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T.R. Tough

Theodore Roosevelt was campaigning in Milwaukee, WI on October 14, 1912 on the Bull Moose ticket. A man made his way through the crowd and shot T.R. in the chest. Roosevelt rather calmly checked his mouth for blood. Finding none, he realized the bullet did not pierce a lung. He made his way to the podium and gave a 90 minute speech with blood dripping from his shirt. The speech began with, "Ladies and gentlemen, I don't know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot; but it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose."

What saved Roosevelt from greater harm? The bullet went through a steel eyeglass cases and his single-folded, 50 page speech. The ricochet off those two objects caused the bullet to lodge (as T.R. asserted) just short of his lungs. The bullet was not removed but did cause health problems for Roosevelt later in life.

I figure now was the time to share this story as I have heard it twice in two days. I am reading and really enjoying E.L. Doctorow's Ragtime which mentions the event and the story was featured on the latest edition of History Detectives as part of a T.R. war club investigation.

A Capitol Trim

The plot of land that was to become Washington D.C. was chosen by George Washington himself. Our first President selected a site on the Potomac River that was a near perfect diamond shape encompassing the ports of Georgetown and Alexandria (parts of Maryland and Virginia). Then why does the D.C. of today look as though someone took a bite out of it? Well, because someone did.

It's a term we don't use very often; retrocession or the process of donating land back to its original owners. In the 1830's, Alexandria County (the part of D.C. southwest of the Potomac) was struggling financially. One of its main businesses was the slave trade. Rumors were circulating that abolitionists in Congress were starting to talk about outlawing the slave trade in the district. This would be catastrophic to the southern end of the city. So in 1840, residents of Alexandria petitioned for the retrocession of the land south of the Potomac to Virginia. The state legislature approved the petition in February of 1846. Congress followed suit in June and Alexandria County was returned to Virginia as the city of Alexandria. Washington's diamond officially lost two of its points.

I picked up this story on the History Channel's, "How The States Got Their Shapes."

Independence Day Fun

More fun from the National Archives and the Don't Know Much blog.

-Jefferson is the principle author of the Declaration of Independence with assistance from Franklin and Adams. The latter's edits were incorporated into the final version.

-The D of I was actually passed on July 2nd. Whoops.

-The D of I was signed over the course of a month. The famous painting of each signer coming up to the desk is not true.

-Hancock's signature is not so large because he wanted the king to be able to read it without his glasses. It's because he was the first to sign.

-With the exception of Hancock, everyone's signature is placed geographically to the state he represented.

-The D of I has traveled around quite a bit. Most interestingly to an unused gristmill in Virginia during the War of 1812.

-Reese Witherspoon is a direct descendent of declaration signer John Witherspoon.

All those robes

Here's a first for Stories of America. Video! I came upon this video from Yahoo!'s Who Knew series. It's all about graduation regalia. Right in time for graduation season. This information is not specific to America, but the information provided has certainly become a piece of academic Americana. For example, not mentioned is the famed Cavalier cap worn by UVA Ph.Ds.

Theremin Fever

In the 1930's, America was taken by storm by a Russian musical instrument called the theremin. The theremin was one of the first electronic instruments and was invented by Leon Theremin. A user could control the volume and pitch of the instrument by placing his/her hands at different spots between two metal poles. Moving your hands changed the sound because different positions interrupted the electric flow at different points. The theremin was considered one of the easiest instruments to play but one of the hardest to play well.

During the late 20's and early 30's, Theremin was sent on an international tour by the Soviet government to promote his instrument. It worked as the concept was picked up by RCA for a considerable sum. The ulterior motive for Theremin's visit is where this story takes a strange twist. The Soviets successfully used Theremin as a spy. His contract with RCA gave him some interesting insight on many of their more strategically useful projects.

In 1945, Theremin created a secret listening device called The Thing. The Thing was placed in a wood carving of the Great Seal of the United States and presented to the U.S. Ambassador as a "gesture of friendliness" by a group of Soviet schoolchildren. The bugged seal sat in the ambassador's office for seven years before being discovered by the CIA. It later became a key piece of evidence in the hearings following the U-2 incident.

The Student and The Teacher

The Civil War started 150 years ago last week. I present an intriguing tale from Fort Sumter to commemorate the occasion. This one is pretty widely known but still interesting.

Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard was a native of Louisiana trained at the United States Military Academy (Class of 1838). He was such a good artilleryman at West Point that he was kept on an additional year by one of his instructors. Beauregard moved around the South at the beginning of his career and eventually returned to West Point as Superintendent in 1861. He only lasted five days as the start of the Civil War compelled him to fight for his home South.

The most interesting part of G.T. (he eventually dropped the P) Beauregard's career came at Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. He led the Confederate bombardment and eventual victory in the first battle of the Civil War. The Union General he defeated you may ask? Robert Anderson; the man who asked him to stay on at West Point.

p.s.:
Nothing to do with the Civil War. I'm proud to report that History Tours was named the #1 Google Earth Teacher Tool by highdefteacher.com.

Check Your Books

One of my new favorite shows is History Detectives. Even though the show has been on for 8 seasons, I've just discovered it. Here's a great story from one of the episodes.

John Adams loved books. He had a huge library which has been distributed to various libraries, historical societies, and museums since his death. Interestingly, Adams had two literary habits: signing and dating his book and annotating in the margins.

He also apparently loved sharing. Many of Adams' books have made their way into the hands of the public. He would give books as gifts (complete with signature and annotations). These books have therefore not made their way to an Adams library or museum. I'm sure many people realized they had something more than a keepsake when Adams rose to the Presidency in 1796. So, check your personal libraries; especially if you live in New England. There may be an old book in your attic that's not only signed by our second President but is complete with his feelings on the text.

Ben Franklin's Daily Schedule

From the patron saint's autobiography...

The morning question,
What good shall I do this day?

