Browsing: October 8

A Brief History On October 8, 2024, we celebrated another National Hero Day, a day to recognize real life heroes, not the fictional kind. While entertainers and athletes of particular skill may be admired, true heroes are those that devote their time and efforts to the benefit of others, often at their own expense or even at risk to their own life. Digging Deeper Many men, women and even children can be and are heroes, and today, we list a few notable American heroes.  Who would you add to this list? In 1860, in Lake Michigan the steamer Lady Elgin…

A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on October 8th.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On October 8, 1480, Ivan III, Grand Prince of Moscow, stood up to the Tatars led by Akhmat Khan of the Great Horde, the successor to the “Golden Horde,” in an epic stand known as the “Great Stand on the Ugra River,” one of the high points of Russian military history. On October 8, 1806, British forces fighting the French at Boulogne employed…

A Brief History On October 8, 1982, actor Fernando Lamas died, probably best remembered for the Billy Crystal impression saying the phrase, “You look marvelous!”  Many other actors and celebrities have been attributed quotations they did not really say, and today we look at a few of those. Digging Deeper PT Barnum, showman and huckster, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” Julius Caesar, Roman dictator, “Et tu, Brute?” Albert Einstein, physicist and genius, “If the bee disappeared off the face of the Earth, man would only have four years left to live.” Greta Garbo, actress, “I vant to be alone…”…

A Brief History On October 8, 1480, Ivan III, Grand Prince of Moscow, stood up to the Tatars led by Akhmat Khan of the Great Horde, the successor to the “Golden Horde,” in an epic stand known as the “Great Stand on the Ugra River,” one of the high points of Russian military history.  This great battle occurred before Russia was a unified country or group of countries led by a single monarch which came to be known as the Czar or Tsar, a Russian adaptation of the Roman title “Caesar.”  (Note: The Germans also appropriated the title of Caesar…

A Brief History On October 8, 1918, 2nd Lt. Ralph Talbot of Massachusetts earned the coveted Medal of Honor, the highest American military honor.  Talbot was the first US Marine Corps aviator to be so honored. Digging Deeper Born in 1897 in South Weymouth, Massachusetts, Talbot was both an excellent student and a natural athlete.  After high school he attended Mercersburg Academy (Pennsylvania), a college preparatory school, and then went on to Yale University.  While at Yale, Talbot attended flying school in Delaware, and served in the Artillery Training Corps at Yale, somewhat similar to today’s ROTC. A Patriotic American,…