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History Today: The Alamo
Texas was once a Mexican state, when a push for independence from within became strong; a desire to be free from the rule of the Mexican government. Colonel William Travis was seen as a vital leader of this uprising. The Texas revolution began in 1835 and in February of 1836 Travis was appointed as a lieutenant colonel of the San Antonio troops. It was on February 23, that a surprise arrival of the Mexican army under General Santa Ana sent the Texas troops retreating into the old Spanish mission, the Alamo. It was there that they sought refuge from the 5,000 soldiers of the Mexican army. The Alamo defenders were 186 small. Knowing they were seriously outnumbered, Travis…
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History of Smiley Face
The Smiley Face symbol’s origin was in 1963. It was created by graphic artist Harvey Ross Ball in Worcester, Massachusetts. Charles Ball Founder of Harvey Ball World Smile Foundation
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Christmas History
354 AD 25 December is made the official birthday of Jesus 11th Century The word Christmas is first used (previously it was called Yule). However Christmas is just one of many festivals and is not particularly important. 16th Century In Central Europe Christmas trees are decorated with candles, wax ornaments and gingerbread. In England people eat mince pies at Christmas. (Originally they actually were made with mince). 17th Century In Europe Christmas trees are decorated with tinsel 1752 New Years Day is moved from 25 March to 1 January 1800 Christmas trees are first recorded in England 1843 The first Christmas card is designed by John Horsley 1847 Christmas crackers…
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Date of Nixon Resignation
It was at 9: 01 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White House that President Nixon gave his resignation speech that was broadcast on radio and television. PRESIDENT NIXON’S RESIGNATION SPEECH PDF FILE PRESIDENT NIXON’S RESIGNATION SPEECH August 8, 1974 Good evening. This is the 37th time I have spoken to you from this office, where so many decisions have been made that shaped the history of this Nation. Each time I have done so to discuss with you some matter that I believe affected the national interest. In all the decisions I have made in my public life, I have always tried to do what was best…
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Habeas Corpus and the Magna Carta
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Fall of Aztec Empire
The omens were many: the devastating destruction of the temple of Huitzilopochtli by fire, Lake Mexico boiled over and flooded homes, a comet soared across the sky, some fishermen discovered a bird with an oddly strange mirror on its head and when the Emperor looked at its reflection, he saw a vision of future destruction and war. The Aztec Emperor Montezuma II , born (circa 1466), demanded meaning from the soothsayers, who said that the events prophesied the end of his kingdom. And, in fact, this would come true, starting with the appointment of Hernán Cortés, Chief Magistrate of Santiago, on October 23, 1518 , as “captain-general” to command an…
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Kodak Founder George Eastman
George Eastman was not the inventor of the camera. His genius was in making the less than ideal camera that he first worked with as a bank employee at the age of 24 in 1878 better. Its awkward size was like a “soap box“. He made it smaller and introduced a compact rolled film with gelatin on a strip of paper. He innovated a new camera named the Kodak (1888). Source
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History of Skid Row
The term “Skid Row” derives from Seattle. Washington, where “skid roads” were the places that loggers slid their cut timber to the ports for shipment. By the 1930’s the term referred to the rundown areas of cities, characterized by bars, brothels and the like originally attracted by loggers, and began to include the presence of homeless and other extremely low income populations.
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IBM’s Launch of Personal Computer Model 5150
Researching the history of the personal computer reveals how far along we have come, since IBM launched its first personal computer, model 5150, on August 12, 1981. It was an extravagant affair held at the New York Waldorf Astoria Hotel. The New York Times’ article in August of 1981, NEXT, A COMPUTER ON EVERY DESK, boasted of a “second generation of machines” with the ability to, “…use microprocessors capable of handling 16 ”bits,” or units of information, at the same time, twice the processing power of existing 8-bit machines. ” At 21 pounds and costing $1,565 the 5150 was a great success having much to do with a big advertising push that moved the…
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King Tut
History of the Egyptian King started when Tut, full name being Tutankhaten, meaning “the living image of Aten“, was born approximately 1343 B.C. , or cited elsewhere as circa 1341 B.C.E, though no one knows for certain his exact date of birth. His coming of age was during the reign of Akhenaten. He lived in what was then the almost 2000 year old country of Egypt; a barren dessert land on the North coast of Africa facing toward the Mediterranean Sea and split in half by the Nile. It is thought, though as with his birth the timeline is uncertain, to have become king at age 9, and ruled until he died at the age of 19…
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Historic 1951 Kansas Flood
History making flood devastates Kansas on July 13, 1951. It was on the unluckiest of days, Friday the 13th, that some call Black Friday, when the flood swept down the Kansas River valley and into the Missouri River basin. 500,000 people were left homeless and 24 people died. The Midwestern United States had not seen such destruction from flooding as great as this, since record taking had begun. Above-average rainfall beginning in June and lasting through July 13th brought well over 25 inches to towns in eastern Kansas. Most affected major towns were Manhattan, Topeka and Lawrence. Also, 10,000 farms were destroyed as well. The crest of the flood exceeded…
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Pacific Ring of Fire a Volatile Place
