Kenneth C. Davis's Blog, page 118
July 1, 2010
Independence Week: The Most Important Signer You Never Heard of
In another installment of my Independence Week Refresher Course, I focus on a man who most of us never heard of. But the United States of America exists, in part, because of his efforts.
Of the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence, a few names are familiar. Most Americans, if pressed, can probably name a true handful –Jefferson, Ben Franklin, John and Sam Adams, and John Hancock, he of the famous signature.
But among the other men who set their names on the Declaration –in...
June 30, 2010
Don't Know Much About® Independence Week: Declaration 101
In the run-up to the nation's birthday, here are some more things you "need to know" about the Declaration of Independence and the men who created it.
-It's not a "piece of paper." The original version of the Declaration was "engrossed" (a word for preparing an official document in a large, clear hand) on parchment (which is an animal skin, stretched and treated to preserve it). The Declaration was probably "engrossed" by Timothy Matlack, an assistant to Charles Thompson, the Secretary of...
Independence Week: Declaration 101
In the run-up to the nation's birthday, here are some more things you "need to know" about the Declaration of Independence and the men who created it.
-It's not a "piece of paper." The original version of the Declaration was "engrossed" (a word for preparing an official document in a large, clear hand) on parchment (which is an animal skin, stretched and treated to preserve it). The Declaration was probably "engrossed" by Timothy Matlack, an assistant to Charles Thompson, the Secretary of...
June 28, 2010
"Self Evident Truths" –The Real National Treasure
As we pursue happiness and work our way towards Independence Day on July 4th, here are a few fascinating facts about the document that created the United States of America and the day that the nation was born. This is the first of a series of blogs about the Declaration. leading up to Independence Day.
–First of all, we celebrate the wrong day –as far as John Adams was concerned. The Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, actually voted on a resolution of independence on July 2d...
June 25, 2010
TODAY IN HISTORY: 60 Years Later- Don't Know Much About® the Korean War
It used to be called the "Forgotten War." But it is no longer forgotten, as recent headlines continue to prove. And it never really ended. With the sinking of a South Korean navy submarine in March, tensions between the two countries were once again ratcheted higher. And the firing of Gen. MacChrystal by President Obama this week brought back recollections of the Korean wartime firing of General Douglas MacArthur by President Truman. They were more reminders of the so-called "Forgotten...
TODAY IN HISTORY: 60 Years Later- Don't Know Much ABout® the Korean War
It used to be called the "Forgotten War." But it is no longer forgotten, as recent headlines continue to prove. And it never really ended. With the sinking of a South Korean navy submarine in March, tensions between the two countries were once again ratcheted higher. And the firing of Gen. MacChrystal by President Obama this week brought back recollections of the Korean wartime firing of General Douglas MacArthur by President Truman. They were more reminders of the so-called "Forgotten...
TODAY IN HISTORY: 60 Years Later- the Korean War
It used to be called the "Forgotten War." But it is no longer forgotten, as recent headlines continue to prove. And it never really ended. With the sinking of a South Korean navy submarine in March, tensions between the two countries were once again ratcheted higher. And the firing of Gen. MacChrystal by President Obama this week brought back recollections of the Korean wartime firing of General Douglas MacArthur by President Truman. They were more reminders of the so-called "Forgotten...
June 21, 2010
Today in History: Murder in Mississippi
Did Mississippi Burning really happen?
On June 21, 1964, three young civil rights workers were murdered in Philadelphia, Mississippi. Their bodies were discovered a few weeks later.
Here's is the original New York Times story about the crime:
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0621.html#article
If Hollywood gets its way, the civil rights movement was saved when Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe rolled into town like two gunslinging Western marshals. In this revisionist cinematic ...
June 18, 2010
Juneteenth
On June 19, 1865, Union General Gordon Granger informed slaves in the area from the Gulf of Mexico to Galveston, Texas, that they were free. Lincoln had officially issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, but it had taken two more years of Union victories to end the war and for this news to reach slaves in remote sections of the country. According to folk traditions, many of the newly freed slaves celebrated the news with ecstasy. Many of them began to travel to other states i...
June 16, 2010
Happy Bloomsday!
"Stately, plump Buck Mulligan. . ."
With those words, James Joyce (February 2, 1882-January 13, 1941) opened Ulysses, chosen in 1999 as the greatest novel of the 20th century by the Modern Library. The novel follows Leopold Bloom and Stephen Dedalus on their wanderings through Dublin on a single day –June 16 1904. Hence, today is "Bloomsday" and complete readings of the book take place all over the world. The date was significant to Joyce because it was the day on which James Joyce first had a...