5:00 AM-8:00 AM
Rise, wash, and address Powerful Goodness; contrive day's business and take the resolution of the day; prosecute the present study; and breakfast

8:00 AM-12:00 PM
Work.

12:00 PM-2:00 PM
Read or overlook my accounts, and dine.

2:00 PM-6:00 PM
Work.

6:00 PM-10:00 PM
Put things in their places, supper, music, or diversion, or conversation; examination of the day

Evening question,
What good have I done today?

10:00 PM-5:00 AM
Sleep.

The Tale of the Frisbee

Just about everyone has one lying around the house even if it's a knock off. The Frisbee is as American as apple pie. The story behind the toy is quite interesting.

It all begins in 1938 when Walter Fredrick Morrison and his girlfriend were offered 25 cents for a cake pan they were throwing back and forth. Morrison could get cake pans for 5 cents so he saw a business opportunity.

The "flying disc" phenomenon was a byproduct of the 1950's UFO craze. Morrison and his business partner began marketing their new and improved discs as the Flyin-saucer. In 1957, Morrison sold his product to the Wham-O toy company. Wham-O renamed the disc "Frisbee" after the Frisbie Pie Company who had supplied pies (and their throwable tins) to Yale University for years. Students would often be seen throwing the Frisbie tins in the same way Wham-O hoped they would throw the Frisbee. The popularity of the Frisbee took off in the 1960's ultimately leading to the organization of a professional league.

Crazy Horse, maybe?

The Crazy Horse Memorial in South Dakota has been under construction since the 1940's. Once completed, it will be the world's largest sculpture. To give an example of size, Crazy Horse's head will be 87 feet high. Each President's head on Mount Rushmore is only 60 feet.

One problem. What did Crazy Horse look like? The Lakota warrior did not trust anything the Americans brought to his land including the camera. Oral traditions say that he was light complected with light hair. His ancestors also know what his dress would have been like given his standing in the tribe. Through the years, many people have come forward claiming to have a picture of Crazy Horse. None have been proven authentic. The closest thing history has is a forensic sketch drawn in 1934 (long after his death) by a Mormon missionary. The missionary drew the picture from an explanation provided by Crazy Horse's sister. It was apparently so close to his likeness that the sketch brought the woman to tears.

Things You Never Knew About Your Car

I heard a fleeting fun fact on TV the other day. The first cars did not have steering wheels. That got me thinking about the auto. So here's a DYK

• The first cars were steered with levers. No wheel.
• The first stop light was installed in Cleveland, OH in 1914.
• Prior to the 1920's, cars didn't have gas gauges.
• The average American will spend two weeks at red lights during their lifetime.
• Old cars are the world's most recycled product.
• The pitch of most car horns is F.
• Henry Ford once said, “Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants so long as it is black.” His first Model Ts, however, did not come in black. They were grey, green, blue, and red.
• Ford also sold scrap wood that turned into charcoal from processing on the assembly line. Ever hear of Ford's charcoal? How about Kingsford? Named for Ford's relative who selected the new site of the new charcoal plant.

Home Run Kings

Barry Bonds maybe the modern home run king, but when I think of sluggers, I think Roger Maris and Babe Ruth. But, should I?

Ruth retired with a record 714 home runs, including 60 in 1927. Not bad, but he may not have even been the best power hitter of his generation. Negro League catcher Josh Gibson hit 69 home runs in 1934 and is credited with hitting "almost 800" in his career by the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Gibson was known as "the black Babe Ruth." Others called Ruth, "the white Josh Gibson."

As great as Ruth and Gibson were, they aren't even close to the all time home run record. Sadaharu Oh played 22 season in Japan and hit a staggering 868 home runs.

All of these guys are in the Baseball Hall of Fame with the exception of Bonds who is not yet eligible and may not make it due to controversy over steroid use. It is interesting to consider competition and debate who is the true sultan of swat. Any conversation must include Ruth, Gibson, Maris, Oh, and Bonds.

The Double Pike

In March 1865, New Yorker Owen G. Warren proposed what he called "the double pike." It was essentially a shovel with a detachable scoop. Minus the scoop, it had two sharp spiked ends (hence the name). The scoop could then be attached to a jacket and used as a breastplate. Warren said, "In strong hands it more than matches the bayonet." His idea was never implemented.

Fifty years later, the U.S. Army began issuing the folding spade for digging trenches.

For more info:
I received this and many other great primary source documents from the National Archives RSS feed.

FDR's Many Forms of Courage

Franklin Roosevelt saved the country some say twice (Great Depression and WWII). He was elected a record four times and held the position of chief executive longer than anyone else. Throughout his Presidency, however, few people knew he was paralyzed from the waist down.

In August 1921 (9 years before becoming President), Roosevelt came down with a fever. Within a month, he was paralyzed. Roosevelt was a fighter and continued his political career when many would have given up due to public opinion of the early 20th century.

The press treated FDR's disability as taboo. They did not film him getting in and out of cars or trains. When giving speeches, Roosevelt would hold himself up on the podium. He would often gesture with his head instead of his hands. Even the most ruthless political cartoonists, most of whom were aware of FDR's condition, did not portray him in a wheelchair.

FDR was a courageous man and today serves as a role model for those who cannot walk. It is a shame that he had to hide his disability for fear the public would view him as weak. He proved, even in retrospect, that those with disabilities can achieve anything; not only be President but be one of the best Presidents.

Capitol over Dinner

Why is Washington D.C. our nation's capitol? In Federalist #43, James Madison said we needed a capitol that was separate from a state in response to an attack on the Philadelphia location of Congress in 1783. Remember Madison. He'll come up again.

