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Blog 4 History: American & Civil War History
Ulysses S. Grant to be Removed from the $50?
Congressman Patrick McHenry (R-NC) announced recently that Ulysses S. Grant’s portrait on the current $50 bill should be replaced with Ronald Reagan. I am one of those who happens to think Reagan was a great president, but nonetheless, I would not support this bill. Sean Wilentz, professor of history at...
HBO’s “The Pacific” Debuts Tomorrow
Tomorrow “The Pacific” will debut on HBO, as 10-part miniseries based on Robert Leckie’s book titled “Helmet for My Pillow” and Eugene B. Sledge’s book titled, “With the Old Breed.” I am familiar with Sledge’s book and knowing that the same people behind this new WWII series also were behind...
By David L. Wilson [Guest post by Mr. Wilson who is a graduate of the History Department at The University of Texas. We hope to feature more from Mr. Wilson in the future.] There are very few topics in American history on which historians have not explored, researched and written about...
I spent some time this afternoon at Barnes and Noble book store (not virtually) as I love to browse their large selection of Bargain Books and in particular, of course, the history section. I made two nice purchases. Journals: 1952-2000 by Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. and Reading the Man: A...
Discovering the Civil War Online – Live Webcast
This looks like a great event, and as most of you know. I am a student at American Public Univsersity and Dr. Woodworth is current one of my instructors. Well they have a great event coming up: Discovering the Civil War Online – Live Webcast. From their website: Have you...
I’m looking for history instructors or educators, graduate students or college professors who are interested in being a regular contributor here at blog4history.com. Potential revenue sharing once the advertising kicks in and it will. I am looking for 2-3 people interested in writing a weekly news or history piece. Nothing...
historyonair.com
You Camouflaged my Battleship!
Seen in the center of the image is the ABRAHAM CRIJNSSEN, covered in branches and made to look like an island. The captain of the vessel did this to evade capture after the battle of the Java Sea in Feb. 1942 during WWII. They went right through Japanese naval lines...
Take this quiz and see how your Olympic knowledge stacks up. Let me know if you want more quizzes like this in the future by posting your comment at the bottom of this post....
Found this on the AHA site. Its a list of oral history project websites. Image credit: Editor B...
Hi have just found your podcast and site. Enjoying the 3 I have heard so far – Rosa Luxemburg, Bobby Kennedy and Dien Bien Phu. I’m a History teacher in the Uk and have recommended it to my students too. Keep it up. Neil Hi have just found your podcast and site. Enjoying the 3...
I recently found this short audio clip on This I Believe. Here is a short description below. Follow the link to listen to the audio. President Harry Truman explains the beliefs that influenced his two decades of public service, and he encourages Americans to correct the remaining imperfections in our democracy....
Did you know you might have been sitting next to a person with a gun on your last flight? What if I told you they had that gun on the flight legally. Air Marshals have been flying with us since 1963. On 9/11/2001 there were only 33 Federal Air...
Jim's Blogs
My new forum for blogging about serious topics, usually from current events and politics....
Quick drawings, usually freehand, of things that interest me. Often, they are warships from the Victorian period. I also like old, large guns, and other military and naval-related topics. The drawings tend to be cartoon-like....
Dream Sequence is now my place for writing an ongoing story narrative. The current story is a combination of science fiction and historical research....
Discussion about wargaming an military history, primarily WWII in North Africa. Also discussion about AFV's and artillery....
This is a forum for discussion of topics relating to the Dreadnought era, prior to the ascendency of naval aviation. We will be discussing history, ship design, and naval wargaming....
This is an ongoing discussion about 17th Century naval wargaming (really, 1620-1720). Part of what is offered are scenarios for games: orders-of-battle, ship lists, battle descriptions, and scenarios for Age of Sail II-Privateers Bounty (a sailing warfare computer simulation/game), suitable scaled for that environment. Copyright (c) 2003-2004 James C. Bender...
Cronaca
Are terrorist cells really so hard to infiltrate?
For nearly a year, a middle-aged woman from suburban Philadelphia used her computer to fashion a new, frightening identity, federal court documents say. The stream of Internet messages in which she sought assistance to...
Italy embraces library digitization
The Italian government has signed a deal with Google to put the contents of two national libraries on the internet. Up to one million antiquarian books - including works by Dante, Machiavelli and Galileo...
