This Day in History...

August 30, 1146 - European leaders outlawed the crossbow. It was hoped that wars would eventually end by banning the weapon.

August 30, 1682 - The founder of Pennsylvania, William Penn, sailed from England.

August 30, 1831 – Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, mother to Prince Albert (Queen Victoria's husband), died. She had only been married to Albert's father for five years before the marriage was dissolved.

August 30, 1862 - Confederates beat the Union at the Second Battle of Bull Run.

This Day in History...

Couldn't find hardly anything for today!!


August 20, 1866 - President Andrew Johnson declares that the Civil War is officially over.

August 20, 1940 - Churchill gives his famous "The Few" speech to the House of Commons.

This Day in History...

July 21, 1403 - Henry IV defeats rebels lead by Henry Percy (Hotspur) at the Battle of Shrewsbury.

July 21, 1831 – Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, uncle of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, becomes King of the Belgians. He was instrumental in bringing Victoria and Albert together.

July 21, 1861 - The first major battle of the Civil War, the First Battle of Bull Run, begins and ends with a Confederate victory.

July 21 - 1944 -Claus von Stauffenburg and fellow conspirators are executed in Berlin for the plot to kill Hitler.

This Day in History...

May 10, 1291 - The Scottish nobles recognize the authority of Edward I.

May 10, 1863 - Confederate General Stonewall Jackson dies eight days after being accidentally shot by Confederate troops.

This Day in History...

May 6, 1527 - Forces under Charles V sack Rome. Pope Clement VII manages to "escape" to Castel Sant'Angelo. This event caused major issues for Henry VIII.

May 6, 1536 - Henry VIII orders all churches to have a Bible printed in English.

May 6, 1861 - Richmond is named the new capital of the Confederate States of America.

May 6, 1937 - The Hindenburg, a German airship, catches fire and crashes while trying to dock at Lakehurst, New Jersey. 37 people were killed.

This Day in History...

April 26, 1607 - Captain John Smith landed at Cape Henry,Virginia with the first group of colonists who established a permanent settlement in the New World.

April 26, 1865 - John Wilkes Booth is shot and killed while hiding in a barn twelve days after assassinating President Lincoln.

This Day in History...

April 17, 1397 - Geoffrey Chaucer tells his Canterbury Tales for the first time at Richard II's court. It is also believed that this date is the start of the pilgrimage in the Tales.

April 17, 1861 - Virginia secedes from the Union.

This Day in History...

April 15, 1865 - President Lincoln dies after being shot the previous day by John Wilkes Booth.

April 15, 1912 - The RMS Titanic sinks at 2:20 am after hitting an iceberg late in the evening of the 14th.

This Day in History...

October 15, 1863 - The first successful submarine, the C.S.S Hunley, sinks during a test run in Charleston Harbor. The inventor, Horace Lawson Hunley, and seven crew members drowned. Surprisingly, another crew volunteered and the Hunley went back to work. In February 1864 it torpedoed a US ship outside Charleston Harbor. It was the first sub to ever sink a ship in battle. Unfortunately that was its only successful mission - it sank on its way back into Charleston Harbor, killing another crew.

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by MizB at Should be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS!! (Make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title and author so other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!

Here are my two for the week. I've started a book that deals with the Civil War, which is a switch from my usual British historical fiction.

Two Brothers: One North, One South, David H. Jones

McHenry noted that William and his friends had the look of rough service. They were poorly clad in a hodgepodge of civilian clothing and presented an unwashed appearance from their exertions over the past few days. However, they were carrying very effective-looking rifles that left no doubt that these were soldiers engaged in serious business.

"We were sent by train back up to Harpers Ferry Last week with instructions to burn everything," William replied. "Of course, Marylanders are more likely to do things sensibly rather than follow orders to the letter, so we brought back a whole bunch of seasoned gunstocks. I heard Colonel Steuart say that we're going to send them to North Carolina in appreciation for these fine Mississippi Rifles they gave us."

This Day in History...

September 22, 1862 - President Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation. This set a date for freedom for the more than 3 million slaves in the United States. It also recast the Civil War in history as just a fight against slavery. After this was issued, backing the Confederacy was seen as favoring slavery and it became impossible for anti-slavery nations, like Great Britain and France, to get involved and help the South.

This Day in History...

September 20, 1863 - The Confederate Army of Tennessee drove part of the Union Army back into Tennessee from Chickamauga Creek in northern Georgia in one of the bloodiest battles in of the Civil War - the Battle of Chickamauga. Technically a Confederate victory the battle really had little effect on the war.

This Day in History...

September 17, 1862 - Beginning in the morning, Confederate and Union forces met near Antietam Creek in Maryland. This battle became the bloodiest one day battle in American military history. Over 4,000 were killed and Lee had to retreat.

This Day in History...

Wow...this day has been a pretty bad one all around!


September 1, 1939 - At dawn, Germany invaded Poland and bombed Warsaw at 6am, beginning World War II in Europe. Within one day of the invasion, Hitler was setting up SS "Death's Head" regiments to terrorize the citizens, giving a horrific glimpse at what was to come later in the war to those that opposed him or he didn't like.


And because this one is about where I live....

September 1, 1864 - General Sherman laid siege to Atlanta, Georgia, shelling civilians and cutting off supply lines. The Confederates troops retreated, destroying the city's munitions as they went. Later that year on November 15, Sherman's troops burned the city to the ground before continuing their march through the South.