Fast forward to 1790. A dejected Alexander Hamilton just left a meeting with George Washington. Outside Washington's quarters, he met up with rival Thomas Jefferson. Hamilton explained that Washington didn't think there was enough support for Hamilton's plan of assumption (a plan where all of the nation's debt would be taken on by the federal government). So the story goes, Jefferson invited Hamilton and the main critic of assumption, James Madison, to his house for dinner. The three sat down and hammered out an agreement. Madison would not vote for assumption but would not criticize it so fervently. In exchange, the capitol would move to a location on the Potomac River.

Here's Jefferson's account:
They came. I opened the subject to them, acknowledged that my situation had not permitted me to understand it sufficiently, but encouraged them to consider the thing together. They did so. It ended in Mr. Madison’s acquiescence in a proposition that the question should be again brought before the House by way of amendment from the Senate, that tho’ he would not vote for it, nor entirely withdraw his opposition, yet he should not be strenuous, but leave it to its fate.

Hamilton got his financial plan and ten years later the capitol moved from Philadelphia to Washington D.C.

For more info: This and "the duel" post came from my favorite book; Founding Brothers by Joseph Ellis. I picked it up for a third time this week after being asked what my favorite book was by our school librarian. As a fun side note, I first read the book as a history undergrad. I wanted to study early America with Ellis. I looked him up and found he was a professor at Mt. Holyoke. I'm glad I realized Mt. Holyoke is an all girls school before I mentioned it to anyone.

Booth Mummy

On January 13, 1903, a man named David George died. This would not be very important other than, upon his death bed, George claimed to be John Wilkes Booth. Some of the evidence matched. They looked the same. George was the same age as Booth. He had a long healed broken leg just above the ankle. He was considered a pretty darn good actor. So just to be sure, George was mummified.

The mummy went on display for a while, but when interest faded, it was sold to a Memphis lawyer who of course used it as a sideshow attraction. The mummy quickly began causing trouble. It was bought and sold numerous times. Each time, a curse seemed to bankrupt or physically harm the owner.

But was it Booth? The short answer: no. Booth's body was released to his family after an extensive investigation. Both the government and family believed they had their man.

The Conversation at Weehawken

This story is cross-posted with a new Google Earth tour on History Tours. Read the story here and follow the geography on History Tours. The HT wiki recently went over 5,000 hits and has taken off significantly in the past few weeks. Thanks a bunch.

On July 11, 1804, the Secretary of the Treasury met the Vice President on the dueling ground. Sound crazy? A little. Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr had been political rivals for years. Burr took one comment which Hamilton may have never made personally and demanded an apology. When Hamilton's eventual apology was too little too late, Burr challenged him to a duel or conversation as dueling was illegal.

Here's what we know. Both men left their Manhattan homes early that morning and were rowed across the Hudson to Weehawken, NJ. At the end of the day, the Founding Father and Treasury Secretary was dead. How this occurred is disputed.

-Hamilton's camp said that he never intended to shoot at Burr. After being shot, Hamilton claimed that his gun was still loaded and cocked.
-Burr's camp said that Hamilton shot above Burr's head. Burr was either shaken that he was shot at or a terrible aim. He fired and subsequently killed Hamilton.

So which is it? The historical record suggests that Burr is actually correct. Hamilton's gun was fired and appears to have hit branches far above Burr's head. Burr returned fire and hit Hamilton in the ribs which caused the bullet to ricochet off numerous vital organs. A hit a few inches lower would have caused only a slight wound.

Whether the Vice President was shooting to kill or not remains a mystery. Burr fled New York and lived with his daughter in South Carolina for a while before murder charges were thrown out at which time he returned to Washington and finished out his term as Vice President.

The Misquoted Mr. Lincoln

Two quotes famously attributed to Abraham Lincoln, well... were never actually said by Lincoln.

"You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you can't fool all the people all the time."

This may be the most famous Lincoln quote not in the Gettysburg address. The problem: there is no historical record that he ever said it. A few folks around the turn of the 20th century said they recalled him saying something like that. It took off from there.

In reference to General U.S. Grant's drinking:
"If I knew what brand he used, I'd send every general a barrel."

Very entertaining but also not Lincoln's words.

Hello or Ahoy?

We all know Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. Did you know he expected people to answer the phone by saying, "ahoy?" It was famed inventor and noted buttinski, Thomas Edison, who suggested, "hello." Edison's case was strengthened by the first phone books. An early New Haven edition listed "hulloa" as the official greeting. The official ending, you might wonder? "That is all."

That is all.

For more, here's the article from NPR

The Battle of Los Angeles

The events of the night of February 24th, 1942 were quite strange even for Hollywood. Early on the 24th, the Navy released a statement that an attack on Los Angeles by the Japanese was possible. Artillery units were put on high alert as night fell. An unusual number of lights were in the sky that night making for an even more tenuous situation. Things returned to normal until around 2:15. Reports came in of enemy planes flying west of L.A. A red light was spotted and fire upon. Artillery units followed shooting at lights in the night sky. Despite all the fire, no aircraft either fired back or was hit.

The problem? There were no planes or a battle over Los Angeles. The military was still reeling from the attack on Pearl Harbor and was a bit too quick on the trigger. While UFO enthusiasts will claim the army was shooting at aliens, the truth lies with the first red light. The artillery officers that night commented that what they were firing at seemed to be too slow to be a plane; that's mostly because they were firing at weather balloons. The Japanese released a statement years later saying that, while they did launch planes from submarines near the American coast during the war, it did not take place near Los Angeles or on the night in question.

