Browsing: July 8

A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on July 8th.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On July 8, 1775, the Continental Congress, forerunner of what would become the government of the United States, signed the so called “Olive Branch Petition,” a last ditch effort to prevent a war of independence against Britain by the American Colonies. On July 8, 1874, about 300 newly recruited troopers of the North-West Mounted Police began the trek Westward to the vast…

A Brief History On July 8, 1874, about 300 newly recruited troopers of the North-West Mounted Police began the trek Westward to the vast prairie areas of Canada, what is now Manitoba and Alberta to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.  The Canadian government created this force to patrol and protect this area in the wake of violence that culminated in the Cypress Hills Massacre, a battle between White, Native, and mixed-race hunters, trappers, and traders. Digging Deeper An intriguing fact about the deployment of this new force was that each of the six divisions was given a particular color…

A Brief History On July 8, 1775, the Continental Congress, forerunner of what would become the government of the United States, signed the so called “Olive Branch Petition,” a last ditch effort to prevent a war of independence against Britain by the American Colonies.   Adopted by the Continental Congress on July 5th, the signing made this last effort at peace official.  The acceptance of this American overture to the British government had little chance of success, especially since the Continental Congress had already authorized the invasion of Canada and on July 6, 1775, had issued a “Declaration of the Causes…

A Brief History On July 8, 1879, the USS Jeannette sailed from San Francisco on an ill-fated voyage to the North Pole. Not realizing the North Pole is on completely frozen sea water, the voyage could not have been successful, but little did the sailors know just how unsuccessful the voyage would be! Digging Deeper The ill-starred ship started its career in 1861 as the HMS Pandora, a Royal Navy gunboat that patrolled the coast of West Africa for 14 years before being decommissioned and sold.  A private party, Allen Young, bought the Pandora as a substantial yacht, and made…

A Brief History In the past few days the United States has been rocked by two incidents of police shooting black men portrayed by the media as unnecessary shootings, and by the families and friends of those two men as cold blooded murders of innocent and hard working citizens that did nothing wrong.  This outrage was culminated (for now?) in a horrific attack on Dallas, Texas police who were maintaining order at a Black Lives Matter protest march last night, resulting in 11 police officers shot, 5 of which have already died, as well as a civilian wounded and at…