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...
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...
Removal of the Reconciliation Monument at Arlington, 2023
Week of December 17
The year was 1898; war with Spain loomed on the horizon. William McKinley, the last Union Civil War veteran elected to the presidency,...
Attack on Pearl Harbor, 1941
Week of December 3
It was a quiet Sunday morning at Hawaii’s Pearl Harbor, home of America’s U.S. Pacific Fleet. At five minutes before 8:00, many of the 60,000 sailors and other military personnel stationed there were still...
The Battle of Franklin, Tennessee, 1864
Week of November 26
On a late Indian Summer’s day, the crippled Confederacy gave its last valiant gasp when 33,000 brave southern men and boys charged the Union...
The Knights Templar Destroyed, 1307
Week of November 19
Mohammed, the founder and prophet of Islam, and his successors, spread their new religion across the Middle East, North Africa, and parts of...
Nast Cartoon Debuts the Republican Elephant, 1874
Week of November 5
Particular national images resonate through the years, becoming iconic symbols with great meaning in popular culture...