George Mason University's
History News Network
Last Chance to Sign Open Letter to Obama (prominent libertarians, academics, former officials, leftists, etc. already on list)

Ms. Goodman is the Editor/Features Editor at HNN. She has a Masters in Library and Information Studies from McGill University, and has done graduate work in history at Concordia University. Her blog is History Musings

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PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN 2008 WATCH:

  • Leo Ribuffo on"Politicians fail History 101 Facts don't always align with the point a contender hopes to make":"I have lower expectations, I don't think political speeches are expected to accurately represent the past. ... One of the problems with real history is it's too complicated to get into a political speech or a newspaper article." - St. Petersburg Times, FL, 12-20-07
BIGGEST STORIES 2007:

  • Brendan Simms: Five bright ideas that illuminated 2007 Britain's greatness was built on European engagement - The Observer, UK, 12-23-07
BIGGEST STORIES CHRISTMAS:
HNN STATS THIS WEEK:
THIS WEEK IN HISTORY:This Week in History:

  • 24/12/1814 - Treaty of Ghent (end of US-Britain's War of 1812) signed
  • 24/12/1818 -"Silent Night" composed by Franz Joseph Gruber; 1st sung next day
  • 24/12/1851 - Fire devastates Library of Congress in Wash, destroys 35,000 volumes
  • 24/12/1864 - Battle of Gordonsville, VA
  • 24/12/1865 - Several Confederate veterans form Ku Klux Klan in Pulaski, Tn
  • 24/12/1935 - National Council of Negro Women forms
  • 24/12/1943 - FDR appoints Gen Eisenhower supreme commander of Allied forces
  • 24/12/1997 - 1st time a Channukah candle is officially lit in Vatican City
  • 25/12/0001 - 1st Christmas, according to calendar-maker Dionysus Exiguus
  • 25/12/0337 - Earliest possible date that Christmas was celebrated on Dec 25th
  • 25/12/0352 - 1st definite date Christmas was celebrated on Dec 25th
  • 25/12/1066 - William the Conqueror, crowned king of England
  • 25/12/1651 - Massachusetts General Court ordered a fine (five shillings) for"observing any such day as Christmas"
  • 25/12/1776 - Washington crosses Delaware and surprises and defeats 1,400 Hessians
  • 25/12/1868 - Despite bitter opposition, Pres A Johnson grants unconditional pardon to all persons involved in Southern rebellion (Civil War)
  • 26/12/1620 - Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth, MA
  • 26/12/1776 - George Washington defeats Hessians at Trenton
  • 26/12/1848 - 1st gold seekers arrive in Panama en route to SF
  • 26/12/1862 - -Dec 28th) Battle of Dumfries, VA
  • 26/12/1947 - Heavy snow blankets Northeast, buries NYC under 25.8" of snow in 16 hrs That same day, LA set a record high of 84ø F
  • 26/12/1982 - TIME's Man of the Year is a computer
  • 27/12/1825 - 1st public railroad using steam locomotive completed in England
  • 27/12/1862 - Battle of Elizabethtown, KY
  • 27/12/1862 - Battle of Chickasaw Bluffs, MS (Chickasaw Bayou)
  • 28/12/1065 - Westminister Abbey opens in London
  • 28/12/1832 - John Calhoun becomes 1st VP to resign (differences with Pres Jackson)
  • 28/12/1864 - Battle of Egypt Station, MS
  • 29/12/1778 - English troops occupy Savannah, Georgia
  • 29/12/1845 - Texas admitted as 28th state
  • 29/12/1862 - Battle of Chichasaw Bayou: confederate armies defeat Gen Sherman
  • 29/12/1890 - US 7th Cavalry massacre 200+ captive Sioux at Wounded Knee, SD
  • 29/12/1944 - Gen Eisenhowers train returns to Versailles
  • 29/12/1947 - Ship carrying Jewish immigrants driven away from Palestine
  • 29/12/1948 - Canada recognizes Israel
  • 30/12/1835 - After gold discovery in Ga, Cherokees forced to move across Miss R
  • 30/12/1853 - Gadsden Purchase 45,000ý mi (120,000ý km) by Gila River from Mexico for $10 million, area is now southern Arizona and New Mexico
  • 30/12/1933 - -50øF (-46øC) in Bloomfield, Vermont (state record)
  • 30/12/1941 - Winston Churchill addresses Canadian parliament
  • 30/12/1963 - Congress authorizes Kennedy half dollar
  • 30/12/1972 - Pres Nixon halts bombing of North Vietnam and announces peace talks
  • 30/12/1977 - Carter holds 1st news conf by US pres in Eastern Europe (Warsaw)
IN THE NEWS:
REVIEWED AND FIRST CHAPTERS:

  • Martin Meredith: HISTORY SOUTH AFRICA Imperial Hubris A debilitating war and shocking betrayal created South Africa DIAMONDS, GOLD, AND WAR The British, The Boers, and The Making of South Africa - WaPo, 12-23-07
  • Jason Roberts on Tim Jeal: BIOGRAPHY EXPLORERS The Great Opportunist Don't presume you know the strange truth about Henry Morton Stanley STANLEY The Impossible Life of Africa's Greatest Explorer - WaPo, 12-23-07
  • Dear Diary, I Think I'm in Love The confessions of Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr - The Weekly Standard, 12-31-07
  • David Anthony: Prof explores mystery in book The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World - Oneonta Daily Star, NY, 12-22-07
  • John J. DiIulio Jr.: Take It on Faith GODLY REPUBLIC A Centrist Blueprint for America's Faith-Based Future - NYT, 12-16-07
  • John J. DiIulio Jr.: GODLY REPUBLIC A Centrist Blueprint for America's Faith-Based Future, First Chapter - NYT, 12-16-07
  • GIL TROY on Edward J. Larson: The Mudslingers A MAGNIFICENT CATASTROPHE The Tumultuous Election of 1800, America’s First Presidential Campaign - NYT, 12-16-07
  • Margaret A. Hogan and C. James Taylors: As a Nation Was Born, They Wrote and Wrote MY DEAREST FRIEND Letters of Abigail and John Adams - NYT, 12-11-07
OP-ED/LETTER TO THE EDITOR:
BLOGOSPHERE:
PROFILED:
FEATURE:
INTERVIEWED:
QUOTED:
HONORED, AWARDED, AND APPOINTMENTS:
EXHIBITIONS / NEW WEBSITES:
SPEAKING EVENTS CALENDAR:

  • Jan 10, 2008: National Archives Hosts Public Symposium on Slave Trade Act Thursday, January 10, 2008, 9 AM - 5:30 PM William G. McGowan Theater, National Archives Building Constitution Avenue between 7th and 9th Streets, NW, Washington, DC. - UrbanMecca.com, FL, 12-9-07
  • Jan 14, 2008:Timothy Naftali: Author of GEORGE H.W. BUSH, American Enterprise Institute Washington, DC, 5:30 PM
ON TV:History Listings This Week:

  • PBS:"Andrew Jackson: Good, Evil and the Presidency" Wednesday, Jan. 2 at 9 p.m.
  • C-Span2, BookTV: In Depth - Author Nell Painter, Sunday, January 6, from 12-3 PM ET - C-Span2, BookTV
  • History Channel:"The Hunt for John Wilkes Booth," Sunday, December 23, @ 8pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"The Kennedy Assassination: Beyond Conspiracy," Sunday, December 23, @ 10pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"Banned from The Bible II," Monday, December 24, @ 2pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"The Christmas Truce" Monday, December 24, @ 4pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"American Eats :Holiday Foods" Monday, December 24, @ 6pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"Modern Marvels :Bible Tech" Monday, December 24, @ 7pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"Nostradamus: 500 Years Later" Monday, December 24, @ 9pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"Decoding The Past :The Other Nostradamus." Monday, December 24, @ 10pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"UFO Files," Marathon Tuesday, December 25, @ 2-6pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"Modern Marvels :Christmas Tech," Tuesday, December 25, @ 7pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"Modern Marvels :Christmas Tech," Tuesday, December 25, @ 7pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"UFO Files," Marathon Wednesday, December 26, @ 2-6pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"Lost Worlds :Sin City of the West," Wednesday, December 26, @ 0pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"Modern Marvels : Walt Disney World," Thursday, December 28, @ 2pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"Engineering An Empire :Da Vinci's World," Thursday, December 13, @ 6pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"The True Story of Charlie Wilson," Friday, December 28, @ 2pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"History's Mysteries :The Mysteries of Devil's Triangles," Friday, December 28, @ 11pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"1968 with Tom Brokaw," Saturday, December 15, @ 5pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"Modern Marvels :60's Tech," Saturday, December 15, @ 7pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"Last Stand of The 300," Saturday, December 29, @ 8pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"Special :The True Story of Hannibal," Saturday, December 29, @ 10pm ET/PT
SELLING BIG (NYT):