Researchers have produced a mobile phone that could be a boon for prying bosses wanting to keep tabs on the movements of their staff. Japanese phone giant KDDI Corporation has developed technology that tracks...
A dozen centuries-old shipwrecks — some of them unusually well-preserved — have been found in the Baltic Sea by a gas company building an underwater pipeline between Russia and Germany. The oldest wreck probably...
Researchers have found that eggshells of extinct bird species are a rich source of preserved DNA. An international team isolated the delicate DNA molecules of species including the massive "elephant birds" of the genus...
Summer 1937. What could be more fitting in the cool afternoon of an English country lane than a group of cycling tourists steadily pedalling their way from one historic site to another, stopping to...
The Virtual Dime Museum
I was reading some issues of the Brooklyn Eagle from October 1891 and came across a story about a young man named John McGowan who set a fire, "undoubtedly of incendiary origin," on the staircase at 2 Phillips Alley, a three-story frame house which was home to 20 people. [Phillips Alley...
Today we're going to take a detour from lost New York. We'll return to it later this week, when I am going to tell you about a tiny lane in Brooklyn that was - in one instance, literally - a hotbed of criminal activity in the late 19th century. Anyway,...
John "Lord" Clendening was a wealthy New Yorker who made his fortune importing Irish textiles after the Revolution, at the end of the 18th century. He built this lovely mansion, complete with widow's walk and waving American flag, around 1811.* It stood at what is now the southwest corner of...
Chevaliers Take Note: Gone To Europe
Do you know what the Victorian slang term "Chevaliers d'Industrie" means? I didn't, when I came across the following anecdote from the New York Times in 1854 (which we'll get to in a minute). But Andrew Steinmetz, writing in 1870 in The Gaming Table: Its Votaries and Victims, tells us that...
If you were doing laundry in the 1860s, this was exactly the thing you needed: the Universal Clothes Wringer, to get the excess water out of washed clothing. It was endorsed by no less a person than the famous minister Henry Ward Beecher, who was quoted as saying, in an...
Did Hazard's Pearl Oil really have pearls in it? This was the question on my mind when I first saw this 1868 patent medicine label in the Library of Congress collection several months ago. C.G.C. Hazard was a Brooklyn druggist whose store was at Myrtle Avenue and Oxford Street, and he...
American Presidents Blog
Michelle Obama's Inaugural gown is now on display at the Smithsonian! Mrs. Obama presented it to the Smithsonian on Wednesday, March 10th. From her remarks upon presenting the dress, we can see the importance of these dresses (besides just being awesome to look at!):When we look at the...
I wanted to post a little tidbit on Harry Truman's mother that I found to go with my guessing game from last Friday:Because she was a Confederate sympathizer and apparently still had deep feelings about the outcome of the Civil War, Truman's mother would not sleep in Lincoln's bed during...
Grover Cleveland, as Sheriff of Erie County, personally hung two men (put the noose on and pulled the trap) as he felt that this was his duty as Sheriff and he should perform the task himself rather than make someone else do it.The end of this article also tell if...
Source I was watching Mickey Mouse with my son this morning, hence I decided to look for a picture of a US president with Walt Disney for you all. This was taken in June of 1959 when Nixon was still Vice President. You can also read his remarks...
I wanted to end the week with something fun - who is this a picture of?...
The Garfields had made plans to do some renovations to the White House, but they weren't there long enough to make the adjustments they'd planned. Instead, Chester Arthur did a major redecoration of the White House during his tenure, including auctioning off furnishings!Chester Arthur, did not occupy the White House...
Mirabilis.ca
Pour me a glass of wine, darling, will you? It’s good for me. And besides, the BBC says that women who drink wine are less likely to gain weight. It’s a happy news day....
Ostrich egg patterns oldest form of art and communication
From The Telegraph: Ostrich egg patterns oldest form of art and communication. Engraved patterns on the side of ostrich eggs dating back to the Stone Age could be the oldest form of written communication known to man, claims a new study. The etchings, thought to be 60,000 years old, were used to...
