Today in History: November 13, 1953 On this day in 1953, Robin Hood was declared a Communist, at least by the Indiana Textbook Commission. Mrs. Thomas J. White, Republican member of the committee, insisted that all references to the book “Robin Hood” be purged from textbooks used in state schools. She felt this was necessary because there was a Communist […]

Today in History: November 12, 2004 After a two-year ordeal that dominated the headlines and engrossed the entire nation, a jury found Scott Peterson guilty of murder 23 months after his heavily pregnant wife Laci Peterson suddenly vanished from her home in Modesto, California on Christmas Eve. Peterson stated that Laci had gone for a walk with their dog while […]

Today in History: November 11, 1988 During the early 1980s, ex-nurse’s aide Dorothea Puente ran a boarding house for the elderly in Sacramento, California. She was a schizophrenic who had numerous run-ins with the law. She served time for forging checks, and also was incarcerated for drugging and then robbing random people she had met in bars. She opened her […]

Today in History: November 8, 1960 On November 8, 1960, John Fitzgerald Kennedy became the youngest man to be elected as United States President, beating Republican Vice President Richard Nixon by one of the narrowest margins in history. One of the factors that may have tipped the scales ever so slightly in the election was Kennedy’s shrewd willingness to address […]

Today in History: November 7, 1916 A full four years before the United States Constitution granted women the right to vote, Jeannette Rankin was elected to a seat in Congress in 1916, becoming the first woman in U.S. history to hold such an office. Even though women had yet to achieve suffrage across the nation, there was no legislation forbidding […]

Today in History: November 6, 1860 The election of Abraham Lincoln to the United States presidency is the spark that ignited the Civil War in April of 1861. Lincoln was the first Republican to become President, a feat made even more impressive considering the party had only been in existence for a decade.  He was the first President to be […]

Today in History: November 5, 1605 On this day in history, Guy Fawkes and his fellow conspirators planned to blow up Parliament during the State Opening on November 5, 1605 when King James I was present. As a Catholic, he and his co-conspirators meant to do this in protest for how badly Catholics were treated in England at the time. […]

Today in History: November 4, 1922 British archaeologist Howard Carter, running out of both time and money for his excavation project, finally unearthed a step leading to King Tutankhamen’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings on November 4, 1922. He quickly ordered the stairs to be cleared of any sand and debris, and by noon the next day a […]

Today in History: November 1, 1512 On All Saint’s Day, November 1st, Pope Julius celebrated Mass in the Sistine Chapel for the first time in four years. Those in attendance were dumbfounded by the magnificent frescoes telling nine stories from the book of Genesis. The most memorable of these is a painting called “The Creation of Adam,” where God and […]

Today in History: October 31, 1517 On the last day of October in 1517, a scholar and priest named Martin Luther did as priests commonly did at the time when they had something to discuss amongst the clergy, he nailed a piece of paper to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenburg, Germany.  Unlike many other such documents nailed […]

Today in History: October 30, 1991 What later became known as “The Perfect Storm” was first referred to as “The Halloween Storm,” until Bob Case from the National Weather service coined the name we know it by today. No matter what you call it, it was a storm of monstrous proportions that battered the East Coast – especially New England […]

Today in History: October 29, 1618 Sir Walter Raleigh was an explorer and scholar of the Elizabethan era who was born in Devon around 1552. He came from an affluent, well-connected gentry family, attended Oxford University and also studied law for a time. In 1578, Raleigh sailed for America with his half-brother Humphrey Gilbert, a venture that sparked his interest […]

Today in History: October 28, 1886 On this day in history, 1886, people flocked to New York City in droves. Every train entering the city was filled to capacity. New York’s many hotels, from the most exclusive to the most humble, had to turn away hundreds seeking lodging. No-one wanted to miss the grand ceremony of President Grover Cleveland dedicating […]

Today in History: October 25, 1415 The English victory over the French at the Battle of Agincourt has been immortalized by none other than William Shakespeare and is often hailed as one of the greatest military victories of all time. The battle that occurred in a muddy farmer’s field during a series of encounters called the Hundred Years War assured […]

This Day In History: October 24, 1901 Anna Edson Taylor was the first adventurer to take the plunge over Niagara Falls in a barrel who lived to tell the tale. The future daredevil was born on October 24, 1838, in Auburn, New York. Her family was financially well off, and Anna was accustomed to the finer things in life. Her […]

This Day In History: October 23, 1921 On October 23, 1921, an American officer in the French town of Chalons-sur-Marne selected the first “Unknown Soldier” to represent and honor the American soldiers who’d lost their lives in the war, both known and unknown. The decision to select such a soldier and bury him in a special site in Arlington National […]

Today in History: October 22, 1969 On this day in history, 1969, Paul McCartney denied rumors that the real Paul McCartney had died in 1966. Come on, admit it. If you’re a Beatles fan you’ve looked for all the clues on the album covers and in the song lyrics. It’s one of the rites of passage from being a casual […]

Today in History: October 21, 1967 On this day in history, 1967, nearly 100,000 people – hippies, professors, women’s groups, radicals, war veterans, liberals, and people from most every walk of life – gathered in Washington D.C. to protest the war effort in Vietnam. This protest was a dramatic indication that support for President Johnson’s war in Vietnam was rapidly […]