The Battle of Bull Run (First Manassas)
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,...
Remembering Samuel Colt: Inventor, Industrialist, and Architect of the Revolver Era
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...
Remembering Billy the Kid
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...
Remembering Solomon Northrup
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...
Remembering Captain John Smith
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...
Remembering Harriet Beecher Stowe
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...
Remembering Stephen Douglas
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...
Remembering Brigham Young
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...
May 1741: A Travesty of Justice in New York City
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...
Remembering Patrick Henry
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...
