Tag Archives: history

Abraham Lincoln Established the Secret Service on the Day He was Shot by John Wilkes Booth

Today I found out Abraham Lincoln established the Secret Service on the day he was shot by John Wilkes Booth. Unfortunately, even had the organization been instituted earlier, it wouldn’t have helped.  The Secret Service in the beginning had no part in protecting the President, but rather were tasked with cutting down on the amazing amount of counterfeit money circulated […]

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During WWII, Lyudmila Pavlichenko Sniped a Confirmed 309 Axis Soldiers, Including 36 German Snipers

Today I found out Lyudmila Pavlichenko sniped a confirmed 309 Axis soldiers, including 36 German snipers, during WWII. While most of the world shied away from putting women on the front line, the Soviet Union did not, including recruiting about 2000 women as snipers during WWII, one of which turned out to be one of the most successful snipers in […]

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This Day in History: A Proposal by the Joint Chiefs of Staff Suggesting That the U.S. Military Should Commit Acts of Terrorism in the U.S. and Blame it on Cuba is Presented to the Secretary of Defense

This Day In History: March 13, 1962 On this day in history, 1962, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Lyman Lemnitzer, submitted a proposal to the Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara, developed by the Joint Chiefs and the Department of Defense, outlining plans to commit various acts of terrorism on U.S. soil and then to frame the […]

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January 13th: Dr. William Brydon, One of the Only Survivors of the Massacre of Elphinstone’s Army That Included Over 16,000 People Killed, Safely Makes it to the Garrison in Jalalabad, Afghanistan

This Day In History: January 13, 1842 On this day in history, 1842, Dr. William Brydon, who had part of his skull sheared off at the time, rode an exhausted horse into the British garrison at Jalalabad, Afghanistan.  When asked where the rest of the army was, he replied “I am the army”.  In fact, he wasn’t actually the sole […]

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Two Men Murdered 15 People Over the Course of a Year in Order to Sell the Bodies as Cadavers for College Students to Dissect

Today I found out about William Burke and William Hare: two men who murdered 15 people (though sold 16 bodies overall) over the course of a year to make extra money, selling the bodies as cadavers for university students to dissect. These murders took place starting in November of 1827 to October of 1828.  At the time, it was very […]

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Laminated Safety Glass was Invented by Accident

Today I found out laminated glass, also known as “Safety Glass”, was invented by accident. Laminated glass can be found in car windshields, bank teller protective barriers, and a variety of other places where shatterproof glass is a necessity. This type of safety glass was invented by Frenchman Édouard Bénédictus.  Bénédictus is probably more popularly remembered for his art, but […]

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The Tunguska Event, a 1908 Explosion Estimated at 1000 Times More Powerful Than the Atomic Bomb Dropped on Hiroshima

Today I found out about the Tunguska Event, which was a 1908 explosion estimated to have been nearly 1000 times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945 and about 1/3 as powerful as the largest ever detonated atomic bomb, the Tsar Bomba. The Tunguska event occurred around 7:00 a.m. local time on June 30, 1908 near […]

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The Declaration of Independence was Approved on July 2nd and Signed on August 2nd, So Why is July 4th Independence Day?

Signing the Declaration of Independence

While it is often said that the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776, this isn’t actually correct. In fact, nobody signed it on the 4th. This is contradictory to Thomas Jefferson’s, John Adams’, and Benjamin Franklin’s account of events. On top of their accounts, the public congressional record of events back their story. So how do we […]

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