The post 4 Interesting Facts About Abraham Lincoln appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>It is hard to imagine Abraham Lincoln without his signature beard. However, Lincoln didn’t always sport that look. He only started growing a beard after an 11-year-old girl sent him a letter in which she suggested he let his “whiskers grow” because she believed his face was “so thin”.
Another thing that became a signature part of Lincoln’s look is his stovepipe hat. However, it turns out that this wasn’t just a fashion statement for the President. Instead, he would often store important papers in the lining of the hat so he couldn’t always have them on him if needed.
Lincoln wasn’t only a great leader, he also had a knack for inventions. As a matter of fact, he is the only U.S. president with a patent to his name. He patented a device that helps lift a boat over an obstruction in a river.
During the summertime, Lincoln and his family would leave the White House and move to an estate known as the Soldiers’ Home. He would then make a three-mile commute to work every day.
The post 4 Interesting Facts About Abraham Lincoln appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>The post How Abraham Lincoln’s Murderer Was Captured appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>On the evening of April 14, Booth entered Ford’s Theatre, where President Lincoln was watching a play. Booth, who was familiar with the layout of the theater, slipped into the President’s box and shot him in the back of the head.
The manhunt for Booth was one of the largest of its time, involving thousands of federal troops, detectives, and police officers. The government offered a $100,000 reward (a substantial sum in 1865) for information leading to Booth’s capture.
Booth eventually found refuge at the Virginia farm of Richard Garrett. Federal troops traced his hiding place in a barn. Booth refused to give up. The soldiers then set the barn on fire, hoping to flush Booth out. Instead, Booth moved to the back of the barn.
Sergeant Boston Corbett shot Booth through the slats of the barn, aiming for his legs to incapacitate him but hitting him in the neck. The wound paralyzed Booth. He died a few hours later on the porch of Garrett’s farmhouse.
The post How Abraham Lincoln’s Murderer Was Captured appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>The post The Harsh Reality of Dust Bowl America appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>While harsh weather cannot be avoided, it wasn’t only nature that caused the Dust Bowl era to emerge. Due to skyrocketing demand, farmers across the region plowed millions of acres of grasslands to plant crops. What they didn’t realize, however, is that the prairie grasses that they were uprooting were necessary for holding the soil in place.
As soil across the region continued to erode, dust storms engulfed the southern plains. This issue persisted throughout the 1930s, with 35 million acres of land rendered useless for farming while another 125 million acres lost its topsoil. While this may have been bad, this problem hadn’t yet reached its full extent.
The black blizzards reached as far as the East Coast, covering the Statue of Liberty in dust. Ultimately, President Franklin D. Roosevelt implemented policies to help the impoverished people affected by this crisis the Natural Resources Conservation Service developed new farming techniques to combat soil erosion, teaching them to farmers in need.
The post The Harsh Reality of Dust Bowl America appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>The post Facts You May Not Have Known About Indigenous People appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>While collectively known as Indigenous People, there are hundreds of tribes scattered across the nation. Naturally, each one has developed a unique identity. Today, there are over 300 Indigenous People’s languages in existence, however, many are in danger of going extinct if their heritage isn’t preserved.
Among Indigenous People’s many talents was their agricultural production. In fact, they have been so good at farming crops that it was estimated in 2016 that approximately 60% of the global food supply came from crops that originated in North America.
It has been well-documented that Indigenous People and European settlers often did not see eye to eye. In 1830, tension between the two groups reached its peak, when President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, forcing many tribes in the east to migrate to the western United States so as to allow colonialists to farm on their arid lands.
The post Facts You May Not Have Known About Indigenous People appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>The post 3 Facts About the American Revolutionary War You Didn’t Learn in School appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>In order to safely communicate, especially in regard to important messages, the Colonial Army used invisible ink developed by Founding Father John Jay’s brother James. The ink was only visible after the paper was covered with revealing chemicals or exposed to heat.
Common folks didn’t overwhelmingly support the American Revolutionary War. It is believed that the support to the Colonial Army was below 50% in the United Colonies, while many Americans changed allegiance on a regular basis, siding with the side that was winning at that particular moment.
