Germany) and common in the 10th to 15th centuries. It was largely displaced by …
Spy vs Spy: George Washington’s and King George’s Spies (#18)
The Other Spy Ring — Mersereau Ring Because of the AMC Series TURN, everybody knows about the Culper Ring but there was another spy ring operating in New York at the same time — The Mersereau Ring. Like the Culper Ring, the Mersereau Ring operated throughout the New Brunswick and New York regions that gathered …
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Historical Tidbits — Attack on Sullivan’s Island
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. June 28, 1776 Attack on Sullivan’s Island In early 1776, the British organized an expedition for operations in the southern colonies. Delayed by logistical concerns and bad weather, the …
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Historical Tidbits — Molly Pitcher
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. June 28, 1778 Molly Pitcher “Molly Pitcher” was not a single historical figure, but a composite folk hero inspired by the actions of different people, most of them women …
Brewing Jargon of 18th Century
Its always frustrating to start a conversation and realize that the audience you are speaking to has no idea what the terms you are using mean. I assure you I have not relapsed into a more comfortable language (like Dutch or German) but am in fact speaking English when I give my beer talks. What …
Spy vs Spy: George Washington’s and King George’s Spies (#17)
“Q” — Benjamin Talmadge In the James Bond films, the spymaster is never known by their name, only their codename. In 1777, America’s master spy was Benjamin Talmadge. Major Benjamin Tallmadge was an American Continental Army officer who oversaw the Culper Spy Ring during the American Revolution. In November 1778, Gen. George Washington directed Tallmadge …
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The Longitude Prize
Most of us are comfortable with pilotage. This is the practice of navigating from one landmark to the next in a sequence to find your way to your destination. In fact, most of us have given directions like, “go down Main Street to the third light and turn left, then …” But what do you …
Edmund Halley, the famous astronomer. also designed the world’s first diving bell
Although best known for his proof that comets follow regular orbits around the sun, Edmond Halley was also an inventor. Halley invented and tested one of the world’s first submersible. In this diving bell as many as four men could descend beneath the surface of water and spend hours observing life on the bottom or …
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Join the Regimental Brewmeister
People are always welcome to come to my events and if you come in 18th Century kit, you can be part of the program or just hang out in the tent as you see fit. However, if you are truly interested in really learning the process, teaching the public, and being the brewer, you should …
Michael Carver -- Historical Interpreter/Reenactor 