A Different Lincoln/Booth Tale

Robert Todd Lincoln:
"The incident occurred while a group of passengers were late at night purchasing their sleeping car places from the conductor who stood on the station platform at the entrance of the car. The platform was about the height of the car floor, and there was of course a narrow space between the platform and the car body. There was some crowding, and I happened to be pressed by it against the car body while waiting my turn. In this situation the train began to move, and by the motion I was twisted off my feet, and had dropped somewhat, with feet downward, into the open space, and was personally helpless, when my coat collar was vigorously seized and I was quickly pulled up and out to a secure footing on the platform. Upon turning to thank my rescuer I saw it was Edwin Booth, whose face was of course well known to me, and I expressed my gratitude to him, and in doing so, called him by name."
John S. Goff, "Robert Todd Lincoln: A Man In His Own Right"

Edwin Booth:
He (Booth) had started for Philadelphia from New York, and while he was standing on the platform of a car, still in the Pennsylvania railroad station at Jersey City, and just as the train was above to move, a young lad, going from one car to another, stumbled, and would have fallen between them, had not Edwin caught him by the collar of the coat and landed him in safety by his side. The boy, whom Edwin had never seen before, evidently recognized him, and holdibng out his hand said to him, "That was a narrow escape, Mr. Booth," and thanked him warmly. Two weeks later Edwin received a letter from General Adam Badeau in which the latter mentioned that Robert Lincoln had told him that it was his life that had thus been saved.
William Bispham "Memories and Letters of Edwin Booth"

That's right. John Wilkes Booth's brother, Edwin, saved Abraham Lincoln's son, Robert, about a year before the assassination. It is also striking to note that Robert is the only son of Lincoln who survived to adulthood. Had this encounter not happened, there may have been no direct descendants of Lincoln.

May we borrow your Constitution?

In 1861, the Confederate States of America drafted their own Constitution, or did they?

The Confederate Constitution and the U.S. Constitution are remarkably similar. In a lot cases, entire sections are lifted. It's strange considering that men on both sides were fighting and dying for two documents that outlined ways of life that were almost the same.

The differences:
In the CSA, the President had a line item veto. The U.S. instituted the same in the 1990's, but it was quickly struck down as unconstitutional.

The President of the CSA would serve for one, six year term. At the time, U.S. Presidents were allowed to run for as many 4 year terms as they liked although all only ran for two out of respect for George Washington.

And the biggie, slavery. Slavery was expressly allowed in the CSA Constitution. Foreign slave trade was outlawed but there was no doubt that slavery would continue in the CSA and in any other states they added.

I decided to share this story after reading this post on Kenneth Davis's Don't Know Much About blog, which is great and everyone should read. I don't agree with everything in the post, but there are some very interesting points presented.

More than a pretty face

Hedy Lamarr was one of the most famous actresses of the Golden Age of Hollywood. She starred in 18 films during the 1940's. A little known fact about Lamarr, however, is that she played a significant role in the remote control of everything from torpedoes to wifi.

Early in her acting career, Lamarr married an Austrian arms manufacturer name Friedrich Mandl. Mandl did not approve of Lamarr's acting career and would often take her to business meetings with him. From these meetings, the mathematically gifted Hedy learned about military technology.

In 1941, she paired with German composer George Antheil to create a wireless system of musical instruments. The radio technology they developed could also be used by the military to remotely control torpedoes. Their work was not received with great attention until the advent of later technologies such as cordless phones and wireless internet connection. The so called frequency hopping makes the connection you're on right now more secure.

Liver Eating Johnson

The life of John Johnson is part folktale, part Old West historical figure. Johnson is said to have been born as John Garrison in New Jersey in the early 19th century. He joined the Union Army during the Civil War but deserted after fighting with an officer. He moved West and took the name John Johnston.

The stories of this mountain man's life abound. The most famous is that he married a Native American woman and settled down in Montana. During a raid, Crow Indians killed his wife. Johnston set out on a personal mission against the Crow that lasted over a decade. Legend says that whenever he killed a Crow, he would remove the man's liver and eat it as a sign of disrespect. This practice earned him the name "Liver Eating Johnson." For some reason, the "t" was left out.

Another tale involving Johnson comes when he was taken prisoner by the Blackfoot tribe. The Blackfoot planned on trading Johnson to the Crow. According the story, Johnson bit through his restraints, knocked out the guard, and sawed off the guard's legs. He escaped to the woods using a leg as a weapon where he then used the leg as food. This story is actually believed to be true but not about Johnson.

Johnson eventually made peace with the Crow and settled into a normal frontier life in Montana. Johnson is buried in Wyoming, but true to his reputation, no one knows how he got there. Some say he died at his Montana cabin, others say it was a Los Angeles retirement home.

Loyalist William Franklin

Benjamin Franklin's son, William Franklin, was a devout Loyalist. The younger Franklin was born in Philadelphia in 1731 to Benjamin and an unnamed mother. Historians believe his mother was either Benjamin's common law wife, Deborah Read, or a prostitute. The whole situation was covered up as neither scenario was good for the son of an influential politician.

William is correctly depicted as helping his father with the famous kite experiment which proved conduction of electricity. He is, however, incorrectly depicted as a small child. William was 21 and earned a master's degree for the achievement.

Things were going well for father and son until the American Revolution broke out. Benjamin became one of the leading voices of the Patriots. William was Royal Governor of New Jersey and stuck by the crown. For his efforts, he was arrested in 1776. Upon his release in 1778, he led a group called the Associated Loyalists. The Associated Loyalists went to General Henry Clinton and asked for custody of a Continental officer named Joshua Huddy. They told Clinton they would exchange Huddy for a high ranking British officer; instead they hung him. Clinton was infuriated and thus ended the political career of William Franklin.

William and Ben lived estranged for most of their adult lives. William moved to England and had a meeting with his father in 1785. The meeting was brief and really tied up financial ends more than reconnected the two. Ben never forgot his son, however, dedicating his autobiography to William by starting with, "Dear Son."

Lincoln-Kennedy Disconnections

Part Two:
Yesterday's post was fun, wasn't it? Well, not let's blow it up. Here's my suggestion for a lesson. Start with yesterday's information, discuss, and then add today's. Your students might be surprised.

Lincoln: elected to Congress in 1846
Kennedy: elected to Congress in 1946
True, but their climbs to Congress could not have been more different. Lincoln struggled at every election. Kennedy rose quite easily.