Lost Jewish tribe found in Zimbabwe
From the BBC: Lost Jewish tribe ‘found in Zimbabwe’. In many ways, the Lemba tribe of Zimbabwe and South Africa are just like their neighbours. But in other ways their customs are remarkably similar to Jewish ones. They do not eat pork, they practise male circumcision, they ritually slaughter their animals, some of...
Surface that refuses to get wet
From Science Daily: Water Practically Flies Off ‘Near Perfect’ Hydrophobic Surface That Refuses to Get Wet. Engineering researchers have crafted a flat surface that refuses to get wet. Water droplets skitter across it like ball bearings tossed on ice. Cool, hmm? The design is inspired by spiders. Spiders! Spiders use their water-repelling hairs...
The Virgin Queen, the serpent and the doctored portrait
From The Independent: The Virgin Queen, the serpent and the doctored portrait. When this painting of Queen Elizabeth I was last displayed to the country in 1921, curators at the National Portrait Gallery noticed spots of discolouration which cast a spiralling shadow across the Tudor posy the monarch held in her...
From Scott Adams’ blog at dilbert.com: Crazy or disciplined? My wife and I often have very different recollections of events. And not just the little details. Sometimes our shared memories don’t even feature the same mammals, themes, or points. The scary part is that we don’t realize these differences until we...
O Say Can You See?
Love the Smithsonian? Thank James Smithson.
Recently I had occasion to read a new biography of James Smithson, the Englishman whose bequest led to the founding of the Smithsonian Institution in 1846. In The Lost World of James Smithson, author Heather Ewing does some historical sleuthing......
Designing the American Dream with Mrs. Obama in mind
In 1997, a Washington Post article suggested that “For one evening, the inaugural ball gown is the most important dress in the country.” For one young designer in 2009, the first lady’s inaugural ball gown was probably the most important......
The grooviest place on the National Mall
Feeling groovy? You will be if you visit the newly renovated store at the National Mall entrance to the museum. Its new look is a tribute to the recent past, specifically the popular culture of the 1950s-1980s, and it should......
Powerful lessons from the Greensboro Four
On February 1, 1960, four African American college students—Jibreel Khazan (formerly Ezell Blair Jr.), Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil and David Richmond—sat down at the segregated Woolworth lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, and politely asked for service. Their request was......
The stress. The mental focus. Getting your mind "in the zone." Fear, worry, doubt. The waiting! The anticipation! With the high drama attached to the Olympic games, what's happening in the minds of the athletes gets a lot of attention......
History According to Bob
This show is about the rule of Empress Irene of Byzantium...
Chancellorsville Campaign Part 1
This show is part 1 of 4 on the Chancellorsville Campaign of 1863...
Chancellorsville Campaign Part 2
This show is part 2 of 4 on the Chancellorsville Campaign of 1863....
This show is covers how Napoleon reacted to Prussian mobilization in 1806....
This show is part 1 of 2 on Caesaers dealings with the Germans in Gaul....
This show is about the assassination of Thomas A Becket....
Dreadnought Cruisers
Today was the annivesary of the Battle of Dogger Bank in 1915
I noticed two good photographs from the Battle of Dogger Bank (24 January 1915). I hope that these will work for us: the Seydlitz on fire and low in the water (from www.cityofart.net/bship/gun_ops.html) the Derfflinger, Seydlitz, and Von der Tann on the way to the battle (from www.sms-navy.com) ...
Cruising formations for Dutch warships?
One question that I have is if the Dutch sailed in some cruising formation with their fleet when not engaged in actual fighting. I have speculated that the ships in the same squadron sailed as a clump and that the fleet consisted of clumps, grouped by squadron. Is there a...
Another run at the GB/CB/1905 fast battlecruiser design
I have tended to be obsessed with Cliff's design for a fast British battlecruiser, what we called the GB/CB/1905 design. I just got a good result by using light weight machinery. I am mystified why the protection is so good, considering the armour basis of 4in: GB/CB/1905, Great Britain Battlecruiser laid...
Sadly, Alt_Naval seems to be gone
One of my inspiration for making imaginary ship photographs, Alt_Naval, seems to be gone. I tried to go there and found that the page was not there. I did a Google search and could not find a new URL for the site. It is gone. Thankfully, the "Wolf's Den" still...
