Alexander Hamilton and the Hurricane
Alexander Hamilton was born a bastard and grew up an orphan. Some might say he didn’t get a fair shake at the start. He was born in Nevis, a very ...
06-26-2023
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The Founding Father’s Guide to Self-Improvement: Ben Franklin’s Daily Planner
Benjamin Franklin’s many achievements as a statesman and scientist grew from his belief in the power of self-improvement. At the age of 20, he began an arduous project ...
07-6-2023
Reaching for the Sky: A Bold New Vision for Christian Schools
“We promote student-centric, self-directed learning environments,” says Jack Preus, “moving away from the one-size-fits-all approach in many of our traditional schools.” Below, Jack Preus and Andrew Neumann of ...
07-5-2023
John Hurt: America’s First Chaplain
John Hurt (1752–1824) was born in Virginia shortly before the start of the French and Indian War (1754–1763). While the colonies were at war with the French and ...
07-5-2023
‘A World War Two Secret: Glenn P. Larson and the U-505’
Glenn Larson was a 19-year-old North Dakota farm boy when the United States entered World War II. He volunteered for the U.S. Navy in December 1942. He could ...
07-5-2023
Architecture: Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage
“You enter a large and spacious hall or vestibule, the walls covered with a very splendid French paper—beautiful scenery, figures, etc.—the floor an oil cloth. … To the ...
07-4-2023
The Partnership of Courage, Innovation, and Flair on the USS Barb
During World War II, the commander and crew of the submarine USS Barb sank more sheer tonnage of Japanese vessels than any other American submarine. They also pioneered ...
07-4-2023
How to Be a Better Conversationalist, According to 5 American Presidents
When an American president speaks, it is heard around the world. Their words of wisdom are just as applicable to our everyday conversations. Be Open-Minded When he said, ...
07-4-2023
Samuel Ringgold Ward: The Nation’s Forgotten Abolitionist
Samuel Ringgold Ward's great oratory skills were key to the movement to end slavery in the 1800s. The famous abolitionist Frederick Douglass gave Ward credit for being able ...
07-3-2023
James Montgomery Flagg: A Face You Likely Know
James Montgomery Flagg (1877–1960) was one of those rare naturally gifted artists who seemed to be practically born with a pencil or paintbrush as an appendage. By the ...
07-3-2023
The Outer Banks: Beyond the Beach
A survey conducted by online travel deals site TravelZoo of its 15 million members found that 57 percent of respondents were looking into a beach vacation this year ...
07-3-2023
Harley-Davidson Museum: Celebration of an American Icon
It’s been described as Barry White saying “Potato, potato, potato ...” The idling rumble of the Harley-Davidson motorcycle. One can find Harley fans around the world, from Harley ...
07-2-2023
Book Review: James Fenelon’s ‘Angels Against the Sun’
In “The Bridges at Toko-Ri,” the movie about the Korean War based on James Michener’s novel, Rear Adm. George Tarrant watches as his pilots take off from the pitching ...
07-1-2023
Snapshots of Gettysburg, on the Anniversary of the Civil War Battle
At the site of the Civil War’s bloodiest battle, history enthusiasts, descendants of Civil War soldiers, and curious visitors alike descend upon Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, every year. Volunteers don ...
07-1-2023
Celebrating Those Who Worked and Fought for U.S. Independence
John Singleton Copley (1738–1815), John Trumbull (1756–1843), and Gilbert Stuart (1755–1828) are three of the most important early American artists. Their work captured scenes of colonial, revolutionary, and ...
07-1-2023
Samuel Morse’s Device Connects the World
He made his living as an artist, but love for family led Samuel Morse (1791–1872) to invent a communication system that laid the groundwork for our lightning-speed technology ...
06-28-2023
Thomas Cole Unbound: Biography of America’s Revered Landscape Painter
Born in England’s industrial northeast in 1801, artist Thomas Cole emigrated to America as a young man. Here, he found a country brimming with unchartered and untamed wilderness. ...
06-25-2023
Roger Sherman: Compromiser of the Constitutional Convention
This early American patriot was not known as an eloquent speaker, but Thomas Jefferson once said that he was “a man who never said a foolish thing in ...
06-25-2023
Life at Roosevelt’s Elkhorn Ranch in North Dakota
The dry, sand-hued buttes rise from grassy canyons, and sagebrush dots the rugged North Dakota landscape. I am visiting the territory where “the romance” of Theodore Roosevelt’s life ...
06-24-2023
Nellie Bly Pioneers Investigative Journalism
During her professional career, Elizabeth Cochrane made a name for herself as a reporter writing under the pen name Nellie Bly. Her work would open up the whole ...
06-21-2023
Edwin Land, Inventor of Instant Photography
Back in the early days of consumer photography, cameras came from the factory with a roll of film sealed inside of them. When someone finished shooting the roll, ...
06-16-2023
How Father’s Day Was Created
Father’s Day is a quintessential American holiday: the day we honor dads, stepdads, granddads, and father figures who mean so much—in so many ways—to our families. On the ...
06-16-2023
Ernie Pyle: The WWII Journalist in the Trenches
While most World War II correspondents focused on casualty rates, war strategies, and equipment losses, Ernie Pyle wrote in a sense-of-place style that endeared him not only to ...
06-16-2023
Fathers and Sons Connect in Farm Homesteading Program
When Jason Craig was a young boy, he spent as much time as he could in the woods across the street from his house. Describing himself then as ...
06-16-2023
Snuffed Out but Not Forgotten: Old Baldy Lighthouse
A few years ago, while climbing Oak Island Lighthouse, which is the newest lighthouse in North Carolina built in 1958, I could see a small island situated just ...
06-15-2023
How an Award-Winning Chef and Cyclist Keeps His Mind and Body in Top Condition
Changing your diet can change your life; Seamus Mullen knows that intimately. In 2012, a near-death experience forced him to rethink how he lived. The award-winning chef, restaurateur, ...
06-15-2023