Did anyone miss me? I have been traveling for two weeks — to Berlin, Germany to run a marathon and on the Los Angeles for a Disneyana Fan Club special event. I didn’t mention this beforehand because I don’t like to publicize my travel plans. I’m going to share most of my travel stories on
Many times in history, it’s the little things that are critical. You may know about how at the Battle of Gettysburg, Union General G. K. Warren found a critical spot in the Union line that was unoccupied and organized its defense on his own initiative. Otherwise, the battle could’ve been lost. Also in that battle,
There are a lot of strange stories from World War II. My favorite is the Dam Busters (http://www.dambusters.org.uk/) — the attempt to flood the Ruhr Valley by breeching upstream dams with bouncing bombs. (Hey, it was a partial success!) Now a friend has told me of an even stranger story — The only time the
If you really want to learn about the 4th of July, I would recommend “Fun Facts for July 4” at the Washington Post website. http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/07/03/fun-facts-for-july-4/ For example, three of the first five U.S. presidents died on July 4. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died in 1826, the 50th anniversary of the country’s birth. (Adams’ last words were
Cavalry was still the glamorous branch of the army during the American Civil War. In the first half of this tragic conflict, the most dashing, most charismatic — and most successful — cavalry commanders were on the Confederate side. You probably have already heard of General James Ewell Brown (JEB) Stuart, the eyes and ears
So much of history never makes it into your standard textbooks. For example, we know there are prisoners in every war. Yet unless something catastrophic happens, like the high death rate at Andersonville, Georgia in the American Civil War or “brainwashing” in the Korean War, these stories are usually forgotten. That’s why a podcast about World
Today we’re going back in time to this period in 1863 — In mid-May, 1863, the American Civil War was taking an ominous turn against the Confederacy. Despite a brilliant victory by General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia against General Joseph Hooker’s Army of the Potomac at the Battle of Chancellorsville during May
How many time has a life been changed when something totally unexpected happens? I was reminded of this recently when I read about a member of Hungary’s far-right Jobbik political party, and what happened when he was told his grandparents on his mother’s side were Jewish. Plus his grandmother was a Holocaust survivor. The revelation
Sometimes greed is a greater enemy than an opposing army. In late April 1865, the American Civil War was over and no soldiers were more eager to return home than released prisoners of war. Thus Camp Fisk, on the Mississippi River near Vicksburg, was a beehive of activity. Camp Fisk had been established for the
The Nazis have just invaded your country and your life is in danger because you have two Nobel prizes you are safeguarding for friends — one is Jewish and the other is an opponent of National Socialism. What do you do? That was the dilemma faced by Niels Bohr in 1940 when Germany occupied Copenhagen,