Miscellaneous
Fulton’s Folly Changed Transportation and Interstate Commerce Forever
Clarmont, dubbed by some as Fulton’s Folly, was a small ship, even by the standards of the early 19th Century. It was only 142 feet long, with a beam of 18 feet, and displaced 121 tons. Clarmont was about the size of a small sailing frigate. The big difference was that it only had two small masts for sails since its four-foot wide and 15-foot diameter paddle wheels powered by a 19-horsepower steam engine built by the English firm of Boulton & Watt pushed the boat through the water.
Read MoreThe Massacre That Wasn’t
While his men loaded their muskets and fixed their bayonets, Preston yelled at the crowd to disperse. His shouts were met with more insults, stones, and snowballs.
Read MoreWhat Were the Hessians Paid?
The troops from Hesse-Kassel and the others were known for their discipline and fighting ability. During the 17th and 18th Century, German soldiers from one principality often fought those from another.
Read MoreOur First Flag
After Lexington and Concord, and after he was made commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, Washington wanted a distinctive flag that would be easily recognized and used by every unit in the Continental Army and Navy. Up until this time, the units in the Continental Army and the local militias flew the flags of their respective colony.
Read MoreThe First Purple Heart
As military services go, the U.S. Armed Forces lagged behind our friends in Europe. This was partly because the kings and dukes who ruled their countries and dukedoms could give land and titles to deserving citizens. During the American Revolution, the Continental Congress could not give away land since it didn’t own any.
Read MoreLewis & Clark’s Planning Challenges
On most days, the expedition covered less than 30 miles. Even with their sextant, an octant, a surveying compass, and an accurate chronograph which they had, their daily track could be within the margin of error even if, on each night, they took three sightings. Their surveying compass enabled them to differentiate between true and magnetic north. In the latitudes where they were traveling, the difference between true and magnetic north could range from five degrees near St. Louis to 200 at the mouth of the Columbia River.
Read MoreCaptain 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.
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