Browsing: Society

A Brief History On April 19, 1861, an angry mob with pro-secessionist intentions attacked US Army troops on the streets of Baltimore, an event known as The Baltimore Riot of 1861, or alternately as The Pratt Street Riot or even the more dramatic Pratt Street Massacre. Maryland, being a slave state at the onset of the American Civil War, was not surprisingly divided on whether or not to remain in the Union or join the Confederate States. Digging Deeper The dispute in Baltimore transcended state borders, and the protesters/rioters were not exclusively from Maryland, consisting of local “Copperhead” Democrats that…

A Brief History On April 17, 2018, the United States mourns the loss of former First Lady of the United States and mother of the 43rd President, Barbara (née Pierce) Bush, who died surrounded by family in Houston, Texas at the age of 92. Only one other woman has had the honor of serving as First Lady and also being the mother of a President, and that other fortunate woman was Abigail Adams, wife of second President John Adams and mother of John Quincy Adams, our 6th President. Former President George H. W. Bush, the grieving widower, is now almost…

A Brief History On April 18, 1942, Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle led one of the most famous bombing raids in aviation history when he led 16 B-25 medium bombers over Tokyo, Kobe, Nagoya, and Yokohama, Japan. After the devastating sneak attack against Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the US military in the Pacific was reeling, as was the shocked and furious American public. With one Japanese success after another, the US finally mounted an offensive action by flying 16 stripped down B-25B Mitchell twin engine medium bombers off the deck of the USS Hornet, something that had never been…

A Brief History On April 16, 2018, the World continues to watch events in Syria unfold two days after the United States, the United Kingdom, and France bombed Syrian sites deemed part of their infrastructure required to produce and store chemical weapons in response to Syrian use of chlorine and sarin poison gases against Syrian rebels, killing dozens. The Russians had tersely warned against the Western Allies taking such retaliatory action and hinted at retaliation against the West. Digging Deeper As the rhetoric continued back and forth between the US, its allies, and Russia, one is forced to wonder whether…

A Brief History On April 15, 1861, President Abraham Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to join the US Army to put down the rebellion known later as the American Civil War. He was so far off on the number of troops needed it would be laughable if not so tragic. Often times politicians or military commanders have greatly underestimated the manpower or resources needed to succeed, and today we list 10 of those miscalculations. Digging Deeper 1. Lincoln calls for 75,000 volunteers, 1861. So how many men did Lincoln really need to put down the rebellion and keep the Confederate…