Tag: United States history

Historic Events

John Glenn and his Orbital Flight aboard Friendship 7

On February 20, 1962, while aboard Friendship 7, astronaut John Glenn became the first American to orbit the earth, making three orbits in four hours, 55 minutes. He was one of the Mercury Seven, military test pilots selected in 1959 by NASA as the nation’s first astronauts. Project Mercury was the first human spaceflight program of the United States, running from 1958 through 1963. An … Continue reading John Glenn and his Orbital Flight aboard Friendship 7

Mark Joseph Jochim3 Comments
Holidays

Happy Valentine’s Day 2019

Happy Valentine’s Day once again! This morning, there were “Day of Love” activities at my school and I have a special dinner planned this evening. Thus, I have decided to keep today’s article relatively brief, and largely photographic in nature. After all, there have been ASAD entries about this particular holiday in 2017 and 2018 as well as several articles on Philatelic Pursuits here and … Continue reading Happy Valentine’s Day 2019

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Historic People

Thomas Alva Edison

Thomas Alva Edison was born, on February 11, 1847, in Milan, Ohio, and grew up in Port Huron, Michigan. Edison was an American inventor and businessman, who has been described as America’s greatest inventor. He is credited with developing many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventions, which include the phonograph, the motion picture camera, … Continue reading Thomas Alva Edison

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Historic Events, Historic People, In Memoriam

The Immortal Chaplains of S.S. Dorchester

On February 3, 1943, the United States War Shipping Administration troop ship S.S. Dorchester was sunk in the Labrador Sea by a torpedo from a German U-boat. Of the 904 on board, 675 died. Dorchester had been sailing to Greenland as part of naval convoy SG 19 when the U-boat attacked. The loss of the ship became especially famous because of the story of the … Continue reading The Immortal Chaplains of S.S. Dorchester

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Historic People

General Douglas MacArthur

Douglas MacArthur was born January 26, 1880, at Little Rock Barracks, Little Rock, Arkansas, to Arthur MacArthur, Jr., a U.S. Army captain, and his wife, Mary Pinkney Hardy MacArthur (nicknamed “Pinky”). Arthur, Jr. was the son of Scottish-born jurist and politician Arthur MacArthur, Sr., Arthur would later receive the Medal of Honor for his actions with the Union Army in the Battle of Missionary Ridge … Continue reading General Douglas MacArthur

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Historic Events

Sutter’s Mill & the California Gold Rush

On January 24, 1848, James Wilson Marshall, a carpenter originally from New Jersey, found flakes of gold in the American River at the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains near Coloma, California. At the time, Marshall was working to build a water-powered sawmill owned by John Sutter. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the United States and … Continue reading Sutter’s Mill & the California Gold Rush

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Historic People

Daniel Webster & the Dartmouth College Case

Daniel Webster was born on January 18, 1782, in Salisbury, New Hampshire, at a location within the present-day city of Franklin. He was the son of Abigail (née Eastman) and Ebenezer Webster, a farmer and local official who served in the French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War. Ebenezer’s ancestor, the Scottish-born Thomas Webster, had migrated to the United States around 1636. Webster … Continue reading Daniel Webster & the Dartmouth College Case

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Historic People

Happy Birthday, Ben Franklin.

Today is the 313th anniversary of the birth of Benjamin Franklin on Milk Street in Boston, Massachusetts. As arguably the greatest American who has ever lived, Franklin has been mentioned on this blog numerous times and received extensive biographies in 2017 and 2018 in conjunction with his roles in founding both the United States and Canadian post office systems.  It is difficult to choose another … Continue reading Happy Birthday, Ben Franklin.

Mark Joseph Jochim1 Comment