A super American battlecruiser: the US/CB/1943
I have been toying with very large battleship and battlecruiser designs since I was young. This is a fast battlecruiser armed with 12-21in/55 guns. I don't like the deep draft, but I don't see an alternative. US-CB-1943, United States Battlecruiser laid down 1943 Displacement: 192,480 t light; 201,981 t standard; 217,137 t...
The picture posted "May 31, 1916"
Rob pointed out to me that the picture I posted five weeks ago was actually from the Battle of the Dogger Bank. The Tiger is steaming at high speed towards the left of the picture while in the background, on the right, is the burning, sinking Blücher....
Page in History
I'm sorry I could not generate a better image than this. But even blown up and cropped you'll have to squint to see the eye-sockets in question.But the interesting thing is that the National Museum of Scotland is asking sculptors and artisans to see if they can determine if...
Great History Resource for Kids!
GreatGreat photo, huh.Okay, I am a proselytizer for History.Thus, I'm taking out time to point out this great picture and the great article by Laura Leigh Davidson that goes with it.The article appears on the Scholastic Online site in a section for Teachers. But really...
Dinosaurs Are Older Than We Thought
A new find in Tanzania is pushing back the origins of dinosaurs at least ten million years.The Asilisaurus kongwe, which NationalGeographic describes as a "Labrador retriever-size creature [was] a silesaur, the closest relatives to true dinosaurs. The new found animal lived 243 million years ago, during the middle Triassic period."The...
Etruscan Prince Picks Unlikely Place for Palace...
DiscoveryNews is reporting an astonishing find near Rome. Italian archeologists are reporting that:The remains of what might have been the residence of the Etruscan prince Sextus Tarquinius, son of the last legendary king of Rome Tarquinius Superbus (Tarquin the Proud), have been found on the slopes of an...
Caught In the Act... Fossilized Snake and Dino Eggs
Wow! Amazing Discovery. I can scarcely keep my enthusiasm under control. This is so very cool.Thanks Mother Nature for preserving this one for us. The skeleton of the 3.5 metre (11ft) snake, named Sanajeh indicus, was found inside a dinosaur nest in India, coiled around a crushed...
The Earth Really Did Move... way too much
Usually we don't do modern history but this was just amazing, imho.“The length of the day should have gotten shorter by 1.26 microseconds (millionths of a second),” Gross, said today in an e-mailed reply to questions. “The axis about which the Earth’s mass is balanced should have moved by 2.7...
HistoryNet - From the World's Largest History Magazine Publisher
What country has had the most influence in history?
What country has had the most influence in history?...
This was responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of cattle in the southern plains of the U.S. in 1886....
Who was the most romantic couple in history?
Who was the most romantic couple in history?...
The widow of this Confederate general testified before a U.S. Senate committee in an attempt to win back her job as a postmaster....
What's the most important date in all of history?
What's the most important date in all of history?...
The Gideon Force was comprised of troops from these three nationalities....
Pepys' Diary
Up, and with Sir W. Batten and [Sir] W. Pen to my Lord Treasurer's, where we met with my Lord Bruncker an hour before the King come, and had time to talk a little of our business. Then come much company, among others Sir H. Cholmly, who tells me that...
Up, and with [Sir] W. Batten to the Duke of York to our usual attendance, where I did fear my Lord Bruncker might move something in revenge that might trouble me, but he did not, but contrarily had the content to hear Sir G. Carteret fall foul on him in...
Up, and to the office, where all-the morning, and my Lord Bruncker mighty quiet, and no words all day, which I wonder at, expecting that he would have fallen again upon the business of Carcasse, and the more for that here happened that Perkins, who was the greatest witness of...
Up, and with my cold still upon me and hoarseness, but I was forced to rise and to the office, where all the morning busy, and among other things Sir W. Warren come to me, to whom of late I have been very strange, partly from my indifference how more...
(Lord's day). Having my cold still grown more upon me, so as I am not able to speak, I lay in bed till noon, and then up and to my chamber with a good fire, and there spent an hour on Morly's Introduction to Musique, a very good but unmethodical...
Up, and to the office, where sat all the morning busy. At noon home to dinner, where Mrs. Pierce did continue with us and her boy (who I still find every day more and more witty beyond his age), and did dine with us, and by and by comes in...
