Halloween or “All Hallows’ Eve” is the day before All Hallows Day, more commonly known as All Saints Day. Every day of the year is dedicated to a saint. The most common ones we still celebrate are St Patrick’s Day, …
(At my real job I have begun sending out “Fun Facts” to my team, I realized they were really mini blog posts so I thought I would also include them here. Enjoy!) While most people know that Texas was its …
This is one of the most stunning images I have ever seen. In college I owned it as a poster. I found two copies of it at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History where I volunteer a couple …
After George Washington died, his family estate passed down through a number of relatives (Washington had no surviving children but did have step-children from Martha’s previous marriage.) In 1848 the current “Washington” who owned Mount Vernon, John Augustine Washington, put the …
Who Owns George Washington’s Home, Mount Vernon? Probably not who you think… Read more »
While I don’t believe in the “Names and Dates” approach to history, (It turns the amazing tapestry of our past into a boring list.) I do believe some dates should be known as important “markers.” Two dates I do feel people …
The Oldest Colonized Settlement in the United States Read more »
The following started life as a paper I wrote in graduate school about Puerto Rican Identity through history. I myself am half Puerto Rican and was fascinated by the subject. Puerto Rico: A Paradox of Identity By Stephen A. McCoy From …
The History of the Things we Take for Granted Mary’s Land? The Origin Maryland’s Name We may not realize it, but often there is history in the names we take for granted. Names hold meanings. In Maryland, many well …