After realizing they were defeated during the Siege of Yorktown, British troops led by Brigadier General Charles O’Hara decided to surrender. However, during the surrender ceremony, their surrender was rejected twice. O’Hara first offered his sword to French general Rochambeau, who rejected the act and pointed to George Washington. O’Hara then approached Washington but was also rejected. It was only after O’Hara offered his sword to Major General Benjamin Lincoln that the surrender was accepted. The Siege of Yorktown is considered the last significant battle of the American Revolutionary War. After that, the British government decided to start negotiating to end the conflict.
The post 3 Facts About the American Revolutionary War You Didn’t Learn in School appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>The post 5 Quick Facts About the Statue of Liberty appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>The Statue of Liberty’s maker, French sculptor Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi, initially wanted to build a lighthouse of similar design in Egypt to commemorate the construction of the Suez Canal. However, that project didn’t come to fruition due to high costs, and Bartholdi pivoted to reinventing it as a statue that the people of France would gift to the United States.
When it was originally brought to the United States in 1886, the Statue of Liberty was brown. However, its copper coating oxidized in the following decades and gave it its signature green color.
While France financed the statue, it was up to the United States to build it a pedestal. This turned out to be challenging, as neither President Grover Cleveland nor Congress wanted to allocate the funds towards it. Eventually, New York congressman Joseph Pulitzer organized a successful crowdfunding campaign to make sure the Statue of Liberty ended in New York City.
You might have noticed that the Statue of Liberty’s crown has seven spikes. This wasn’t by accident, as they represent seven continents of the world while also serving as the light that extends out to the world.
The copper coating didn’t just turn the Statue of Liberty green, but it also made it a lightning magnet. On average, the Statue of Liberty is struck by 600 lightings each year.
The post 5 Quick Facts About the Statue of Liberty appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>The post 4 Interesting Facts About Benjamin Franklin appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>While growing up, Benjamin Franklin attended a year of grammar school and received a year of education from a private teacher. He finished his formal education at the age of 10 after those two years. However, that didn’t stop him from becoming one of the brightest minds of his time.
When Benjamin Franklin was 15, his brother James founded the newspaper New England Courant. Franklin wanted to write for the newspaper, but James refused. This prompted Franklin to start submitting letters as a middle-aged widow, Silence Dogood, which were published and became quite popular among readers. After Dogood received more than a few marriage proposals, Franklin revealed his true identity.
Benjamin Franklin had a keen interest in music. After attending a concert and being captivated by the sound of rubbing fingers around the rim of a glass, he set on to create a musical instrument based on the same principle and ended up inventing a glass harmonica. The instrument became so popular that famous composers like Beethoven and Mozart composed musical pieces for it.
After building a successful printing and publishing business, Benjamin Franklin achieved great wealth that allowed him to retire at the age of 42. He devoted the rest of his life to science and representing the United States as a statesman and diplomat.
The post 4 Interesting Facts About Benjamin Franklin appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>The post Liberating Facts About Civil Rights Activist Rosa Parks appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>Prior to her famous defiance on the bus, Parks had already been involved in the Civil Rights Movement for quite some time. Since 1943, Parks was a of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). In fact, she was the secretary of the Montgomery, Alabama chapter of the NAACP at the time of her arrest.
When bus driver James Blake attempted to get Parks to vacate her seat, this actually wasn’t their first encounter. Previously, Blake had told Parks to re-enter the bus from the back after she had entered from the front in order to pay her fare. “After that, I made a point of looking at who was driving the bus before I got on,” Parks admitted.
While many thought that Parks was sitting in the whites-only section of the bus, this was not the case. When a white person was unable to get a seat in the white section because it was full, the bus driver commanded Parks to leave her seat. The brave young woman refused to give in.
The post Liberating Facts About Civil Rights Activist Rosa Parks appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>The post National WWII Museum Allows Visitors to Talk With WWII Veterans Using AI appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>To create “Voices From the Front”, the museum conducted interviews with more than a dozen of Americans who took part in WWII. During the interviews, they answered thousands of questions about their lives, duties, and conflicts.