About.com 19th Century History
Brunel's Thames Tunnel to Be Opened
A tunnel built under the River Thames in London by the great Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel and his father, Marc Brunel, is going to be open to the public this weekend. The brief opening will mark the first time in 145 years that people will be able to walk...
Ireland's Century of Rebellion
Ireland in the 19th century was engaged in an epic struggle marked by a series of open revolts and sustained protests against British rule. A trend in revolutionary activity in Ireland which began in the late 1790s essentially lasted until Irish independence was achieved in the early 1920s. As St. Patrick's...
Ad Making Light of the Great Famine Denounced
The Denny's Restaurant chain drew criticism this past week for running TV spots which offered free French fries and pancakes in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the end of the Great Famine in Ireland. As you might imagine, people were outraged by what seemed to be a joking approach...
Yellowstone, the First National Park
Today marks the anniversary of President Ulysses S. Grant, with a stroke of the pen, designating Yellowstone as the first National Park. On March 1, 1872 Grant signed a remarkable piece of legislation which resulted from Congress being motivated by what an astounding government expedition had discovered. Rumors about spectacular scenery...
The news coverage of the earthquake in Chile, and the subsequent tsunami warnings, often included a mention of one of the great cataclysms of recorded history, the eruption of the volcano at Krakatoa, an island in the Pacific Ocean, in 1883. The massive destructive power unleashed at Krakatoa, in which the...
If the case of Helen Jewett sounds like something from today's tabloids or cable news channels, it's because her 1836 murder in New York City created the template for countless other sensational news stories. Jewett, who was born under another name in New England, came to New York and became prominent...
World War II History
Below is a sampling of some of the images in our Franklin D. Roosevelt photo gallery. See more FDR photos....
World War II History for March 12
Today in WWII History World War II History for March 12 Audio Clip: Below you will find President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s first Fireside Chat from 1933 “On the Bank Crisis.” Included is a link to the full text and a video clip. 12 Mar 1933 – President Paul von Hindenburg dropped the flag...
Audio Clip: 02.19.1945 – Live Coverage Of U.S. Marines Landing On Iwo Jima “The battle of Iwo Island has been won. The United States Marines by their individual and collective courage have conquered a base which is as necessary to us in our continuing forward movement toward final victory as it...
On 02.19.1945 at 0905 hrs, the first of 30,000 US Marines land on Iwo Jima. Battle for Iwo Jima Photo Gallery Audio Clip: Arthur Prim Reports the First Strikes on Iwo Jima Amphibious Tractors landing on Iwo Jima Feb 1945 Iwo Jima, which means Sulfur Island, was strategically important as an air base for...
World War II History for February 19
Today in WWII History World War II History for February 19 Audio Clip: 02.18.1943 Soong Mei-Ling Appeals to Congress to Aid Chinese Nationalists 02.19.1932 – The Sino-Japanese dispute was referred to the Assembly by the League of Nations Council. 02.19.1937 – An attempt was made in Addis Ababa to assassinate the Italian viceroy of...
Congrats to Toni from NY on winning the WWII in HD giveaway contest! We hope you enjoy it, the series is very moving and shows a lot of scenes never before made public. If you weren’t the lucky winner this time you can order the DVD at the links below. Check...
World History Blog
I discovered a brief but interesting history from the Philippines. It is Camarines Sur History. The same site also has Camarines Sur Capitol History Both are brief reads and taught me something about a place I knew little about. From the site: In 1569, Luis Enriquez de Guzman, with Augustinian friar Alonzo...
Giants in the Mountains: The Search for Sasquatch
It doesn't matter if Sasquatch (Bigfoot) exists or not. People still think they are seeing something. The oral accounts and folklore around this topic makes for a rich historical topic to study. Assuming Bigfoot is never found, will not historians still be examining the accounts of people who though they...
Winter Olympics History Carnival is Up!
History Carnival LXXXV, a Winter Olympics Edition, is up at Disability Studies. It looks like a good collection. I am pleased to have received a gold medal for my now notorious and most famous post, Did Alexander the Great Fight the Yeti. ...
Africville was a small town in Nova Scotia, Canada. It was inhabited by black families. The city of Halifix grew and in the late 60s decided to annex the land that Africville was on. The buildings in the community were destroyed and the population was evicted...
