2024
The Angel of Marye’s Heights During the Defense of Fredericksburg, Virginia, 1862
Week of December 9
Almost two years into the war that President Lincoln declared upon his own people in order to constrain the southern states to remain in the union…
Happy Thanksgiving
Week of November 25
“I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever” declared the psalmist, “with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations.” It is a duty to give thanks to the Lord…
Historian, Archaeologist and Explorer Hiram Bingham III Is Born, 1875
Week of November 18
At the height of America’s Gilded Age, Hiram Bingham III—American paragon of self-made academic prowess and explorational…
Armistice Is Declared, 1918
Week of November 11
Also known as Remembrance Day, and observed as such by countries across the globe, the eleventh of November marks the anniversary of the ceasing of hostilities between the Allied and…
Harvard University Is Founded, 1636
Week of October 28
A mere sixteen years after the Mayflower deposited her few intrepid passengers on the wild and barren shores of Plymouth Harbor, the Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay…
Herbert Hoover Pleads for a Resurgence of American “Rugged Individualism”, 1928
Week of October 21
Due in part to our rich heritage of blended cultures and our abundance of exceptional characters, along with the distinctly public method of our electoral process, America…
Sir Francis Drake Completes His Circumnavigation of the Globe, 1580
Week of September 23
In the late 1500s, Reformation was sweeping across Europe and the grand colonizing nations of the old world were at odds with each other over matters religious and…
The Confederacy’s Costly Victory at Chickamauga, 1863
Week of September 16
The clash of Union and Confederate armies at the small Appalachian town of Chickamauga was one of the costliest engagements of the American Civil War with 125,000…
Henryk Sienkiewicz Is Awarded the Nobel Prize, 1905
Week of September 9
A little over a century ago, Polish novelist Henryk Sienkiewicz (pronounced sane-KAY-vitch) stood apart as an international literary phenomenon when he accepted his…
Beatrix Potter Creates Peter Rabbit, 1893
Week of September 2
On this day, while on holiday in Scotland with her family, aspiring naturalist Beatrix Potter penned a note to cheer the son of a friend, a little lad who had been confined…
The Death of Colonel John Laurens, 1782
Week of August 26
As the American War for Independence drew to a close, with the battle of Yorktown being a decisive victory the previous year, a young luminary of the conflict rose from his deathbed…
“Old Ironsides” Earns Her Moniker, 1812
Week of August 19
On August 19, 1812, an American legend was forged into being when the United States frigate, USS Constitution, met and defeated the British…
Senator Henry Cabot Lodge Takes a Stand Against the League of Nations, 1919
Week of August 12
On the 12th of August, 1919, esteemed statesman and Senate Majority Leader, Henry Cabot Lodge, rose to his feet on the floor…
The Martyrdom of King Oswald, AD 642
Week of August 5
Britain in the six hundreds was a war-torn place. Gone were the days of Roman governance and provincial stability in previous centuries; here and now…
Marquis de Lafayette Commissioned as a Major General in the Continental Army, 1777
Week of July 29
On a blisteringly hot day in Philadelphia, after weeks of pleading and making…
The Battlefield Letter of Sullivan Ballou, 1861
Week of July 8
In the study of history, where resources of fundamental and priceless depth are at our disposal, few artifacts erase the alienation of...
The Battle of Marston Moor, 1644
Week of July 1
Perhaps the largest battle ever fought on English soil took place two years into England’s bloody Civil War. There the King of England, Charles I had his royalist army...
Congress Approves the Resolution for Independence, 1776
Week of June 3
Amongst the largely futile clamor that marked the early half of the Second Continental Congress, there rose to his feet the leading delegate...
David Livingstone Leaves for Africa, 1841
Week of May 27
In his book The Man Who Presumed, Byron Farwell records that former Confederate soldier turned journalist-explorer, Henry Morton Stanley, upon meeting David Livingstone in...
Legacy of the Venerable Bede, 735
Week of May 20
This summer, Landmark Events will be embarking on a tour of the old kingdom of Northumbria, a land once encompassing northern England and southern Scotland, with strategic...