Anyone who wishes to talk with these veterans will be able to do so through an interactive video wall. All they need to do is ask a question, and AI software will choose the best answer from recorded interviews.
National WWII Museum previously hosted live sit-downs with WWII veterans and hundreds of veterans participated in the project since 2000. However, considering that the number of veterans is declining, “Voices From the Front” will allow their stories to be heard by generations.
“Preserving the personal accounts of those who served and sacrificed in defense of our freedom during World War II is at the foundation of our mission,” said museum president Stephen Watson about the project. “This powerful addition to the museum will give visitors the ability to authentically connect with these individuals, creating an effective way to carry on their memories of the sights, sounds, terrors, and triumphs of the war for generations to come.”
The post National WWII Museum Allows Visitors to Talk With WWII Veterans Using AI appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>The post Rare Eyewitness Sketch From the Revolutionary War Gets Donated to the Museum of the American Revolution appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>There are only a dozen remaining eyewitness sketches depicting the Continental Army still in existence. This particular one is drawn by Swiss artist Pierre Eugène du Simitiére and shows the North Carolina Brigade marching through Philadelphia on August 25, 1777. These troops would later join George Washington’s army and take part in battles of Brandywine and Germantown.
A notable detail in the sketch is the depiction of female camp followers, who played a crucial role in supporting the army. There is only one other known sketch that includes the camp followers.
“The inclusion of two female camp followers, including one holding an infant, shown riding in a wagon exemplifies a direct defiance of known regulations at the time about how women following the army could use wagons,” the museum explains.
The eyewitness sketch used to belong to collector Judith Hernstad. According to Hernstad, she owned the sketch in the mid-1970s, and it hung in her bedroom. After museum curator Matthew Skic noticed the sketch and revealed its true importance, Hernstadt decided to donate it to the Museum of the American Revolution.
The post Rare Eyewitness Sketch From the Revolutionary War Gets Donated to the Museum of the American Revolution appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>The post 4 Interesting Facts About Abraham Lincoln appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>It is hard to imagine Abraham Lincoln without his signature beard. However, Lincoln didn’t always sport that look. He only started growing a beard after an 11-year-old girl sent him a letter in which she suggested he let his “whiskers grow” because she believed his face was “so thin”.
Another thing that became a signature part of Lincoln’s look is his stovepipe hat. However, it turns out that this wasn’t just a fashion statement for the President. Instead, he would often store important papers in the lining of the hat so he couldn’t always have them on him if needed.
Lincoln wasn’t only a great leader, he also had a knack for inventions. As a matter of fact, he is the only U.S. president with a patent to his name. He patented a device that helps lift a boat over an obstruction in a river.
During the summertime, Lincoln and his family would leave the White House and move to an estate known as the Soldiers’ Home. He would then make a three-mile commute to work every day.
The post 4 Interesting Facts About Abraham Lincoln appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>The post How Abraham Lincoln’s Murderer Was Captured appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>On the evening of April 14, Booth entered Ford’s Theatre, where President Lincoln was watching a play. Booth, who was familiar with the layout of the theater, slipped into the President’s box and shot him in the back of the head.
The manhunt for Booth was one of the largest of its time, involving thousands of federal troops, detectives, and police officers. The government offered a $100,000 reward (a substantial sum in 1865) for information leading to Booth’s capture.
Booth eventually found refuge at the Virginia farm of Richard Garrett. Federal troops traced his hiding place in a barn. Booth refused to give up. The soldiers then set the barn on fire, hoping to flush Booth out. Instead, Booth moved to the back of the barn.
Sergeant Boston Corbett shot Booth through the slats of the barn, aiming for his legs to incapacitate him but hitting him in the neck. The wound paralyzed Booth. He died a few hours later on the porch of Garrett’s farmhouse.
