Browsing: November 10

A Brief History On November 10, 1871, Welsh-American journalist Henry Morton Stanley finally met the man he had come so far to see, the missionary Rev. David Livingstone, prompting Stanley to blandly ask, “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?”  As if it was some other Rev. Livingstone in the African jungle!  People sometimes understate things, and today we look at a few of those notable occurrences, but first we are compelled to say a bit about Henry Morton Stanley, a really fascinating guy. Digging Deeper Stanley was born John Rowlands in Wales in 1841, to an unwed 18 year old mother that…

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A Brief History On November 10, 1580, another chapter in the long, sorry story of the troubled relationship between the English and the Irish was written when the English Army finished a three day siege of Dún an Óir (Fort of Gold) at Ard na Caithne, Ireland, by beheading 600 of the defenders, including members of a Papal army contingent, just one of a long history of atrocities committed by both sides.  The Irish and their allies (including Spanish and Italians, as well as some Catholic Englishmen) were fighting for the Catholic Church with the blessings of the Pope against…

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A Brief History On November 10, 1865, the long sad saga of the Camp Sumter prisoner of war camp located in Andersonville, Georgia finally came to a conclusion of sorts when the Camp Commandant, Confederate Major Henry Wirz was hanged for the crimes of conspiracy and murder for his terrible treatment of Union soldiers held captive at the camp popularly known as “Andersonville.” Digging Deeper The name, Andersonville, has become synonymous in the US as being a hell-hole of a prison camp, a place where men starved and died of disease every day.  Heinrich Hartmann Wirz was born in Switzerland…

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A Brief History On November 10, 2006, the 231st Birthday of the United States Marine Corps, President George W. Bush officially opened the National Museum of the Marine Corps at Quantico, Virginia. Actually located in the town of Triangle adjacent to the Marine Corps Base, the museum draws over 500,000 visitors per year. In 2013 an expansion was started. Digging Deeper Prior to the establishment of the National Museum of the Marine Corps, the closest thing to a national Marine Corps museum was the Marine corps Historical Center located at the Washington Navy Yard, Washington, D.C. (closed July 1, 2005)…

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A Brief History On November 10, 1775, the finest fighting force in the history of the world was born when the United States Marine Corps was established in a Philadelphia tavern by Samuel Nicholas. Digging Deeper Even back in 1775 Tun Tavern was already an old established meeting place, having been built way back in 1686, making it almost 90 years old.  Located near the Philadelphia waterfront, Tun Tavern was a meeting place for the St. George Society, the first Masonic lodge in America (St. Johns Masonic Lodge #1), the St. Andrews Society,  served as a recruiting place for the…

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