Lincoln: shot on a Friday
Kennedy: shot on a Friday
1 in 7 chance. I wouldn't bet on those odds, but it still seems pretty circumstantial.

Lincoln: successor was Andrew Johnson born in 1808
Kennedy: successor was Lyndon Johnson born in 1908
Coincidence but not that startling. Most politicians reach their prime in the 50-70 age range. Johnson is also a very common last name.

Lincoln: John Wilkes Booth- 3 names, 15 letters
Kennedy: Lee Harvey Oswald- 3 names, 15 letters
Oswald was generally known as "Lee Oswald" before the murder.

Coincidences I left out because they are flat wrong:
Both were assassinated by Southerners.- Booth was a Southern sympathizer but was not actually born in a Southern state.

Both were succeeded by Southerners- You want to be President? You better have a VP that represents a section of the country that you do not.

Lincoln's Kennedy secretary, Kennedy's Lincoln secretary- Kennedy's secretary's name was indeed Lincoln. There is no proof that Lincoln had a secretary named Kennedy.

Both losing children- Much different circumstances. Lincoln's son died of TB at four years old. Kennedy's son was premature and died at two days old.

Booth was born in 1839, Oswald in 1939- Wrong. Booth was born in 1838.

Lincoln-Kennedy Connections

Part One:
This information can be found all over the web. There is, however, a lot of junk out there. I'm sticking to the facts.

Lincoln: elected to Congress in 1846
Kennedy: elected to Congress in 1946

Lincoln: elected President in 1860
Kennedy: elected President in 1960

Lincoln: shot on a Friday
Kennedy: shot on a Friday

Lincoln: shot at Ford's Theater
Kennedy: shot in a Lincoln, made by Ford

Lincoln: John Wilkes Booth- 3 names, 15 letters
Kennedy: Lee Harvey Oswald- 3 names, 15 letters

Lincoln: Booth killed before a trial
Kennedy: Oswald killed before a trial

Lincoln: assassin attacked in a theater, escaped to a storage facility (tobacco barn)
Kennedy: assassin attacked from a storage facility (book depository), escaped to a theater

Lincoln: successor was Andrew Johnson born in 1808
Kennedy: successor was Lyndon Johnson born in 1908

This is all very strange and a bit eerie. There are more connections, but I don't really find them relevant. For instance, both Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Kennedy lost children as first ladies. There's a rumor that Lincoln's secretary's name was Kennedy and Kennedy's was Lincoln, but that's unsubstantiated. This is interesting food for thought and could be a great classroom discussion.

Presidential Fun Facts

John Quincy Adams had a pet alligator.

William Henry Harrison's father signed the Declaration of Independence. His grandson also became President.

Thomas Jefferson was a great writer but considered a bad speaker. His voice was apparently high and shrill.

John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Jame Monroe all died on July 4th. Adams and Jefferson on the same day.

Calvin Coolidge was born on July 4th.

James Polk said he would only serve one term. He kept his word and didn't run for a second.

John Tyler is the only former President who allied himself to the Confederacy during the Civil War.

Martin Van Buren was the first President born in the United States.

Dr. Woodrow Wilson was the only President with an earned doctorate.

James Buchanan was the only President who never married.

Franklin Roosevelt was related to 11 other Presidents. He was also elected four times.

Grover Cleveland was elected twice but not consecutively.

Christmas 1776

There are many stories that go along with the famous crossing of the Delaware in 1776. Here are three things you may not know.

Washington's men were cold and demoralized. Both of these conditions could be remedied with a victory and a warm place to sleep. Our future first President seized a golden opportunity to bring a smile to his men's faces. Henry Knox, chief of artillery, had just got into Washington's boat. Knox was, let's say, a portly gentleman. In true Washington fashion, he nudged Knox with his boot and proclaimed, "shift that fat @##, Harry, but slowly or you'll swamp the da##ed boat." (edited for the sake of touchy readers). A little known fact about George Washington is that he could curse the paint off the wall.

Above is the iconic image of "Washington Crossing the Delaware." The general stands proudly in a small rowboat. Not the case. Washington had 900 men to get across the river. They actually crossed in long, narrow, flat boats. Washington more than likely could not and would not want to stand up. Everyone huddled together was the only way to keep warm.

On the other side of the Delaware in Trenton, NJ were a group of Hessians led by Johann Rall. The Hessians' Christmas was a stark contrast to that of the Americans. They were warm inside, had plenty to eat, and unfortunately for them plenty to drink. They celebrated the season with little worry of a Continental attack.

Rall enjoyed playing cards. He was doing such when a loyalist named John Honeyman arrived and handed him a note. Rall was enjoying his game and also had quite a bit to drink. He placed the note in his pocket and return to the table. Later that night, Washington's troops attacked. Rall was hit by a musketball while leading the retreat and died the next day. The note from Honeyman was taken from his pocket. It said that Washington's men were organizing and preparing an attack.

Convict to Contract to Silverscreen

David Marshall Williams was a railroad man. The problem: he ran an illegal distillery on the side. During a raid on his still in 1921, a deputy sheriff was shot and killed. Williams's trial resulted in a hung jury, but he decided to plead guilty to a lesser charge of second degree murder. He was sentenced to 20 to 30 years behind bars.

The story really begins here. Williams had the uncanny ability to machine parts for guards' guns out of scrap metal and car parts. He drew diagrams of guns he would like to build and eventually was allow to build a few while in prison. His family and the widow of the deputy involved pushed for Williams to be released. In 1931, he went free.

Williams took some time to perfect his work and eventually landed a contract with the War Department to outfit many of the military's rifles with his floating chamber technology. Williams later caught on with Winchester where he designed his most famous gun, the M1 Carbine.

In 1952, Hollywood came calling when MGM decided to make a movie about Williams's life. The title character, played by Jimmy Stewart mind you, was Carbine Williams.