The post How Abraham Lincoln’s Murderer Was Captured appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>The post The Harsh Reality of Dust Bowl America appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>While harsh weather cannot be avoided, it wasn’t only nature that caused the Dust Bowl era to emerge. Due to skyrocketing demand, farmers across the region plowed millions of acres of grasslands to plant crops. What they didn’t realize, however, is that the prairie grasses that they were uprooting were necessary for holding the soil in place.
As soil across the region continued to erode, dust storms engulfed the southern plains. This issue persisted throughout the 1930s, with 35 million acres of land rendered useless for farming while another 125 million acres lost its topsoil. While this may have been bad, this problem hadn’t yet reached its full extent.
The black blizzards reached as far as the East Coast, covering the Statue of Liberty in dust. Ultimately, President Franklin D. Roosevelt implemented policies to help the impoverished people affected by this crisis the Natural Resources Conservation Service developed new farming techniques to combat soil erosion, teaching them to farmers in need.
The post The Harsh Reality of Dust Bowl America appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>The post Facts You May Not Have Known About Indigenous People appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>While collectively known as Indigenous People, there are hundreds of tribes scattered across the nation. Naturally, each one has developed a unique identity. Today, there are over 300 Indigenous People’s languages in existence, however, many are in danger of going extinct if their heritage isn’t preserved.
Among Indigenous People’s many talents was their agricultural production. In fact, they have been so good at farming crops that it was estimated in 2016 that approximately 60% of the global food supply came from crops that originated in North America.
It has been well-documented that Indigenous People and European settlers often did not see eye to eye. In 1830, tension between the two groups reached its peak, when President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, forcing many tribes in the east to migrate to the western United States so as to allow colonialists to farm on their arid lands.
The post Facts You May Not Have Known About Indigenous People appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>The post 3 Facts About the American Revolutionary War You Didn’t Learn in School appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>In order to safely communicate, especially in regard to important messages, the Colonial Army used invisible ink developed by Founding Father John Jay’s brother James. The ink was only visible after the paper was covered with revealing chemicals or exposed to heat.
Common folks didn’t overwhelmingly support the American Revolutionary War. It is believed that the support to the Colonial Army was below 50% in the United Colonies, while many Americans changed allegiance on a regular basis, siding with the side that was winning at that particular moment.
After realizing they were defeated during the Siege of Yorktown, British troops led by Brigadier General Charles O’Hara decided to surrender. However, during the surrender ceremony, their surrender was rejected twice. O’Hara first offered his sword to French general Rochambeau, who rejected the act and pointed to George Washington. O’Hara then approached Washington but was also rejected. It was only after O’Hara offered his sword to Major General Benjamin Lincoln that the surrender was accepted. The Siege of Yorktown is considered the last significant battle of the American Revolutionary War. After that, the British government decided to start negotiating to end the conflict.
The post 3 Facts About the American Revolutionary War You Didn’t Learn in School appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>The post 5 Quick Facts About the Statue of Liberty appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>The Statue of Liberty’s maker, French sculptor Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi, initially wanted to build a lighthouse of similar design in Egypt to commemorate the construction of the Suez Canal. However, that project didn’t come to fruition due to high costs, and Bartholdi pivoted to reinventing it as a statue that the people of France would gift to the United States.
When it was originally brought to the United States in 1886, the Statue of Liberty was brown. However, its copper coating oxidized in the following decades and gave it its signature green color.
While France financed the statue, it was up to the United States to build it a pedestal. This turned out to be challenging, as neither President Grover Cleveland nor Congress wanted to allocate the funds towards it. Eventually, New York congressman Joseph Pulitzer organized a successful crowdfunding campaign to make sure the Statue of Liberty ended in New York City.
You might have noticed that the Statue of Liberty’s crown has seven spikes. This wasn’t by accident, as they represent seven continents of the world while also serving as the light that extends out to the world.
The copper coating didn’t just turn the Statue of Liberty green, but it also made it a lightning magnet. On average, the Statue of Liberty is struck by 600 lightings each year.
The post 5 Quick Facts About the Statue of Liberty appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>The post 4 Interesting Facts About Benjamin Franklin appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>While growing up, Benjamin Franklin attended a year of grammar school and received a year of education from a private teacher. He finished his formal education at the age of 10 after those two years. However, that didn’t stop him from becoming one of the brightest minds of his time.
