A Brief History On December 6, 1884, the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. was completed. A spectacular structure, the tall white obelisk was the tallest man-made structure in the world when complete, over 554 feet tall, losing that title to the Eiffel Tower in 1889, although it still is the world’s tallest monumental column. Digging Deeper Some other magnificent American monuments include: Mount Rushmore, South Dakota, carved into bare rock to depict the likenesses of four of our greatest presidents. Completed in 1941, each head is about 60 feet tall with eyes 11 feet wide! Crazy Horse Memorial, South Dakota,…
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A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on December 5th. For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On December 5, 63 BC, Roman politician and famed orator Cicero delivered the 4th of his famous Catiline Orations to the Roman Senate, warning of a plot to overthrow the Roman government. On December 5, 1831, former President of the US, John Quincy Adams, took his seat in the House of Representatives as a Congressman. On December 5, 1847, Jefferson Finis Davis…
A Brief History On December 5, 1831, former President of the US, John Quincy Adams, took his seat in the House of Representatives as a Congressman. He had served as a US Senator and as Secretary of State before becoming President, and he died while still serving in the House in 1848. Digging Deeper Some of the activities of other former US Presidents include: Grover Cleveland, after leaving the White House in 1889, was again elected President and served a second term from 1893 to 1897. Teddy Roosevelt, after serving as Commander in Chief from 1901 to 1909, went on…
A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on December 4th. For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On December 4, 1619, 38 British settlers landed from the ship, Margaret (out of Bristol, England) along the North shore of the James River in Virginia in order to found a new town in the Virginia Colony called Berkeley Hundred. On December 4, 1791, the first edition of The Observer, the world’s first Sunday newspaper, was published. On December 4, 1829, the British…
A Brief History On December 4, 1971, rock legend Frank Zappa and his band, The Mothers of Invention, were holding a concert at the Montreux Casino in Switzerland, on the shores of beautiful Lake Geneva, when disaster struck. Digging Deeper A misguided fan thought it was a good idea to launch a flare from a flare pistol into the ceiling of the place, causing a fire that brought the building down. The fire was significant enough on its own, but was immortalized by the Deep Purple hit, “Smoke on the Water,” since Deep Purple was at a nearby hotel waiting…