  • Tom Brokaw: BOOM! #2 -- 5 weeks on list - 12-23-07
  • Geoffrey C. Ward: THE WAR #14 -- 10 weeks on list - 12-23-07
  • Joseph J. Ellis: AMERICAN CREATION #15 -- 6 weeks on list - 12-23-07
  • David Halberstam: THE COLDEST WINTER #26 - 12-23-07
  • Rick Atkinson: THE DAY OF BATTLE #30 - 12-23-07
FUTURE RELEASES:

  • Keith Boeckelman: Barack Obama, the New Face of American Politics, December 28, 2007
  • Judith Herrin: Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire, December 28, 2007.
  • Rudy Tomedi: General Matthew Ridgway, December 30, 2007
  • The Great Experiment, by Strobe Talbott (S&S, Jan.). How mere tribes became great nations.
  • James J. Sheehan: Where Have All the Soldiers Gone?, (Houghton, Jan.). The rejection of violence after World War II redefined a continent. Europe chose material well-being over war.
  • John Dickie: Delizia!: The Epic History of the Italians and Their Food, January 8, 2008.
  • Mark Puls: Henry Knox: Visionary General of the American Revolution, February 5, 2008.
  • Fidel Castro: Fidel Castro: My Life: A Spoken Autobiography, February 5, 2008.
  • Brian McGinty: Lincoln and the Court, February 15, 2008.
  • H. David Stone: Vital Rails, February 28, 2008.
  • John Fea: The Way of Improvement Leads Home: Philip Vickers Fithian and the Rural Enlightenment in Early America ( U of Pennsylvania Press), February 29, 2008
  • James Donovan: A Terrible Glory: Custer and the Little Bighorn - the Last Great Battle of the American West (REV), March 24, 2008.
  • Scott McClellan: What Happened, April 28, 2008
DEPARTED:

Monday, December 24, 2007 - 15:59

PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN 2008 WATCH:

  • Making Mormon history An influential religion struggles with how to tell the story of its past - Boston Globe, 12-8-07
  • Romney Seeks to Put the Mormon Question to Rest - NPR, 12-7-07
BIGGEST STORIES:
HNN STATS THIS WEEK:
THIS WEEK IN HISTORY:This Week in History:

  • 10/12/1520 - Martin Luther publicly burned papal edict demands he recant
  • 10/12/1864 - General Sherman's armies reach Savannah and 12 day siege begins
  • 10/12/1869 - Women suffrage (right to vote) granted in Wyoming Territory (US 1st)
  • 10/12/1898 - Spanish-American War ends; US acquires Philippines, PR and Guam
  • 10/12/1906 - Pres Theodore Roosevelt (1st American) awarded Nobel Peace Prize
  • 10/12/1915 - Pres Woodrow Wilson marries Edith Galt
  • 10/12/1919 - Nobel peace prize awarded to US president Wilson
  • 10/12/1931 - Jane Addams (1st US woman) named co-recipient of Nobel Peace Prize
  • 10/12/1936 - King Edward VIII abdicates throne to marry Mrs Wallis Simpson
  • 10/12/1978 - In Oslo, Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat accept 1978 Nobel Peace Prize
  • 11/12/1620 - 103 Mayflower pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock (12/21 NS)
  • 11/12/1792 - France's King Louis XVI went on trial, accused of treason
  • 11/12/1816 - Indiana becomes 19th state
  • 11/12/1901 - Marconi sends 1st transatlantic radio signal, Cornwall to Nfld
  • 11/12/1906 - US president Roosevelt attacks abuses in the Congo
  • 11/12/1909 - Colored moving pictures demonstrated at Madison Square Garden, NYC
  • 11/12/1916 - David Lloyd George forms British war govt
  • 11/12/1917 - 13 black soldiers hanged for alleged participation in Houston riot
  • 11/12/1931 - Brit Statute of Westminster gives complete legislative independence to Canada, Australia, NZ, South Africa, Ireland, Newfoundland
  • 11/12/1936 - King Edward VIII marries Mrs Wallis Simpson; abdicates throne Duke of York becomes King George VI
  • 11/12/1941 - Japanese attack Wake Island (only failed WW II-landing)
  • 11/12/1961 - JFK provides US miltary helicopters and crews to South Vietnam
  • 11/12/1961 - Adolf Eichmann is found guilty of war crimes, in Israel
  • 13/12/1577 - Sir Francis Drake sets sail from England to go around world
  • 13/12/1769 - Dartmouth College in New Hampshire received its charter
  • 13/12/1774 - 1st incident of Revolution-400 attack Ft William and Mary, NH
  • 13/12/1843 -"A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens published, 6,000 copies sold
  • 13/12/1862 - Battle of Fredericksburg, VA (Marye's Heights)
  • 13/12/1903 - Wright Bros make 1st flight at Kittyhawk
  • 13/12/1918 - Wilson, becomes 1st to make a foreign visit as president (France)
  • 13/12/1920 - League of nations establishes Intl Court of Justice in The Hague
  • 13/12/1949 - Knesset votes to transfer Israel's capital to Jerusalem
  • 13/12/1966 - 1st US bombing of Hanoi
  • 14/12/1774 - Mass militiamen successfully attacked arsenal of Ft William and Mary
  • 14/12/1819 - Alabama admitted to Union as 22nd state
  • 14/12/1863 - Battle of Bean's Station-Confederacy repulses Union in Tenn
  • 15/12/1791 - Bill of Rights ratified when Virginia gave its approval
  • 15/12/1791 - 1st US law school established at University of Pennsylvania
  • 15/12/1874 - 1st reigning king to visit US (of Hawaii) received by Pres Grant
  • 15/12/1877 - Thomas Edison patents phonograph
  • 15/12/1916 - French defeat Germans in WW I Battle of Verdun
  • 15/12/1938 - Groundbreaking begins for Jefferson Memorial in Wash DC
  • 15/12/1939 -"Gone With the Wind" premieres in Atlanta
  • 15/12/1948 - Former state dept official Alger Hiss indicted in NYC for perjury
  • 15/12/1964 - Canada adopts maple leaf flag
  • 16/12/1431 - King Henry VI of England crowned king of France
  • 16/12/1631 - Mount Vesuvious, Italy erupts, destroys 6 villages and kills 4,000
  • 16/12/1653 - Oliver Cromwell sworn in as English Lord Protector
  • 16/12/1689 - English Parliament adopts Bill of Rights after Glorious Revolution
  • 16/12/1773 - Big tea party in Boston harbor-indians welcome (Boston Tea Party)
  • 16/12/1864 - Battle of Nashville ends after 4400 casualities
  • 16/12/1944 - Battle of Bulge begins in Belgium
  • 16/12/1950 - Truman proclaims state of emergency against"Communist imperialism"
  • 16/12/1980 - Pres-elect Reagan announces Alexander Haig as secretary of state
IN THE NEWS:
REVIEWED AND FIRST CHAPTERS:
OP-ED/LETTER TO THE EDITOR:
PROFILED:
FEATURE:
INTERVIEWED:
QUOTED:

  • Michael Gannon: Pearl Harbor has lessons:"Pearl Harbor is a lesson in preparedness and it is a lesson, also, in . . . letting down its officers in the field," Gannon said."The tragedy . . . on 9/11 has been generally perceived by the American people as worse than what happened in Pearl Harbor. The destruction was greater than the military losses in Pearl Harbor. In terms of loss of life is concerned, they were pretty much the same." - http://www.gainesville.com, 12-7-07
HONORED, AWARDED, AND APPOINTMENTS:
EXHIBITIONS / NEW WEBSITES:
SPOTTED:
SPEAKING EVENTS CALENDAR:

  • Jan 10, 2008: National Archives Hosts Public Symposium on Slave Trade Act Thursday, January 10, 2008, 9 AM - 5:30 PM William G. McGowan Theater, National Archives Building Constitution Avenue between 7th and 9th Streets, NW, Washington, DC. - UrbanMecca.com, FL, 12-9-07
ON TV:History Listings This Week:

  • History Channel:"1968 with Tom Brokaw," Sunday, December 9, @ 2pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"Andrew Jackson," Monday, December 10, @ 2pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"The Revolution :11 - Becoming a Nation" Monday, December 10, @ 4pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"The Revolution :12 - Road to the Presidency" Monday, December 10, @ 5pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"The Revolution :13 - A President and His Revolution" Monday, December 10, @ 6pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"History Rocks :The '60s" Monday, December 10, @ 10pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"History Rocks :The '60s" Monday, December 10, @ 11pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"Modern Marvels : Engineering Disasters," Tuesday, December 11, @ 2pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"Aftershock: Beyond The Civil War," Wednesday, December 12, @ 2pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"Modern Marvels :Guns of the Civil War," Wednesday, December 12, @ 4pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"Conspiracy? :Lincoln Assassination," Wednesday, December 12, @ 5pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"Cities Of The Underworld :12 - Secret Pagan Underground," Wednesday, December 12, @ 6pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"1968 with Tom Brokaw," Wednesday, December 12, @ 8pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"Special : Beyond The Da Vinci Code," Thursday, December 13, @ 2pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"Engineering An Empire :Da Vinci's World," Thursday, December 13, @ 6pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"Modern Marvels :Da Vinci Tech," Thursday, December 13, @ 7pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"1968 with Tom Brokaw," Saturday, December 15, @ 5pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"Modern Marvels :60's Tech," Saturday, December 15, @ 7pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"The Plague," Saturday, December 15, @ 8pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"Vampires Secrets," Saturday, December 15, @ 10pm ET/PT
SELLING BIG (NYT):

  • Tom Brokaw: BOOM! #3 -- 3 weeks on list - 12-9-07
  • Joseph J. Ellis: AMERICAN CREATION #12 -- 4 weeks on list - 12-9-07
  • Geoffrey C. Ward: THE WAR #13 -- 8 weeks on list - 12-9-07
  • David Halberstam: THE COLDEST WINTER #27 - 12-9-07
  • Rick Atkinson: THE DAY OF BATTLE #30 - 12-9-07
FUTURE RELEASES:

  • Timothy Naftali: George H. W. Bush: The American Presidents Series: The 41st President, 1989-1993, December 10, 2007
  • Jessie Childs: Henry VIII's Last Victim: The Life and Times of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, December 10, 2007
  • Keith Boeckelman: Barack Obama, the New Face of American Politics, December 28, 2007
  • Judith Herrin: Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire, December 28, 2007.
  • Rudy Tomedi: General Matthew Ridgway, December 30, 2007
  • The Great Experiment, by Strobe Talbott (S&S, Jan.). How mere tribes became great nations.
  • James J. Sheehan: Where Have All the Soldiers Gone?, (Houghton, Jan.). The rejection of violence after World War II redefined a continent. Europe chose material well-being over war.
  • John Dickie: Delizia!: The Epic History of the Italians and Their Food, January 8, 2008.
  • Mark Puls: Henry Knox: Visionary General of the American Revolution, February 5, 2008.
  • Fidel Castro: Fidel Castro: My Life: A Spoken Autobiography, February 5, 2008.
  • Brian McGinty: Lincoln and the Court, February 15, 2008.
  • H. David Stone: Vital Rails, February 28, 2008.
  • James Donovan: A Terrible Glory: Custer and the Little Bighorn - the Last Great Battle of the American West (REV), March 24, 2008.
  • Scott McClellan: What Happened, April 28, 2008
DEPARTED:

Sunday, December 23, 2007 - 22:21

PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN 2008 WATCH:
BIGGEST STORIES:
HNN STATS THIS WEEK:
THIS WEEK IN HISTORY:This Week in History:

  • 03/12/1775 - 1st official US flag raising (aboard naval vessel Alfred)
  • 03/12/1828 - Andrew Jackson elected 7th president of US
  • 03/12/1847 - Frederick Douglass publishes 1st issue of his newspaper"North Star"
  • 03/12/1868 - Trial of Jefferson Davis starts; 1st blacks on US trial jury
  • 03/12/1878 - Settlers arrive at Petach Tikvah Israel
  • 03/12/1953 - Eisenhower criticizes McCarthy for saying communists are in Rep party
  • 03/12/1992 - UN Security Council votes unanimous for US led forces to enter Somalia
  • 04/12/1563 - Council of Trent holds last session, after 18 years
  • 04/12/1619 - America's 1st Thanksgiving Day (Va)
  • 04/12/1783 - Gen Washington bids officers farewell at Fraunce's Tavern, NYC
  • 04/12/1816 - James Monroe (VA), elected 5th pres, defeating Federalist Rufus King
  • 04/12/1833 - American Anti-Slavery Society formed by Arthur Tappan in Phila
  • 04/12/1836 - Whig party holds its 1st national convention, Harrisburg, Pa
  • 04/12/1844 - James K Polk elected 11th president of US
  • 04/12/1851 - Pres Louis Napolean Boaparte forces crush a coup d'etat in France
  • 04/12/1918 - Pres Wilson sails for Versailles Peace Conference in France, 1st chief executive to travel outside US while in office
  • 04/12/1943 - -Dec 6] 2nd conference of Cairo: FDR, Churchill and Turkish pres Inonu
  • 05/12/1349 - 500 Jews of Nuremberg massacre during Black Death riots
  • 05/12/1496 - Jews are expelled from Portugal by order of King Manuel I
  • 05/12/1792 - George Washington re-elected US pres
  • 05/12/1804 - Thomas Jefferson re-elected US pres/George Clinton vice-pres
  • 05/12/1831 - Former Pres John Q Adams takes his seat as member of House of Reps
  • 05/12/1832 - Andrew Jackson re-elected president of US
  • 05/12/1837 - Uprising under William Lyon Mackenzie in Canada
  • 05/12/1935 - National Council of Negro Women forms by Mary McLeod Bethune (NYC)
  • 05/12/1955 - Historic bus boycott begins in Montgomery Alabama by Rosa Parks
  • 06/12/1768 - 1st edition of"Encyclopedia Brittanica" published (Scotland)
  • 06/12/1820 - US president James Monroe re-elected
  • 06/12/1849 - Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery in Maryland
  • 06/12/1862 - Pres Lincoln orders hanging of 39 Santee Sioux indians
  • 06/12/1865 - 13th Amendment is ratified, abolishing slavery
  • 06/12/1876 - US Electorial College picks Rep Hayes as pres (although Tilden won)
  • 06/12/1877 - Washington Post publishes 1st edition
  • 06/12/1904 - Theodore Roosevelt confirms Monroe-doctrine (Roosevelt Corollary)
  • 06/12/1923 - 1st presidential address broadcast on radio (Pres Calvin Coolidge)
  • 06/12/1973 - Gerald Ford sworn-in as 1st unelected VP, succeeds Spiro T Agnew
  • 07/12/1787 - Delaware becomes 1st state to ratify constitution
  • 07/12/1808 - James Madison elected US pres/George Clinton vice-pres
  • 07/12/1836 - Martin Van Buren elected 8th president
  • 07/12/1877 - Thomas A Edison demonstrates the gramophone
  • 07/12/1917 - US becomes 13th country to declare war on Austria during World War I
  • 07/12/1941 - Japanese attack Pearl Harbor (a date that will live in infamy)
  • 07/12/1987 - Gorbachev arrives in US for a summit meeting
  • 08/12/1776 - George Washington's retreating army crosses Delaware River from NJ
  • 08/12/1863 - Abraham Lincoln announces plan for Reconstruction of South
  • 08/12/1863 - Pres Lincoln offers amnesty for confederate deserters
  • 08/12/1886 - American Federation of Labor (AFL) formed by 26 craft unions Samuel Gompers elected AFL president
  • 08/12/1987 - President Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Gorbachev sign a treaty eliminating medium range nuclear missiles
  • 09/12/1958 - Robert H W Welch Jr and 11 other men meet in Indianapolis to form anti-Communist John Birch Society
  • 09/12/1961 - SS Col Adolf Eichmann found guilty of war crimes in Israel
  • 10/12/1520 - Martin Luther publicly burned papal edict demands he recant
  • 10/12/1864 - General Sherman's armies reach Savannah and 12 day siege begins
  • 10/12/1869 - Women suffrage (right to vote) granted in Wyoming Territory (US 1st)
  • 10/12/1898 - Spanish-American War ends; US acquires Philippines, PR and Guam
  • 10/12/1906 - Pres Theodore Roosevelt (1st American) awarded Nobel Peace Prize
  • 10/12/1915 - Pres Woodrow Wilson marries Edith Galt
  • 10/12/1919 - Nobel peace prize awarded to US president Wilson
  • 10/12/1931 - Jane Addams (1st US woman) named co-recipient of Nobel Peace Prize
  • 10/12/1936 - King Edward VIII abdicates throne to marry Mrs Wallis Simpson
  • 10/12/1978 - In Oslo, Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat accept 1978 Nobel Peace Prize
IN THE NEWS:
REVIEWED AND FIRST CHAPTERS:
OP-ED:
BLOGOSPHERE:
PROFILED:

  • Simon Schama: My secret recipe to bring the past to life Simon Schama brought the history of Britain to TV. Now, he is turning his focus on the US – as the nation prepares to vote - Independent, UK
  • John Ernst: Writer, teacher makes history come alive - MSU The Trail Blazer Online, KY, 11-29-07
FEATURE:
INTERVIEWED:
QUOTED:

  • Yoshimi Yoshiaki: Japanese historian says most" comfort women" were Korean:"The fact that Korean and Chinese women showed high rates for diseases attests to the fact that the soldiers mainly took advantage of women from colonized regions. It also shows there was sharp discrimination toward foreign woman especially." http://www.kois.go.kr, 11-29-07
HONORED, AWARDED, AND APPOINTMENTS:
EXHIBITIONS / NEW WEBSITES:

  • 1887 Eldridge Street Synagogue: Return of a Long-Dormant Island of Grace - NYT, 12-1-07
SPOTTED:
SPEAKING EVENTS CALENDAR:

  • Dec 3, 2007: At 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 3, Dr. Peter Kraemer, of the Office of the Historian at the U.S. State Department, will give a lecture in Sweet Briar College's library Browsing Room. The lecture is titled,"The Foundations of Cold War Foreign Policy: How Philanthropy Fought (and Was Seen as) the Red Menace." - SBC News, VA, 11-29-07
  • Dec 5, 2007: Joseph J. Ellis, will be the featured speaker in the Vermont Humanities Council's next edition of its"First Wednesdays" program, which will take place Wednesday, Dec. 5 at the First Congregational Church in Manchester Village. - Manchester Journal, VT, 11-30-07
  • Dec 5, 2007: The fourth annual Joan Coffey Symposium will be held in the Olson Auditorium at Sam Houston State University at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The speaker, Dr. David Tal from Syracuse University, will discuss past, present and future issues in the Arab-Israeli conflict in an address titled"Israel in the Middle East — an Historian Point of View." - Huntsville Item, TX, 11-30-07
ON TV:History Listings This Week:

  • C-Span2, BookTV: After Words: Sir David Frost author of"Frost/Nixon: Behind the Scenes of the Nixon Interviews" interviewed by Timothy Naftali, Director of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library, Monday, December 3 at 3am - C-Span2, BookTV
  • C-Span2, BookTV: History Head and Heart: American Christianities Authors: Rev. Alan Jones; Garry Wills, Monday, December 3 at 5;45am - C-Span2, BookTV
  • History Channel:"Kennedys: The Curse of Power," Monday, December 3, @ 2pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"Lost Worlds :Building the Titanic" Monday, December 3, @ 5pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"Hillbilly The Real Story," Tuesday, December 3, @ 2pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"Lost Worlds :Secret U.S. Bunkers," Tuesday, December 4, @ 5pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"Hell: The Devil's Domain," Wednesday, December 5, @ 2pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"Lost Worlds :Lost City of Aphrodite," Wednesday, December 5, @ 9pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"Special : The Real Tomb Hunters: Snakes, Curses, and Booby Traps," Thursday, December 6, @ 2pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"Lost Worlds :Herod the Great," Thursday, December 6, @ 5pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"Cities Of The Underworld :07 - Catacombs of Death," Thursday, December 6, @ 6pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"Tora, Tora, Tora: The Real Story of Pearl Harbor," Friday, December 7, @ 2pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"The Other Tragedy at Pearl Harbor," Friday, December 7, @ 4pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"Conspiracy? :FDR and Pearl Harbor," Friday, December 7, @ 5pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"Our Generation :Woodstock," Friday, December 7, @ 6:30pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"Mega Disasters," Marathon Saturday, December 8, @ 2-5pm ET/PT
  • History Channel:"The History of Sex," Marathon Saturday, December 8, @ 8-11pm ET/PT
SELLING BIG (NYT):

  • Tom Brokaw: BOOM! #2 -- 3 weeks on list - 12-9-07
  • Joseph J. Ellis: AMERICAN CREATION #12 -- 4 weeks on list - 12-9-07
  • Geoffrey C. Ward: THE WAR #13 -- 8 weeks on list - 12-9-07
  • David Halberstam: THE COLDEST WINTER #27 - 12-9-07
  • Rick Atkinson: THE DAY OF BATTLE #30 - 12-9-07
FUTURE RELEASES:

  • Thomas Keneally: A Commonwealth of Thieves: The Improbable Birth of Australia, Paperback, December 4, 2007
  • Timothy Naftali: George H. W. Bush: The American Presidents Series: The 41st President, 1989-1993, December 10, 2007
  • Jessie Childs: Henry VIII's Last Victim: The Life and Times of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, December 10, 2007
  • Keith Boeckelman: Barack Obama, the New Face of American Politics, December 28, 2007
  • Judith Herrin: Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire, December 28, 2007.
  • Rudy Tomedi: General Matthew Ridgway, December 30, 2007
  • The Great Experiment, by Strobe Talbott (S&S, Jan.). How mere tribes became great nations.
  • James J. Sheehan: Where Have All the Soldiers Gone?, (Houghton, Jan.). The rejection of violence after World War II redefined a continent. Europe chose material well-being over war.
  • John Dickie: Delizia!: The Epic History of the Italians and Their Food, January 8, 2008.
  • Mark Puls: Henry Knox: Visionary General of the American Revolution, February 5, 2008.
  • Fidel Castro: Fidel Castro: My Life: A Spoken Autobiography, February 5, 2008.
  • Brian McGinty: Lincoln and the Court, February 15, 2008.
  • H. David Stone: Vital Rails, February 28, 2008.
  • James Donovan: A Terrible Glory: Custer and the Little Bighorn - the Last Great Battle of the American West (REV), March 24, 2008.
  • Scott McClellan: What Happened, April 28, 2008
DEPARTED:

Sunday, December 2, 2007 - 23:06