On this day in 1903, one of the most famous female characters in the history of the American West died in South Dakota at the young age of 51. “Calamity Jane” was born Martha Jane Canary in 1852. According to her autobiography, she grew up in Missouri, the eldest of
He is the namesake of one of America’s original thirteen colonies. A university is named after him, as are numerous high schools, streets, parks and monuments. One of New York City’s major train stations bears his name. But today the actual person is barely remembered, let alone honored. So today,
One of the greatest figures in American history is Ulysses S. Grant, the general who led the Union Army to victory in the Civil War, and who later served as a two-term president of the United States. We honor him today on the 140th anniversary of his death on July
Background and Prelude to Battle The Battle of Bull Run, the first major land battle of the American Civil War, was fought in Prince William County, Virginia, near the small stream known as Bull Run, close to the town of Manassas Junction. The battle took place 164 years ago today,
Samuel Colt, born on this day, July 19, 1814, in Hartford, Connecticut, was a visionary inventor and industrialist whose name became synonymous with the revolver—a repeating firearm that forever changed personal weaponry and warfare. Colt’s innovations in both firearm design and manufacturing techniques helped lay the foundation for modern mass
The legend of few characters of the old west has endured more than Henry McCarty, aka William H. Bonney, and better known as Billy the Kid. He was an American outlaw and gunfighter of the Old West who was linked to nine murders, four for which he was solely responsible, and five in which he may have
One of the most gut-wrenching personal accounts of the horrors of American slavery during the 19th century was a book written by Solomon Northrup, a free black man who was kidnapped and forced into slavery. The book, “Twelve Years a Slave,” is a vivid first-person narrative of Solomon’s long years of
149 years ago today was a day of disaster: it was the day that General George Armstrong Custer and his troops were annihilated by Native-American armed forces led by Chief Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and other tribal leaders. The disaster was in no small due to the fatal hubris of General Custer, who over
One of the most famous people associated with the Jamestowne Colony in Virginia was Captain John Smith, an explorer, adventurer and military man who is best known today as the man with whom the Indian princess Pocahontas formed a close relationship (and was one of the main characters in the Disney film, Pocahontas!).
One of our most important Founding Fathers, but largely forgotten, is Dr. Joseph Warren, who was one of the leaders of the rebel forces in Boston in the years leading up to our American Revolution. We honor him today on the 250th anniversary of his death on June 17, 1775. It was
In the year 1852, one of the best-selling books of the 19th century was published by a 40-year-old Connecticut woman. The book was Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and the woman was Harriet Beecher Stowe, who was born this day on June 14, 1811.
Among the famous moments in the years leading up to the American Civil War were the “Lincoln-Douglas Debates,” which took place in August through October 1858. In the six debates that took place in various places in Illinois, where the two candidates were vying for a U.S. Senate seat, the
Born on this day in 1801 was Brigham Young, an American religious leader and politician. He was the second president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1847 until his death in 1877. He also served as the first governor of the Utah Territory from
Also known as the, “Negro Plot of 1741.” Today, when we look back at the Salem Witch Trials, we shake our collective heads and tell ourselves that the execution of innocent men and women in 1692 was aberrational. “Never again,” we say. Half a century later, however, it happened again,
One of the greatest of our Founding Fathers was Patrick Henry, the man who famously declared to his fellow Virginians in 1775, “give me liberty of give me death!” We honor him today on the anniversary of his birth on May 29, 1736. Background The story of Henry’s early years
John Adams said of him that he was a “flame of fire.” The Boston colonists’ nemesis, Governor Thomas Hutchinson, said that he “set the Province in a flame.” Yet, few Americans today know his name.