Lets just take a look at how simple the British Imperial System that everyone loves is: British Imperial and U.S. Customary systems of weights and measures Standard Measuresshort ton20 short hundredweight, or 2,000 poundslong ton20 long hundredweight, or 2,240 poundsshort hundredweight100 pounds, or 0.05 short tonlong hundredweight112 pounds, or 0.05 long tonpound16 ounces, or 7,000 …
Continue reading “Oh yeah, Metric Units Are Just Too Complicated”
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 22, 1774 – THE QUEBEC ACT established the Royal Province of Quebec and expanded its territory into much of what is now southern Ontario, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, …
Summer (in the Northern Hemisphere, for those of you in the real south, this will be winter but the timing is the same) officially begins this year June 21, 2023 at 10:50 am. This is when the when the sun is at its zenith along the northernmost path in the sky. Of course, it’s felt …
Continue reading “Weird Celtic Holidays? Maybe but Maybe not.”
July 4, 202410 AM – 6 PMWashington Crossing Historic Park1112 River RdWashington Crossing, PA 18977 Okay, we are going back to Washington’s Crossing. Not to invade New Jersey (we’ll do that later) but to brew beer. Military expeditions were not possible in the 18th Century without vast quantities of beer (DON”T DRINK THE WATER!). I will, therefore, …
Continue reading “Brewing Up History with Regimental Brewmeister“
June 29, 202410 AM – 10 PMDaniel Boone Homestead400 Daniel Boone RdBirdsboro, PA 19508 Perhaps you are an accomplished homebrewer and you want to appreciate the challenges faced by brewers in the 18th Century who brewed good beer without all the instrumentation and modern equipment we rely on, perhaps you are a history buff and …
Master Courier — Caleb Brewster Caleb Brewster was born in Setauket, New York and signed on to a whaling boat as a young man. A personal friend of Abraham Woodhull, he was an expert seaman and especially familiar with the many intricacies of the northern Long Island coastline, as well as the 18-mile stretch north …
Continue reading “Spy vs Spy: George Washington’s and King George’s Spies (#11)”
The first day of summer arrives with the solstice this year on Wednesday, June 21, 2023 at 10:58 a.m. EDT. The summer solstice is the time at which the sun reaches its maximum declination. More practically for most of us, the summer solstice is the longest period of daylight in the year. The term “solstice” …
The Petticoat Code — Anna Strong Anna Smith Strong was Selah Strong III, a leading Patriot judge, and their family controlled one of Long Island’s manors. In 1778 her husband was arrested and confined on the British prison ship Jersey in New York harbor for “surreptitious correspondence with the enemy.” Although Anna’s wealthy Tory relatives …
Continue reading “Spy vs Spy: George Washington’s and King George’s Spies (#10)”
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 20, 1790 – During a dinner meeting with Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton and James Madison drafted a bill to move the Federal Capital to a …
Continue reading “Historical Tidbits — District of Columbia”
The Pinckney treaty of 1795 had resolved friction between Spain and the United States over the right to navigate the Mississippi and the right for Americans to transfer their goods to ocean-going vessels at New Orleans. This détente was threatened by Napoleon Bonaparte’s plans to revive the French empire in the New World. Bonaparte planned to recapture the …
Michael Carver -- Historical Interpreter/Reenactor 