Let me see your face

Lyndon Johnson was an iconic figure. There's the picture of him holding the beagle by the ears, a famous picture of a distraught LBJ listening to news from Vietnam, and did you ever here the phone call of him ordering pants? It's at least PG-13. Little known until recently, however, is the story of how we almost lost a second President in as many days.

In the book and subsequent documentary The Kennedy Detail, Secret Service Agent Gerald Blaine explained how he almost shot the new President just hours after Kennedy was killed. Blaine was assigned to protect Johnson's Washington home and was standing guard the night after Kennedy had been assassinated. He heard a noise. Blaine cocked his Thompson submachine gun sure that the noise would stop the potential intruder. He was surprised to hear footsteps still coming toward him. Blaine then put the gun to his shoulder and yelled for the intruder to show himself shouting, "let me see your face, you b####rd" (edited, he didn't say number sign). Just then, the new President of the United States turned the corner and reportedly turned quite pale. LBJ could not sleep and was walking about the house. Blaine said he struggled to compose himself after that. He had nearly killed the President.

The Search for Planet X

Clyde Tombaugh was an unassuming farm boy of the early 20th century. He had not attended college and worked with his family. Clyde, however, was fascinated by the night sky. In 1926, he built a few telescopes with mirrors he ground himself. He worked tirelessly on drawings of Jupiter and Mars. When completed in 1929, he sent these drawings to the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, AZ. Tombaugh was then offered a job.

Clyde went to college while working for Lowell and received both a bachelors and masters degree in astronomy. What he is most famous for occurred in 1930. Tombaugh was assigned the duty of searching for a "trans-Neptunian" planet; the so called, "Planet X." Tombaugh took pictures of the same section of sky night after night and noticed one body that seemed to move while the others (stars) were stationary. He also determined the light was beyond Neptune. Tombaugh had discovered Planet X.

What to call the new planet? Planet X was not very interesting. There were many suggestions, but the winning entry came from a 11 year old girl. Her suggestion was Pluto. The astronomers thought Pluto was fitting as it was the name of the Roman God of the Underworld who could make himself invisible. The owner of the Lowell Observatory, Percival Lowell, liked the name as PL were his initials. On May 1, 1930, Pluto was dubbed the 9th planet.

Note for my son, Ryter: On August 24, 2006, Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet or as Ryter says, "Pluto got kicked out of the galaxy." Even at the age of 3, he has decided that it is his mission in life to allow Pluto back in.

Beer or wine, Ben?

Benjamin Franklin has many famous quotes. One of his most famous may actually be a misquote. The patron saint of PA is often depicted as saying, "beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." The truth is that this quote was mostly fabricated by beer makers in order to sell more beer.

What Franklin actually said in a letter to Andre Morellet in 1779 is:

"Behold the rain which descends from heaven upon our vineyards, there it enters the roots of the vines, to be changed into wine, a constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy."

In any event, history tells us that ole' Ben enjoyed his share of both wine and beer.

Presidential Ink

Every post I had made thus far and probably every post I will make after this is substantiated information. All of the stories have appeared in books or magazines and have been written by real historians. This post is different. I stumbled upon the notion of Presidents with tattoos last August when searching for Presidents with doctorates (only Wilson, former President of Princeton-- a story for another time). So I make this post not to share facts rather to further speculation. Any inside knowledge you have that could prove these claims one way or the other is welcomed.

We've had a lot of tough guy Presidents, but who was tough enough to have a tattoo? Here's the list of who's been rumored to have a little ink under the suit.

-14th President Franklin Pierce owns the most famous rumor. Word on the net is that he had two full sleeves of mythological figures fighting, however, the craftsmanship was so poor that he never showed them off
-How about Ike? Very few Presidents could claim to be tougher than Dwight Eisenhower. Rumor has it, Ike had the Ace of Spades tattooed on his hindquarters.
-It is rumored that both Roosevelts had their family crest on an undisclosed location.
-One website claims 35 of the 43 have/had tattoos.

Is any of this important? No. It is kind of interesting as tattoos have almost become a right of passage for today's young people. I would bet more and more future Presidents will be sporting some art. Who knows? Maybe one day Obama will take off his shirt revealing Veritas wrapped in crimson ivy.

3.4% of the Vote from Prison

Even today, one of the few names associated with Socialism in America is Eugene Debs. Debs was an Indiana Congressman most famous for organizing labor unions. He is connected to one of the most famous strikes in American history; the Pullman Strike of 1894 which had to be broken up by the U.S. Army.

Debs continued to fight for labor unions and joined the American Socialist Party. He was an outspoken critic of World War I and Woodrow Wilson's administration. On June 30, 1918, he was arrested on 10 counts of sedition. Wilson called him, "a traitor to his country." Debs spoke on his own behalf at his criminal trial but was found guilty and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Debs ran for President on the Socialist ticket in 1920 while incarcerated in an Atlanta prison. He received 913, 664 write in votes (3.4% of the vote). He later requested clemency which Wilson, of course, rejected. In 1921, new President Warren Harding released Debs and invited him to the White House the day after his release. Harding welcomed Debs saying, "Well, I have heard so damned much about you, Mr. Debs, that I am glad to meet you personally."

Debs's health deteriorated over the next few years. He was admitted to a mental health facility where he died in 1926.

Atlanta prison to the White House in one day. Not bad.

Washington's Whiskey

After eight years as President, George Washington returned to farming at his Mount Vernon estate. Someone mentioned that he might make a bit more money if he used his extra corn to make whiskey. Washington decided to give it a try. In 1798, he sold 4,000 gallons at 50 cents per gallon. In 1799, he sold 11,000 gallons.

These results are a little surprising as Washington's whiskey wasn't very good. Washington's problem was that he concocted, barreled, and sold. Historian Peter Carlson said that rushing the process flavored Washington's product with "notes of kerosene and turpentine." He continued that drinking it, "burned the throat, wrung tears from the eyes, and produced a hangover that made a drinker feel like he'd been beaten by an angry mob."

