On this day in 1783, General George Washington resigns his commission as Commander-in-Chief of the American army. Okay. So we’ve all heard this story about Washington before. We’ve heard it so often, perhaps it is easy to gloss over the astonishing nature of Washington’s action. Let me emphasize: What Washington did during this week 242 years ago is almost unheard of. Other military leaders have seized power and refused to let it go. But Washington would not be one of these m

On this day in 1944, American soldiers should have been at home celebrating Christmas and New Year’s. Instead, they were fighting off one last German push during the Battle of the Bulge. One of these soldiers, Pfc. Melvin Biddle, was a normally soft-spoken man. He later even admitted to being scared during combat. “But I lost a lot of fear because I was out there and couldn’t let the troops down,” he told a journalist in 2008. He needed that attitude on December 23, as he fou

On this day in 1787, Federalist Paper No. 26 is published. The Federalist Papers are a collection of essays that were published in New York newspapers in late 1787 and early 1788. They argued FOR the new Constitution, then being considered for ratification by the states. Alexander Hamilton (a.k.a. “Publius”) is still discussing standing armies. Yes — again! He’s continued this discussion for three papers in a row, which might seem tedious at first glance. But he has an underl

On this day in 1787, Federalist Paper No. 25 is published. The Federalist Papers are a collection of essays that were published in New York newspapers in late 1787 and early 1788. They argued FOR the new Constitution, then being considered for ratification by the states. Alexander Hamilton (a.k.a. “Publius”) continues to argue that the national government should have power to raise a standing army, despite the general mistrust of such armies at that point in time. The default

On this day in 1943, a German ace bypasses an opportunity to shoot down a U.S. Army Air Forces pilot. Second Lt. Charles “Charlie” Brown was struggling just to keep his crippled B-17 in the air! “I look out the right window,” Brown would later describe, “and there parked on my right wing is a German BF-109 . . . . I closed my eyes and shook my head as you would with a nightmare. If I close my eyes and open them again, he’ll be gone. Well, I opened them again and he was still

On this day in 1787, Federalist Paper No. 24 is published. The Federalist Papers are a collection of essays that were published in New York newspapers in late 1787 and early 1788. They argued FOR the new Constitution, then being considered for ratification by the states. Alexander Hamilton (a.ka. “Publius”) addresses one specific objection that has been made to the proposed Constitution: Some claimed that “proper provision has not been made against the existence of standing a

On this day in 1787, Federalist Paper No. 23 is published. The Federalist Papers are a collection of essays that were published in New York newspapers in late 1787 and early 1788. They were written under the pseudonym “Publius” and argued FOR the new Constitution, then being considered for ratification by the states. You’ll remember that, in past papers, Publius has discussed why a formal Union of States is needed. Then he argued that the current Union, under the Articles of

On this day in 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright make the first sustained, powered flight of a heavier-than-air machine under the complete control of the pilot. You might know the headline about their history-making flight at Kitty Hawk, but do you know the rest of their story? The Wright brothers’ story is a wonderful example of the entrepreneurial spirit that has made America great! The brothers’ interest in aviation started early. Their father once gave them a rubber-band po

On this day in 1773, a group of American colonists boards three ships in Boston Harbor and throws 46 tons of tea overboard. Yes, you guessed it. The anniversary of the original Boston Tea Party is this weekend!   It’s the semiquincentennial, or 250th anniversary, of this landmark event. These colonists were protesting the Tea Act of 1773, enacted by Britain earlier that year. Believe it or not, the Tea Act did not raise taxes on the colonists. Americans had been paying taxes

On this day in 1920, a future Medal of Honor recipient is born.  Lewis “Red” Millett is best known for leading the last major bayonet charge in U.S. Army history. He would receive a Medal for his action.   Was it a surprising outcome for a man who had once deserted the Army?   Of course, the reason he deserted was because he wanted to fight. He’d fled across the border and joined the Canadian Army, returning to the fold only after the United States entered World War II.   He’

On this day in 1787, Federalist Paper No. 22 is published. The Federalist Papers are a collection of essays that were published in New York newspapers in late 1787 and early 1788. They argued FOR the new Constitution, then being considered for ratification by the states. Alexander Hamilton (a.k.a. “Publius”) continues with his discussion of the defects in the then-existing confederacy under the Articles of Confederation. He has a laundry list of problems with the Confederatio

On this day in 1787, an author writing under the pseudonym “Cato” writes his sixth contribution to the anti-Federalist Papers. These papers argued against the new Constitution, then being considered for ratification by the states. Cato has several complaints about the “apportionment of representatives and direct taxes,” as it was then being proposed. I am sorry to tell you that at least some of these complaints are because the Constitution departed from the “just and rational

On this day in 1787, an author writing under the pseudonym “Brutus” writes his fifth contribution to the anti-Federalist Papers. These papers argued against the new Constitution, then being considered for ratification by the states. Brutus is worried about Congress’s power to “lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises” in order to “provide for the common defence, and general welfare of the United States.” And he thinks this power becomes even more worrisome when cons

On this day in 1787, Federalist Paper No. 21 is published. The Federalist Papers are a collection of essays that were published in New York newspapers in late 1787 and early 1788. They were written under the pseudonym “Publius” and argued FOR the new Constitution, then being considered for ratification by the states. Publius has finished discussing historical examples of failed confederacies. Now he turns to particular problems in America, with the Articles of Confederation i

On this day in 1776, the Continental Congress flees Philadelphia, fearing a British advance. Things had not been going well for the Patriot cause.   “From the last week of August to the last week of December,” historian David McCullough writes, “the year 1776 had been as dark a time as any in the history of the country.”   Indeed, the Continental Army was reeling from a series of crushing defeats: Losses at Brooklyn Heights, New York City, and White Plains had sent American f

On this day in 1787, Federalist Paper No. 20 is published. The Federalist Papers are a collection of essays that were published in New York newspapers in late 1787 and early 1788. They were written under the pseudonym “Publius” and argued FOR the new Constitution, then being considered for ratification by the states. In the last few papers, Publius drew upon historical examples to show his readers why the then-existing Union of states must be strengthened. The last few papers

On this day in 1787, New Jersey’s state ratification convention begins. It would quickly approve the then-new U.S. Constitution, making New Jersey the third state to join the union.   New Jersey’s quick action is interesting, if only because the state’s delegates to the Constitutional Convention had expressed doubt about the earliest draft of the Constitution.   They definitely were not on board with that  idea! When the Constitutional Convention opened in the summer of 1787,

On this day in 1748, James Armistead is born. He began life as a slave, but he would become an important spy during the American Revolution. He ended his life as a free man and a farmer in Virginia. Armistead was the slave of a Virginia official named William Armistead. In 1781, he received permission to leave and join the American Army. Once there, he was soon tasked with a special mission: The Marquis de Lafayette wanted Armistead to pose as a runaway slave and infiltrate t

On this day in 1941, Pearl Harbor reels from a surprise Japanese attack. Have you ever thought about the Navy nurses present on that day so long ago? Like many others, those nurses were abruptly shoved into war when Japanese planes unexpectedly descended upon the American base.   It was the opposite of the Hawaiian assignment that, until then, had been a cushy one.   “I thought I was living a charmed life,” Lt. Ruth Erickson later said.  She was at the Naval Hospital and woul

On this day in 1787, Federalist Paper No. 19 is published. The Federalist Papers are a collection of essays that were published in New York newspapers in late 1787 and early 1788. They were written under the pseudonym “Publius” and argued FOR the new Constitution, then being considered for ratification by the states. Publius again turns to history to make his point that a formal union of states is needed. So let’s face it. This section of the Federalist series is probably a b