When Benjamin Franklin was 15, his brother James founded the newspaper New England Courant. Franklin wanted to write for the newspaper, but James refused. This prompted Franklin to start submitting letters as a middle-aged widow, Silence Dogood, which were published and became quite popular among readers. After Dogood received more than a few marriage proposals, Franklin revealed his true identity.
Benjamin Franklin had a keen interest in music. After attending a concert and being captivated by the sound of rubbing fingers around the rim of a glass, he set on to create a musical instrument based on the same principle and ended up inventing a glass harmonica. The instrument became so popular that famous composers like Beethoven and Mozart composed musical pieces for it.
After building a successful printing and publishing business, Benjamin Franklin achieved great wealth that allowed him to retire at the age of 42. He devoted the rest of his life to science and representing the United States as a statesman and diplomat.
The post 4 Interesting Facts About Benjamin Franklin appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>The post Liberating Facts About Civil Rights Activist Rosa Parks appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>Prior to her famous defiance on the bus, Parks had already been involved in the Civil Rights Movement for quite some time. Since 1943, Parks was a of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). In fact, she was the secretary of the Montgomery, Alabama chapter of the NAACP at the time of her arrest.
When bus driver James Blake attempted to get Parks to vacate her seat, this actually wasn’t their first encounter. Previously, Blake had told Parks to re-enter the bus from the back after she had entered from the front in order to pay her fare. “After that, I made a point of looking at who was driving the bus before I got on,” Parks admitted.
While many thought that Parks was sitting in the whites-only section of the bus, this was not the case. When a white person was unable to get a seat in the white section because it was full, the bus driver commanded Parks to leave her seat. The brave young woman refused to give in.
The post Liberating Facts About Civil Rights Activist Rosa Parks appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>The post National WWII Museum Allows Visitors to Talk With WWII Veterans Using AI appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>To create “Voices From the Front”, the museum conducted interviews with more than a dozen of Americans who took part in WWII. During the interviews, they answered thousands of questions about their lives, duties, and conflicts.
Anyone who wishes to talk with these veterans will be able to do so through an interactive video wall. All they need to do is ask a question, and AI software will choose the best answer from recorded interviews.
National WWII Museum previously hosted live sit-downs with WWII veterans and hundreds of veterans participated in the project since 2000. However, considering that the number of veterans is declining, “Voices From the Front” will allow their stories to be heard by generations.
“Preserving the personal accounts of those who served and sacrificed in defense of our freedom during World War II is at the foundation of our mission,” said museum president Stephen Watson about the project. “This powerful addition to the museum will give visitors the ability to authentically connect with these individuals, creating an effective way to carry on their memories of the sights, sounds, terrors, and triumphs of the war for generations to come.”
The post National WWII Museum Allows Visitors to Talk With WWII Veterans Using AI appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>The post Rare Eyewitness Sketch From the Revolutionary War Gets Donated to the Museum of the American Revolution appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>There are only a dozen remaining eyewitness sketches depicting the Continental Army still in existence. This particular one is drawn by Swiss artist Pierre Eugène du Simitiére and shows the North Carolina Brigade marching through Philadelphia on August 25, 1777. These troops would later join George Washington’s army and take part in battles of Brandywine and Germantown.
A notable detail in the sketch is the depiction of female camp followers, who played a crucial role in supporting the army. There is only one other known sketch that includes the camp followers.
“The inclusion of two female camp followers, including one holding an infant, shown riding in a wagon exemplifies a direct defiance of known regulations at the time about how women following the army could use wagons,” the museum explains.
The eyewitness sketch used to belong to collector Judith Hernstad. According to Hernstad, she owned the sketch in the mid-1970s, and it hung in her bedroom. After museum curator Matthew Skic noticed the sketch and revealed its true importance, Hernstadt decided to donate it to the Museum of the American Revolution.
The post Rare Eyewitness Sketch From the Revolutionary War Gets Donated to the Museum of the American Revolution appeared first on History Chronicle.
]]>