Maybe people drank it because it was the President's whiskey after all? Nope. Washington packed it in huge barrels and sent it to distributors. Customers didn't know or really care where their whiskey came from. Pretty much all the whiskey of the late 18th century was equally as bad.

Later distillers such as Jim Beam and Jack Daniels realized that placing your whiskey in burned out oak barrels and allowing it to age would create a better flavor. Jim Beam bourbon will age for about ten years. Jack Daniels scotch is filtered through charcoal and then aged in the burned out barrel for about the same amount of time. Washington's hooch aged for about 10 minutes.

For more info, I suggest:
Peter Carlson's article "Revolutionary Spirits" appeared in my favorite magazine American History.

"I thought some of the boys might want the old gun."

In July 1863, Gettysburg, PA resident John Burns was 70 years old. He was a veteran of the War of 1812. He heard the sounds of war approaching his door. Burns took down his old musket and began to clean it. When he wife asked what he was doing, Burns replied, "I thought some of the boys might want the old gun." Before long, a group of Union troops were passing his house. Burns got up and joined right in with the Seventh Wisconsin. The soldiers gave him a new rifle and an ammunition box. Burns responded by saying he'd rather carry his bullets in his pocket instead of using one of "them new fangled things."

Burns was wounded three times and left lying on the field. A group of Confederates found him and carried him back home. He survived his injuries and later met Abraham Lincoln. Burns downplayed his role by saying, "I pitched in with them Wisconsin fellers."

Nikola Tesla

Many remember Nikola Tesla as a mad scientist. Let's face it, before he went a bit crazy, Tesla was one of the greatest inventors the world has ever known. He may have even been better than his contemporary and rival, Thomas Edison.

Tesla got his start working for Edison in Europe in 1882. The Serbian national eventually made his way across the pond to work for Edison's American operation. The two only worked together for a few months. Tesla felt unappreciated. It also didn't help that two men were on the opposite sides of the "War of the Currents." Edison preferred his direct current (DC). Tesla has a vision for alternating current (AC).

Tesla ran into some tough times after leaving Edison. He established a small venture where his patents were stolen by his partners and eventually ended up digging ditches for Edison's DC lines. By 1887, Tesla was making a comeback. He impressed a few investors and started working on his AC motor. Once the motor was functional, Tesla presented it in Pittsburgh to the pleasure of George Westinghouse. Westinghouse and Tesla would make for a formidable team against Edison.

Thomas Edison had the upper hand. His DC system had a head start on Westinghouse's AC. Despite the lead, Edison was still worried about the competition. He staged demonstrations to show that Tesla's AC was unsafe topped off with an electrocution in New York. Westinghouse eventually won out with the final blow coming when he and Tesla underbid Edison (now controlled by GE) for the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago and impressed the masses with their use of safe electricity.

Tesla went on to work on other successful projects including a hydroelectric plant at Niagara Falls and many new technologies that would contribute to the advent of radio, wireless phones, X rays, florescent tubes, and neon lights many years before this devices were even considered. But as Tesla aged, he became more eccentric. Many of the quirks of a genius began to border on insanity. He wasted a lot of money trying to prove that electricity could be shot through the upper atmosphere. He contemplated developing a death ray that would deter wars. Couple these ideas with an erratic personal life (everything had to be divisible by three, he hated pearl earrings, he was unusually attached to pigeons) and people started to wonder what was actually possible and what was the product of a deteriorating mind. Tesla died in his New York City apartment on January 7, 1943. His room number was 3327; divisible by 3.

The Least Known Founding Father

""I have been young and now I am old, and I solemnly say I have never known a man whose love of country was more ardent or sincere, never one who suffered so much, never one whose service for any 10 years of his life were so important and essential to the cause of his country..."
-John Adams

Who was Adams talking about? The end of the quote: "...as those of Mr. Otis from 1760 to 1770." I present to you, dear reader, the least known founding father, James Otis.

Otis was a young lawyer around the time the colonies started thinking about breaking away from Great Britain. He considered himself a loyal subject, although in 1761, he delivered a speech that some consider to be the beginning of the American Revolution (not the war; the revolt). Otis represented American merchants against the Writs of Assistance. His performance was capped by a 5 hour speech. Afterward, Otis was called the "Oak that drew the lightning stroke of British wrath." Those words are very ironic later on.

As the 1760's progressed, James Otis' mental state deteriorated. It is not known what illness he suffered from. Some historians suspect schizophrenia. The crippling blow to Otis' effectiveness can in 1769 when he got in a fight with a few British officers and was struck with a sword. He was never quite right again. Otis was to be taken care of by his younger brother, Samuel, from then on out. On December 17, 1775, however, Otis slipped his caretakers, stole a gun, and headed for the fighting at Bunker Hill. In part because of this incident, Otis was sent to live with a friend outside of the city.

It has been said that Otis once told his sister, ""My dear sister, I hope, when God Almighty in his righteous providence shall take me out of time into eternity that it will be by a flash of lightning" (remember the lightning reference earlier?). In May 1783, Otis got that wish. He stepped outside and "the oak that drew the lightning stroke of British wrath" was struck by lightning and killed.

Secret Subway

In 1912, New York City subway workers were digging a new tunnel. Imagine their surprise when they discovered one already finished. The workers unearthed a completely finished, in tact subway station.

The system of tunnels and platforms was the remains of an 1860's pet project of a man named Alfred Beach. Beach was the editor of the magazine Scientific American and was amazed by and presumably very frustrated by the amount of traffic in New York City. Beach's idea was to build a set of tunnels underground where large cars could move people from station to station. Sound familiar? Even more intriguing about Beach's design was that the cars moved by means of a 50 ton fan nicknamed "the Western Tornado." Beach was promoting green technology before environmentalism even existed.

