A Brief History On August 30, 1792, Napoleon Bonaparte was appointed a captain in the French Army, a major stepping stone on the path that eventually resulted in his becoming Emperor of the French. Over two centuries later, on August 30, 2017, we honor that most august of monarchs, Napoleon I the Great. Not at all the little blustering egoist of myth, and certainly not the Anti-Christ, Napoleon is much more than that, and we will share 10 amazing reasons why you should agree. Digging Deeper 1. Napoleon was born in Corsica, an island owned by Italy up until only 2…
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A Brief History From August 29-30, 1813, The Battle of Kulm was fought near the town Kulm (Chlumec) and the village Přestanov in northern Bohemia, during the War of the Sixth Coalition, part of the Napoleonic Wars. Digging Deeper 32,000 French troops under Dominique Vandamme attacked an army of about 50-60,000 Austrians, Russians and Prussians under Alexander Ostermann-Tolstoy. The French were defeated with heavy losses on both sides. The French lost some 5,000 killed or wounded and another 7,000-13,000 captured, including Vandamme, while the Austrian, Prussian, and Russian casualties and losses numbered around a similarly horrific 11,000 total. For perspective, the…
A Brief History On August 29, 1786, disgruntled Massachusetts farmers disgusted by high taxes, economic hardships and civil rights violations formed an organized force of protesters and shut down the county court at Northampton, the beginning of an insurrection known as Shays’s Rebellion, 4,000 rebels under the leadership of Daniel Shays with the goal of overthrowing the government. Digging Deeper If you were not aware of American History in the years immediately following the American Revolution (1776-1783), you might not realize everything was not ideal and universally agreed upon by all Americans. The farmers in Massachusetts had been trampled economically…
A Brief History On August 26, 1346, at the Battle of Crecy, the English longbow reigned supreme, and ever since the longbow has been closely associated with England. Here we list 10 such weapons that are famous for representing the country that either invented or perfected the weapon. Some countries are quickly identified with more than one iconic weapon. Digging Deeper 1. Longbow, England. At Crecy and at Agincourt (1415) the English Longbow reigned supreme and made its mark as the quintessential English weapon. An effective range of 250 yards and the ability to pierce armor at close range allowed the…
A Brief History On August 22, 1485, King Richard III of England died from wounds received in the Battle of Bosworth Field, the last English King to die in battle. Long ago, kings and other nobility would lead their men in battle, but for the past few hundred years the trend has been for the rich and powerful to send other people into battle. Perhaps if our leaders were forced to actually lead they would consider war a bit more carefully! Digging Deeper Richard III was the last of the Plantagenet dynasty kings, a clan originally from France that included…