Along the U.S.-Canadian Border, Skirmishes Persist Over War of 1812 200 Years Later, Both Sides Feel Like Winners; Dueling Celebrations at Forts By ALISTAIR MACDONALD Read Story Online at the WSJ FORT GEORGE, Ontario—As Canadian Dan Laroche, dressed as a British redcoat, fired a musket and regaled his audience here with tales of panicked American surrender, Marie DeVita, from Brooklyn, N.Y., turned to friends with a question: “Wait a minute, didn’t we win the War of 1812?” Two hundred years ago Monday, the U.S. officially declared war on Britain, starting a two-year conflict that became known as the War of 1812. Two centuries on, skirmishes continue across the Niagara River…

Facts: It gave America ‘The Star Spangled Banner The day after the Senate followed the House of Representatives in voting to declare war against Great Britain, President James Madison signs the declaration into law–and the War of 1812 begins, Jun 18, 1812 . The American war declaration, opposed by a sizable minority in Congress, had been called in response to the British economic blockade of France, the induction of American seaman into the British Royal Navy against their will, and the British support of hostile Indian tribes along the Great Lakes frontier. A faction of Congress known as the “War Hawks” had been advocating war with Britain for several years…

(CNN) — 40 years later, remembering Watergate scandal’s ‘Deep Throat’ By the CNN Wire Staff updated 8:13 PM EDT, Fri June 15, 2012Forty years ago this Sunday, the Watergate break-in began the downward spiral of the Richard M. Nixon administration, ending with the disgraced president’s resignation a little more than two years later. On the night of June 17, 1972, the Washington hotel served as a base for an illegal break-in by operatives of the Nixon re-election campaign at the offices of the Democratic National Committee, located in the Watergate office building next door. Five burglars were arrested. Rookie Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein used leaked information…

The Magna Carta display in the Crypt of the United States Capitol features a replica of the English document whose principles underlie much of the Constitution of the United States. Magna Carta (Latin for “Great Charter”) was sealed by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor Castle, on June 15, 1215, after the king was forced by his barons to agree to the charter’s contents. Dissatisfied with the king’s capricious rule, the noblemen had united to limit his powers. Magna Carta forbade arbitrary arrest and imprisonment, established the rights to a fair trial and to security of property, and guaranteed that the nation’s government was itself subject to the…

Chief Justice Earl Warren (1891–1974) wrote the majority opinion in the case of Ernesto Arturo Miranda against the state of Arizona, decided on June 13, 1966, and which was one of a group of four similar cases. The majority decision established that before a defendant’s statement to police could be admitted as evidence, the prosecution had to prove that the defendant was informed of his right to counsel and against self-incrimination, now referred to as “Miranda Rights.” Earl Warren. Notes concerning the Miranda Decision. Miranda v. Arizona. 1966. Manuscript. Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (124.01.02) [Digital ID # us0124_01p2] The exact wording of the “Miranda Rights” statement is not specified…

On this day in 1752, Benjamin Franklin flies a kite during a thunderstorm and collects a charge in a Leyden jar when the kite is struck by lightning, enabling him to demonstrate the electrical nature of lightning. Franklin became interested in electricity in the mid-1740s, a time when much was still unknown on the topic, and spent almost a decade conducting electrical experiments. He coined a number of terms used today, including battery, conductor and electrician. He also invented the lightning rod, used to protect buildings and ships. Franklin was born on January 17, 1706, in Boston, to a candle and soap maker named Josiah Franklin, who fathered 17 children,…

(CNN) — A newly discovered account of the shooting of Abraham Lincoln, and his death the next morning, gives a vivid and moving picture of the calamity. http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/07/us/lincoln-document-assasination/index.html?hpt=hp_t3 Dr. Charles Leale was in the audience at Ford’s Theater when Lincoln was shot, and was the first to attempt to treat the stricken president. In a report believed written the next day, April 15, 1865, Leale writes, “the report of a pistol was distinctly heard and about a minute after a man of low stature with black hair and eyes was seen leaping to the stage beneath, holding in his hand a drawn dagger.” Stumbling as he leaped from the president’s…

(Cupolas defined as: A small dome, esp. a small dome on a drum on top of a larger dome, adorning a roof or ceiling.) Alaska    Arizona    Hawaii    New Mexico     New York     North Carolina      North Dakota    Ohio    Oregon   Virginia   http://www.cupola.com/html/bldgstru/statecap/cap01.htm