Miscellaneous
Captain Meriwether Lewis’ Best Friend
Lewis did, however, bring what every man would insist on having and that is a dog. He paid $20 for a Newfoundland he named Seaman. He was a little over a year old when acquired and when fully grown weighed about 160 lbs.
Read MoreAn 1800 Act of Union
Fast forward 171 years to 1707, to when Queen Anne added Scotland so the Kingdom of Great Britain now included, England, Scotland, and Wales. The English and Scottish parliaments, legal systems and economies were merged.
Read MoreAmerica’s Birth Certificate
The Ringmann/Waldseemüller chart was made from 12 sections using wood cut blocks that have amazing detail. Only 1,000 charts were printed today, only one original copy survives housed in the U.S. Library of Congress.
Read MoreCalculus and Slide Rules in the 18th Century
Back in the old days, before computers and calculators, math was done by hand. One of the tools for engineers, as far back as the 1600s was the slide rule.
Read MoreA Revolution Partly Fueled By Madeira Wine
The quote “in wine there is romance, in beer there is freedom and in water, there is only bacteria” is reputed to come from Benjamin Franklin. While one can smile…
Read MoreValue of Rum in London in 1781
The high profit margins meant there were fortunes to be made by selling rum, sugar and molasses in London in the late 18th Century
Read MoreGeorge Washington’s Spymaster
Most Americans know about the traitor Benedict Arnold and even his contact Major John Andre, the head of the British Army’s intelligence service in North America. Few of those reading…
Read MoreThank Our Founding Fathers for a Decimal System of Currency
When the war broke out in 1775, the – the future United States of America – were still using the English system of currency based on pound, shillings and pence.…
Read MoreThe Pandemic of 1793
By 1793, the United States had been an independent nation for 10 years. The Treaty of Paris gave the country peace with England. Our new Constitution was ratified in 1787…
Read MoreA Shell Company Provides Arms to the American Revolution
They say timing is everything. Many words could be used to describe Pierre Beaumarchais. Playwright and arms merchant are just a few. Scoundrel, watchmaker, revolutionary, entrepreneur and murderer could also…
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