How the District of Columbia Got Its Name

Photo of vintage map of Washington D.C. courtesy 123rf.com

On this day in 1790 the city of Washington in the District of Columbia, was established as the seat of American government with the signing of the Residence Bill.  The city, Washington, was named in honor of President George Washington during his presidency.  The district, District of Columbia, was a feminine form of Columbus, which was used after the Revolutionary War in patriotic poetry and songs describing America and her being a land of freedom.


For more information click here and click here.  What did you learn today?

Magna Carta Anniversary & Impact

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On this day in 1215, King John of England sealed the Magna Carta that he was forced to sign on June 10.  The Magna Carta limited the king's powers, freed the church from royal influence, enumerated citizens' liberties, limited taxation, allowed for the formation of a powerful parliament, and is considered to be the beginning of constitutional government in England.  It is considered an influence on, if not a precursor to, the American constitution.  What I didn't know is King John had no intention to honor the document, which caused the conflict that had precipitated the writing of the document to resume.  For more information click here and click here.  What did you learn today?

U.S. Army Birthday

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On this day in 1775 the oldest branch of the United States military was formed:  the U.S. Army.  For more information click here.  What did you learn today?

aka Decoration Day

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Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day, and there was a hymn dedicated to Southern women who decorated the graves of the Confederate dead.  For more information click here and click here.  What did you learn today?

Mothering Day and Mother's Day

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Mothering Day has been celebrated in England since the early 18th century.  Mother's Day has been celebrated in the United States since the early 20th century.  In England and Scotland special cakes called furmety, carlings, and simnel cake have been made on Mothering Day.  Carnation is the flower most commonly associated with Mother's Day in the U.S.  For more information click here.  What did you learn today?

Coin-Edge Ridges

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There are 118 ridges on the edge of a dime, and 119 ridges on the edge of a quarter.  There are no ridges on the edges of pennies and nickels.  For more information about the history of U.S. coins, click here and click here.

What did you learn today?

T.V. Anniversary

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Seventy-three years ago, on this day in 1939 the first American television show was broadcast from the Empire State Building in New York City.  For more information click here.

Welcome Maryland!

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On this day in 1788 Maryland entered the U.S.A. as the seventh state.  For more information click here.  What did you learn today?

Odd Fellows History

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On this day in 1819 the Independent Order of Odd Fellows established their first U.S. lodge in Baltimore, Maryland.  For more information click here.  What did you learn today?

The First U.S. Car Tag

Photo of 1900 New York map courtesy 123rf.com

On this day in 1901, New York became the first U.S. state to require car license plates.  For more information click here.  What did you learn today?

Dead...Or Alive?

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In the 18th and 19th centuries, the possibility of being thought dead and then buried when not actually dead was widely feared, so much so that special coffins were built by many people.  These "safety-coffins" were equipped with breathing devices, keys that could unlock the casket from the inside, and devices that could inform observers that the buried coffin contained a living person.  For more information click here and click here.

What did you learn today?

Pony Express Anniversary

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The first pony express in the U.S. began on this day in 1860.  It ran between Missouri and California.  For more information click here.

Constitution Day & 225th Anniversary

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2012 is the 225th anniversary of the U.S. Constitution.  Constitution Day is celebrated every year on September 17.  For more information click here.  What did you learn today?

Gardenias and Secret Love

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My favorite flower and bush is gardenia.  Billie Holiday often wore a gardenia in her hair, and she's also one of my favorite jazz singers.  I'm considering planting a new gardenia this year, and I discovered that I didn't know the following.  This plant was named after the very interesting character Alexander Garden; and the flower is the symbol for purity, sweetness, joy, and secret love.  For more information click here and click here.

Beginnings: U.S.A. and C.S.A.

Map of Southern United States courtesy Gutenburg.org

On this day in 1789, George Washington and John Adams were elected first president and vice-president of the United States of America. 

Sixty-two years later, on this day in 1861 delegates from six Southern states met in Montgomery, Alabama to form the Confederate States of America.  Two weeks later, on February 18 the provisional Congress of the C.S.A. made Jefferson Davis provisional president.

For more information click here and click here.

Comparing the U.S. Constitution

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The U.S. Constitution has 4,400 words.  It is the oldest and the shortest written constitution of any government in the world.  For more information click here.

Pages one and four of the constitution is displayed in a bullet-proof case in the National Archives Building in Washington, D.C.  I saw it once, and it was awe inspiring to see something so profound that was written so long ago.  If you have been there to see it, what did you think about it?  If you haven't seen it, do you plan to go?  (You may leave comments below.)

Lewis and Clark, and the Whale Skeleton

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On this day in 1806, Lewis and Clark discovered a skeleton of a 105 feet long blue whale that had washed up from the Pacific Ocean onto the banks of Ecola Creek in what is modern-day Cannon Beach, Oregon.  They discovered the Tillamook Indians nearby boiling the blubber, and purchased some blubber from them.  Clark named this creek Ecola Creek or E co-la, which means Whale Creek.  (All the links in this paragraph are relevant to the expedition.)  For more information, click here, and click here, and click here.

Meriwether Lewis is a very, very distant relative of mine, so I probably have a little greater than average interest in the expedition.  What events in history most interest you and why?

Boston Tea Party Fascinating Facts

Photo of painting courtesy AOC.gov

December 16 is the anniversary of the 1773 Boston Tea Party, so I've been following the blog, Boston 1775, more closely than usual for the past week.  Today's entry is a poem about the Boston Tea Party published in 1916, and written that year by a man who was in his 40th year of serving a sentence for a murder he had committed when he was 14. 

There is also a fascinating document posted in the blog that lists the types of tea that were on the ship, how many cases of tea there were, and how much the tea was worth. 

Boston, Massachusetts is filled with preserved sites important to American history.  If you've been there, what was your experience in visiting any of these sites?