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Monday, November 21st, 2011Yes, I’m two days early, but this story was too good to wait. We are standing in the notorious POW camp Stalag Luft III, built at the height of the Third Reich, 100 miles east of Berlin. Ten thousand prisoners were kept under German guns here on a 60-acre site ringed with a double barbed-wire [...]
Humpday History Highlight
Wednesday, November 16th, 2011One of the ironic facts about General George Washington is that despite the fact that he was victorious in the Revolutionary War, he lost more battles than he won. And despite the tide-turning victory at Trenton in late December, 1776 was a terrible year for Washington and the soldiers of the Continental Army. November 16, [...]
Humpday History Highlight
Wednesday, November 9th, 2011November 9, 1901 – Roosevelt Establishes Naval Base In The Philippines Say what you want about TR, but he was always hawkish about defense. As president, the former cavalry hero of the Spanish-American War – his unit was known as the “Rough Riders” – ushered in a new imperial era in American foreign affairs. He [...]
Humpday History Highlight
Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011November 2, 1982 – Truck Explosion Kills 3,000 In Afghanistan The Soviet Union’s military foray into Afghanistan was disastrous by nearly every measure, but perhaps the worst single incident was the Salang Tunnel explosion in 1982. A long army convoy was traveling from Russia to Kabul through the border city of Hairotum. The route took [...]
Humpday History Highlight
Wednesday, October 26th, 2011How could I not post this today? October 26, 1881 – Gunfight At The OK Corral Around 3 p.m., the Earps and Holliday spotted the five members of the Clanton-McLaury gang in a vacant lot behind the OK Corral, at the end of Fremont Street. The famous gunfight that ensued lasted all of 30 seconds, [...]
Humpday History Highlight
Wednesday, October 19th, 2011October 19, 1812 – Napoleon Retreats From Moscow Following the rejection of his Continental System by Czar Alexander I, French Emperor Napoleon I invaded Russia with his Grande Armée on June 24, 1812. The enormous army, featuring more than 500,000 soldiers and staff, was the largest European military force ever assembled to that date. Napoleon [...]
Humpday History Highlight
Wednesday, October 12th, 2011October 12, 1940 – Silent Film Star Tom Mix Dies In Auto Accident Mix was driving north from Tucson in his beloved bright-yellow Cord Phaeton sports car. He was driving so fast that he didn’t notice–or failed to heed–signs warning that one of the bridges was out on the road ahead. The Phaeton swung into [...]
Humpday History Highlight
Wednesday, October 5th, 2011October 5, 1775 – Washington Informs Congress Of Espionage On this day, General George Washington writes to the president of the Continental Congress, John Jay, to inform him that a letter from Dr. Benjamin Church, surgeon general of the Continental Army, to Lieutenant General Sir Thomas Gage, British commander in chief for North America, had [...]
Humpday History Highlight
Wednesday, September 28th, 2011September 28, 1918 – British Soldier Spares Life Of Adolf Hitler Although the details of the event are still unclear, Private Henry Tandey, a British soldier serving near the French village of Marcoing, reportedly encounters a wounded German soldier and declines to shoot him, sparing the life of 29-year-old Lance Corporal Adolf Hitler. From July [...]
Humpday History Highlight
Wednesday, September 21st, 2011So, I’m reading a fantastic book entitled, “Which President Killed A Man,” and it is chock full of presidential trivia. One chapter deals with presidential families. It was here that I learned this little info nugget, courtesy of Slick Willie’s family tree: Dianne Dwire Welch, Clinton’s half-sister, did time for a bank robbery in Virgina. [...]
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