This Day In History: September 11, 1921 On this day in history, 1921, silent film star Fatty Arbuckle was arrested for murder, in Hollywood’s first major scandal. Over Labor Day weekend in 1921, Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, the first in a long line of overweight and over-the-top comedians beloved by movie goers, decided to take a break from his hectic filming […]

Today in History: September 10th This Day In History, 1608: John Smith Becomes President of Jamestown The first permanent English settlement of the American colonies, Jamestown, Virginia, elected the larger-than-life John Smith to be their first council president, thanks to his superior organizational abilities and his diplomatic skills when dealing with the indigenous tribes of the area. Around 100 English […]

Today in History: September 9th This Day In History, 1513: James IV of Scotland is Slain at Flodden Field In 1513, as King Henry VIII of England was waging one of his many invasions on the kingdom of France, the French King Louis XII asked his fellow Henry-hater James IV of Scotland if he wouldn’t mind heading south and causing […]

This Day In History: September 6, 1997 On this day in history, 1997, Princess Diana’s funeral took place. Lady Diana Spencer married Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, on July 29, 1981 at the tender age of 20. She immediately captivated not only those living in the UK, but also soon evolved into a global sensation, becoming the most […]

This Day In History: September 5, 1774 On this day in history, 1774, the first Continental Congress convened. At Carpenter’s Hall in Philadelphia, the Continental Congress met for the first time to address the British Parliament’s enactment of the Coercive Acts, a legislative measure intended to quell rebellion in Massachusetts and teach those Bostonians a lesson for that whole Tea […]

This Day In History, September 4, 1962: The Beatles’ “Love Me Do” Sessions On an early September day a band from Liverpool, England called the Beatles, provincial and a bit rough around the edges, entered EMI studios at Abbey Road in London for what some consider to be their first official recording session, as it was the first time Ringo […]

Today in History: September 3rd This Day In History, 1189 : Richard the Lionheart Crowned King of England Richard I, an iconic medieval symbol of chivalry, didn’t ascend the English throne until the age of 31, but had been boldly leading armies since his teens and was an indispensable figure during the Crusades. He’s one of the best known rulers […]

Today in History: September 2nd On this day in history, 1666, a fire that came to be known as the “Great Fire of London” was started. In the wee hours of the morning, what began as a small fire in a humble abode near London Bridge became an uncontrollable inferno that swept through the city for four days. The flames […]

Today in History: August 30 On this day in history, 30 B.C., Queen Cleopatra of Egypt, the iconic seductress and lover of both Julius Caesar and Marc Antony, commits suicide after her forces are crushed by Octavian, who shortly became the first emperor of the Rome. Cleopatra was born in 69 B.C., and was made queen of Egypt as Queen […]

Today in History: August 29 This Day In History, 2005: Hurricane Katrina Pounds Gulf Coast Hurricane Katrina was the most devastating, and costliest, natural disaster to ever occur in the United States, though unbelievably it was only the third most powerful storm in the 2005 hurricane season. Over 1,800 people lost their lives during the storm and the subsequent flooding, […]

Today in History, August 28 This Day In History, 1963: The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom 1963 was a year marked by racial tension and increasing civil rights demonstrations throughout the United States. The nation was outraged by television images of police officers in Birmingham, Alabama using attack dogs and fire hoses against protestors, many who were teenagers […]

Today in History: August 27 This Day In History, 1883: Krakatau Erupts On a small, desolate island called Krakatau west of Sumatra in Indonesia, the most violent volcanic eruption in recorded history occurred, estimated to have produced an equivalent of a 200 megaton explosion, which is about 4 times that of the largest nuclear bomb ever detonated, the Tsar Bomba.  […]

Today in History: August 26, 1920 The 19th amendment to the United States Constitution, which was the result of about 70 years of hard work and lobbying from tireless suffragists who battled on both the state and national fronts, prohibits any US citizen from being denied the right to vote on the basis of their sex. The two portions of […]

Today in History: August 23 This Day In History, 1305: William Wallace Executed for High Treason Thanks to Mel Gibson’s wildly popular 1995 movie “Braveheart” depicting the life of Scottish hero William Wallace, there has been a renewal of interest in the once rather obscure medieval freedom fighter. Artistic license was used liberally – but to great effect – to […]

Today in History: August 22 This Day In History, 1485: The Battle of Bosworth Field The Battle of Bosworth Field was culmination of the Wars of the Roses, the civil war that engulfed England during the 15th century, which was basically a feud between two branches of the Plantagenet family – the Yorks and the Lancasters. Just two years before […]

Today in History: August 21 1959: Hawaii is made the 50th state of the United States When President Dwight D. Eisenhower entered the Oval Office in 1953, he was president of 48 states; when he ended his stint in 1961 two more states had joined the Union, bringing the grand total up to fifty. The addition of Alaska and Hawaii […]

Today in History: August 20 This Day In History, 1862: “The Prayer of Twenty Millions” by Horace Greeley was published. An editorial by New York Tribune editor Horace Greeley called “The Prayer of the Twenty Millions” challenged President Abraham Lincoln to declare emancipation for all slaves in territories officially held by the Union. Greeley’s impassioned words mirrored the sentiments of […]

Today in History: August 19, 1692 On this day in history, 1692, five people were executed in Salem, MA for witchcraft, as part of the Salem witch trials that occurred between February 1692 and May 1693. To the 17th century people of New England, as in Europe, Satan wasn’t an abstract concept used to personify evil in the world – […]