Author: Major Dan

A Brief History On October 19, 1864, military forces of the Confederate States of America invaded Vermont from a staging area in Quebec, Canada.  Although we have long been taught in school that the Gettysburg campaign was the last invasion of the North by the Confederate States, the St. Albans Raid proves that premise false.  Although not a “real” invasion by a large military force, the 21 cavalry soldiers involved on the side of the Rebels were in fact real soldiers of the CSA, men who had evaded capture in other campaigns and made their way North to Canada to…

A Brief History On October 18, 1979, the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) of the United States first began allowing private citizens to receive satellite television signals in their own homes, making television available to people living outside of the range of broadcast television and giving the public an alternative to cable television.  Ever since, fierce competition between cable and satellite television providers has raged over television customers, and those customers likewise have debated the relative merits of each type of television service. Digging Deeper For those people that lived outside of the areas serviced by cable television providers or those…

A Brief History On October 17, 1814, a bizarre incident occurred involving our favorite potable, the noble brewski.   Perhaps you have heard of drowning your sorrows in beer or some other alcoholic beverage?  Well, in London in 1814, a giant vat of beer failed, and 135,000 Imperial gallons of beer surged out, crashing into other huge vats and breaking those open as well.  A total of well over 300,000 gallons of beer flowed out of the brewery and into the street like a tidal wave, crushing or drowning at least 8 unsuspecting people in an event known to history as…

A Brief History On October 16, 1916, Margaret Sanger (nee Higgins), nurse, writer, and sexual educator opened the first family planning (birth control) clinic in the United States.  While Sanger did not invent the idea of birth control or the methods, she was an activist for preventing unwanted pregnancy and was the first person to coin the phrase, “birth control.”  Humans, unlike any other known animal, have been trying to prevent unwanted pregnancies for thousands of years and have tried a variety of methods. Digging Deeper Probably the most simple methods of birth control came after it was realized that…

A Brief History On October 15, 1888, George Lusk, the chairman of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee, received a letter purporting to be from the infamous mass murderer known as “Jack the Ripper.”  Known through history as the “From Hell Letter,” this bit of mail remains one of the most famous letters of all time.  Perhaps because the letter included a piece of human kidney from a murder victim?  Today we look at 5 letters that remain of either great historical importance or of great human interest and/or amusement.  As always, please nominate the fascinating letters you would include on such…