I always knew the Teddy Bear’s connection to Roosevelt but I never knew exactly why. The short version: In late 1902, the President went bear-hunting in Mississippi, where black bears were plentiful. Despite that, Roosevelt was unable to shoot a single bear during the whole trip. At one point, one of his fellow hunters did […]
Archive for the ‘History’ Category
True Story
Posted in History, tagged Theodore Roosevelt on May 14, 2017 | Comments Off on True Story
Dust
Posted in History on May 13, 2017 | 1 Comment »
I was up early as usual because my brain does not know what is a weekend, much like the Dowager Countess of Grantham. As usual I made coffee and curled up in my chair to read. In this chapter, Teddy Roosevelt is hobbled by a leg injury at the end of 1902, but still successfully […]
A Dinner Invite
Posted in Hamilton on May 10, 2017 | 1 Comment »
On This Day in 1780… Hamilton wrote the following letter to Baron von Steuben: Dear Baron, General Knox in conversation has observed to The General, that instead of sending to Philadelphia for the 1500 arms mentioned in your letter of the 6th. and sending those here to that place to be fitted, it would be […]
Oh, hello there. This photo was brought to my attention this morning; it is a couple of historical players participating in Junior Rangers Day yesterday at Hamilton National Grange. They are dressed in the first military uniform of Alexander Hamilton, when he was a 19-year-old artillery captain in New York City. His company was known […]
The Sexiest Handwriting in History
Posted in Hamilton, tagged handwriting on April 21, 2017 | 2 Comments »
So, on the subject of writing with feathers, observe: This guy did not fuck around. He did have a habit of never crossing the “t” in his name, though. And judging by the many Treasury Dept letters I have looked at, I do not think anyone called him “Alexander.” He was “Alex”, his whole life, […]
Sit Down, John!
Posted in History on April 18, 2017 | 2 Comments »
I can’t believe how long it took me to watch “1776”, but I did last night, and best of all, watched along with a crowd of other history enthusiasts on Twitter — including one of my idols, Joanne Freeman, Yale historian and author of “Affairs of Honor.” Yesterday she was recognized by someone on the […]
“The Quartet”
Posted in Books and Reading, History on April 16, 2017 | Comments Off on “The Quartet”
I just finished reading “The Quartet” by Joseph Ellis and wanted to give a few thoughts. Overall I really liked the book — it was a short and sweet (220 pages w/o appendices and footnotes) dissertation on the origin and establishment of the United States Constitution, spanning most of the 1780s, but chiefly 1786-89. The […]
Tripolitan Wars
Posted in History on April 13, 2017 | Comments Off on Tripolitan Wars
Sorry, it’s been a week, I know. Alas. Last night I was watching Antiques Roadshow, like ya do, and one of the items featured was this rifle, which was a gift presented to Commodore Thomas Macdonough after he took part in the burning of the USS Philadelphia in 1804 after its capture by Tripoli (they […]
Leeward Isles
Posted in Books and Reading, History on April 5, 2017 | Comments Off on Leeward Isles
Here is something I learned last night while reading Six Frigates: The first real naval battle fought by a United States frigate was engaged off the coast of the tiny island of Nevis, which happens to be Alexander Hamilton’s birthplace, who just happens to be the person who strongly advocated the creation of a Navy […]
My friend forwarded this to me because she gets me.