William Wilberforce Makes His First Speech Against the Slave Trade, 1789
Week of May 13
On this day in 1789, William Wilberforce rose to his feet in the House of Commons and began what would become his lifelong crusade to abolish the...
The Sinking of RMS Lusitania, 1915
Week of May 6
The first year of the First World War was markedly contained in the neutral American mind. While Europe and her various colonies all became embroiled against each other in accordance with...
The Allied Air Force Begins Mercy Runs Over Holland, 1945
Week of April 29
On April 29, 1945, the greatest mercy operation of the Second World War began, although initially it had all the marks of a suicide mission, the...
The Pazzi Conspiracy to Assassinate the Medici Family, 1478
Week of April 22
In the late 1400s, the country we now call Italy was divided into many states and governed each by their own rulers. In the north, Milan’s form of...
Remembering the Titanic, 1912
Week of April 8
One hundred twelve years ago, the luxury ocean liner RMS Titanic struck an iceberg and began to sink. In the three short hours before she was submerged, her enduring legacy of heroism and....
Winston Churchill Creates the RAF, 1918
Week of April 1
On this day in 1918, Britain’s Royal Air Force was created by Winston Churchill. It is now considered the oldest independent flying force in the world. They were spawned from the existing...
Isabella MacDuff Crowns Robert the Bruce, 1306
Week of March 25
Since the overthrow of the infamous Macbeth’s usurpation, Scotland’s rightful kings were crowned by a member of the clan MacDuff....
Princess Pocahontas Dies in England, 1617
Week of March 18
Once upon a time in Jamestown, Virginia, during the days of King James I when America was yet a wilderness, an Indian Princess was traded for a...
The Death of Tiberius Caesar, 37 AD
Week of March 11
It was in the reign of Tiberius Caesar that our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified, and what an imposing reign it was. He was born the first son of Tiberius Nero, an acclaimed Roman General,...
The Boston Massacre, 1770
Week of March 4
When looking back at our nation’s road to independence, there were a number of inciting incidents considered to be formative in setting the tone for the manner in which such an...
The Sinking of the HMS Birkenhead, 1852
Week of February 26
There was a time not so long ago in this country where, if a woman or child found themselves in less than ideal surroundings, they might look around...
The Battle of Iwo Jima Begins, 1945
Week of February 19
Seventy-nine years ago, the battle for Iwo Jima began in the Pacific Theatre during World War II. It was fought during the last year of the war and the final push for victory extracted a brutal toll...
Admiral Gaspard de Coligny Is Born, 1519
Week of February 11
In times of persecution, many of our heroes of the faith proved they were men of perseverance, men who mounted eloquent apologetics, who defended the innocent from slaughter...
King Edward I of England Steals the Title “Prince of Wales”, 1301
Week of February 4
The reign of King Edward I of England was made notable and is recalled for many things. His nicknames—those of “Longshanks” and “Hammer...
American Statesman Gouverneur Morris Is Born, 1752
Week of January 28
Writer of the preamble to our constitution, leading patriot of our revolution, esteemed member of the Continental Congress, wartime...
Robert Burns Is Born, 1759
Week of January 21
On this date, all over the globe, in royal grandeur and in humbler abodes, “Burns Night” is celebrated. Toasts are drunk, verses recited, odes offered to the famed haggis, and...
John Wycliffe Begins Translation of the Scriptures into English, 1382
Week of January 14
An Oxford Don possessing great academic prowess and enjoying the perks of royal patronage—the “Morning Star of the Reformation”...
Queen Wilhelmina Sentences a Traitor, 1948
Week of January 7
On January 8, 1948, having been condemned to death for treason against her country, Madame Anna “Ans” van Dijk made a final appeal for...
Samuel Pepys’ First Diary Entry, 1660
Week of December 31
With this inauspicious summary of the state of things, so began the diary of Samuel Pepys who would, in an astounding twist of providence, prove our greatest contemporary...
The Christmas Truce, 1914
Week of December 24
Entering 2024, we will soon mark the 110th anniversary of the commencement of the First World War—“the war to end all wars”. In 1914 the nations of Europe collectively...