by B.L. Unkel | Oct 12, 2024 | History
I love music, especially songs sung a cappella where harmonies can shine. Nothing’s better . . . unless you add an interesting historical background to the mix. Fisk University On January 9, 1866, Fisk Free Colored School opened in Nashville, TN. In only a few...
by B.L. Unkel | Oct 5, 2024 | History
Talk about stars that can do it all. Woodward Maurice Ritter certainly fits the bill. And if the name doesn’t sound familiar, that’s because you know him by his nickname, “Tex” Ritter. Early Life Tex Ritter was born on January 12, 1905, in Murvaul, Texas, the...
by B.L. Unkel | Jul 20, 2024 | History
How do you feel about pennies? Superstitions I have a cousin who won’t pick up a penny if it’s not heads up. (Me? A penny is a penny, and I’ll pick it up regardless of its position.) Many superstitions surround the penny. But where did they come from? Why do we...
by B.L. Unkel | Jun 29, 2024 | History
This is the story behind the story of Arlington National Cemetery. The Beginning A couple of years after he married, John Parke Custis (Martha Washington’s son and George Washington’s stepson), purchased two plantations in northern Virginia to be closer to his...
by B.L. Unkel | Jun 22, 2024 | History
The federal government officially established Arlington National Cemetery on June 15, 1864. Though now our most honored military burial ground, that’s not how it began. National Cemeteries The Civil War claimed so many lives, the U.S. had to create the...
by B.L. Unkel | Jun 15, 2024 | History
Thirty years ago, the Channel Tunnel—the tunnel connecting England and France—began operations. The Idea Wanting to build a tunnel under the English Channel goes back centuries. French mining engineer, Albert Mathieu-Favier, pitched it to Napoleon Bonaparte in...