English Only Sentiment on Facebook
While on Facebook the other day, I noticed a new meme spreading in people's status updates. It read, "Why the hell do I have to press one for English if I live in America?"I found that amusing. The obvious answer, "Because English is not the original language of North America?"...
Looking at 4,000 Year Old DNA From Greenland
There is an interesting find at of Greenland. The DNA of a 4,000 year old man was sequenced and some surprises were discovered. An article titled After 4,000 years, DNA suggests ancient Greenland man had risk of baldness and even dry earwax was written by Malcom Ritter.The biggest shock...
About.com African History
Apartheid Government Targeted Oliver Tambo?
On 12 March 1982 the ANC offices in London were bombed. The head of the South African Security Branch, General Johan Coetzee, had planned the operation under instruction of the Minister of Law and Order, Louis le Grange. The bombing coincided with an anti-Apartheid rally being held in central London...
Droughts are fairly common in southern Africa, but when the rain does fall there are excellent opportunities for grazing cattle and developing agriculture. So it is not surprising that one of the most critical threats against the well being of a southern African society was failure of the rains. Rain...
This Day in african History – Bambara Empire of Mali Brought to an End
The final death knell of the Bambara Empire sounded with the invasion of the city of Ségou by the forces of al-Hajj 'Umar on 10 March 1861. The process had been long winded - the collapse began in 1818 with an assault by the forces of the Fulani Muslim leader,...
Was it Band Aid or Bullet Aid?
Journalist Martin Plaut has raised a furore (Bob Geldof demands proof of BBC Ethiopia aid report) over claims that up to 95% of the international aid in the 1980s, destined for the starving of Ethiopia, was diverted to rebel groups and used to buy arms. Plaut has spent a year following...
This Day in African History – Ghana Achieves Independence from Britain
War between the British and the Ashanti was brought to an end in 1874 when the defeated King, Asantehene, signed a treaty with the British. The Gold Coast colony was created, incorporating the Ahanti and a Protectorate in the north. Following the re-disposition of German colonies after World War...
This Day in African History – Multi-Racial Elections in Rhodesia End White Domination
Robert Gabriel Mugabe wass elected Prime Minister of Zimbabwe at the age of 52 on 4 March 1980. Mugabe's party, the Zimbabwe African National Union, ZANU, won 57 of the 80 available seats in the 100 seat Assembly (the 20 seats reserved for whites were won by Ian Smith's Rhodesian...
Wig-Wags - Please visit new site at http://www.wig-wags.com
Wig-Wags Moving to Wig-Wags.com!
Dear readers and blogosphere colleagues, I am in the process of making the great leap to a separate domain for my Wig-Wags blog. The new site is up and running but I’m still in the process of transitioning links and applying some spit and polish. That said, I have begun posting...
One of my readers is researching General Grenville M. Dodge and asked for information. I, of course, turned promptly to my buddy Peter A. Hansen who knows more about rail history than anyone I know. Pete writes for most of the major rail history magazines, consults with museums and rail...
W. J. Wood called Braxton Bragg the “most complicated of all the Confederacy’s generals.”(1) A graduate of the academy, where he excelled, he displayed skills as an administrator and adept trainer of troops. He had seen action in the Mexican War and was heralded as a war hero for his...
John Woo’s Epic Film…Red Cliff. Civil War in Ancient China
Every once in a while, a movie comes along that takes the visual depiction of battle to a new level (Braveheart, Saving Private Ryan). John Woo’s epic film, Red Cliff, does just that. Based on the actual Battle of Red Cliffs (see the Red Cliff Wiki here) that took place...
New: A Dragon’s Head and a Serpent’s Tail: Ming China and the First Great East Asian War, 1592-1598
It’s always a pleasure to receive a book about military history that’s a bit outside of my primary focus because invariably I learn something that informs my study. The good folks at the University of Oklahoma Press sent me a review copy of a new book by Kenneth M. Swope,...
Lincoln’s Impact on Military Operations
In class, we’ve been discussing how the decisions of the two commanders-in-chief during the American Civil War impacted events at the operational level. Modern scholars have challenged the notion that Lincoln simply stayed involved in military details until he found the right general (Grant). Eliot Cohen posits that’s “Lincoln exercised...