The plan never really worked out because Beach had some strong political enemies. They believed that digging tunnels under the city would literally undermine the integrity of the buildings above. So, Beach's men worked in secrecy. They even dug a tunnel directly under City Hall with no politician ever finding out.

Beach opened his luxurious prototype in 1870. His first station came equipped with frescoes painted on the walls, fountains stocked with fish, and a piano player. Beach eventually received a permit from the state legislature, but his critics had the last laugh as lack of investors shut down the operation after only a few years. In the end, the subway attracted more than four hundred thousand visitors.

King of the Bootleggers

What can we say about George Remus? He was a young entrepreneur, a pharmacist, a lawyer, the so called king of the bootleggers, an accused murderer, an insane asylum patient... yeah, this guy was made for Stories of America.

George Remus came to Chicago as a young child with his parents around the turn of the 20th century. His father could not work, so a 14 year old George took a job at a local pharmacy. By age 19, he owned it. Before long, Remus tired of business and took up law.

By 1920, Remus had established himself as a pretty good criminal defense lawyer. 1920 is also the year Prohibition was implemented. George couldn't help but notice that many of his clients were getting very rich and fast. So, Remus moved to Cincinnati where many legal distilleries were still making alcohol for medicinal purpose. He used his pharmacist's license to buy legal alcohol and he was in business. A few associates "stormed" his warehouse, "stole" his alcohol, turned it into illegal Hooch, and sent it to the streets of Cincinnati. Did the get rich quick scheme work? Well, he threw a New Year's Eve party in 1922 for 100 of the most powerful couples in Cincinnati. Each husband left with a diamond watch. Each wife left with a new car.

As was the case with many bootleggers, Rumus eventually landed in jail. His wife couldn't wait for him and began dating a federal Prohibition agent of all people. Upon his release, Remus sought out his wife and promptly shot her. Not a problem for George Remus, he was a lawyer after all. He defended himself with a plea of temporary insanity. The jury did not want to send a Cincinnati legend to the clink for life, so they returned with an innocent verdict in just under 20 minutes. Remus' insanity plea did, however, land him in an insane asylum. Upon leaving the asylum, Remus moved to Kentucky and lived out the rest of his life without incident.

And oh yeah, the king of the bootleggers apparently didn't drink.

The Battle of the Kegs

The last time we left David Bushnell, he was a bit dejected after failing to blow up a single British ship with his Turtle in 1776. Bushnell resurfaced in 1778 in an even stranger story.

In January of 1778, Bushnell was traveling with Colonel Joseph Borden's troops around Philadelphia. Bushnell approached Borden with a bold idea. He said that he could outfit barrels, or kegs, of gunpowder with hair triggers. The barrels could then be lowered into the Delaware River and sent downstream toward the British fleet. Borden agreed to give David a shot.

On January 6th, a group of specially-outfitted kegs were placed in the water and slowly began to float toward the British fleet. Unfortunately, many of the ships had already been moved to avoid ice. Nevertheless, a few made it to their destination. One of the British ships sent out a barge to inspect one of the kegs. They inspected a bit too closely and the keg went off killing four men. The commotion whipped the British army and loyalists in Philadelphia to a frenzy. For the rest of the day, British sailors shot at anything that was moving in the water. Loyalists in the Philadelphia feared barrels throughout the city as rumors abounded of Continental soldiers hiding in barrels and then popping out with murderous rage. The event even inspired a Francis Hopkinson poem which the Americans especially loved for making reference to Sir William Howe and his affair with Elizabeth Loring, wife of a famed Boston Loyalist.

Sir William he, snug as a flea,
Lay all this time a snoring,
Nor dreamed of harm as he lay warm,
In bed with Mrs. Loring.

Full poem here

World Wide What?

The internet was invented by the U.S. government (sorry, Al Gore although maybe you get some credit). It probably would not be as handy as it is today if it weren't for one man; Tim Berners-Lee.

In the early 1980's, Berners-Lee was looking for a way to keep better track of his documents. He created a program called Enquire which allowed him to share his files more efficiently. Big deal, right? Berners-Lee didn't think it was either. Ten years later, however, Tim decided to apply the Enquire principle to a number of computers. Lo and behold, the internet as we know it was born.

What to call this feat? A few colleagues suggested "that hypertext thing." No. "The Mesh" was considered. No. "The Information Mine" was close, but the TIM acronym would be a little egotistical. Berners-Lee decided on something more catchy; the world wide web.

For more information, I suggest:
The Greatest Stories Never Told by Rick Beyer

Fighting in Congress, Actual Fighting

Oh, to be an antebellum politician. South Carolina Senator James Hammond was asked if he thought members of Congress were bringing weapons to work. His response. "The only persons who do not have a revolver and a knife are those who have two revolvers."

Let's start in the House of Representatives in 1858.
In the wee hours of February 6th, 1858, Pennsylvania Representative Galusha Grow and South Carolina Representative Laurence Keitt were in a heated argument. Then they hit each other. In a baseball-style fracas, the benches cleared. Northern representatives and western free soilers squared off with their southern counterparts. The scuffle eventually broke up with more hurt feelings than anything else.

The Senate, however, was a bit more violent.
On May 22nd, 1856, Representative Preston Brooks (S.C.) (accompanied by Laurence Keitt-- boy, he was trouble) walked up Senator Charles Sumner (M.A.) and began beating him with a cane. Sumner had a made a speech a few days earlier calling out supporters of slavery especially Brooks' relative Andrew Butler. Butler was at home in South Carolina recovering from a stroke. Sumner's speech apparently included a line which made reference to the stroke. Brooks thought that Sumner's actions did not deserve the gentlemanly way of resolving these issues; a duel. Brooks was punished by Congress and eventually resigned. He was, however, considered a hero in the South for the attack which is pretty telling of the tensions of the time.