250 and Counting

Lyman Beecher–October 12, 1775 - 250 and Counting Although Lyman Beecher could be considered famous just for being the father of several prominent writers and ministers, he also had some achievements in his ...

On This Day in 1775, Lyman Beecher, father of Harriet Beecher Stowe and other authors & ministers, was born.
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October 6, 1775: A Strongly-Worded Letter - 250 and Counting We actually touched on this once before, but George Washington was known for being quite the gentleman, but he did have a temper, especially when things were...

On This Day in 1775: George Washington has a bone to pick with the Massachusetts General Court.
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October 4, 1775: A Spy In The Ointment - 250 and Counting It’s actually kind of curious that Benedict Arnold gets all the “traitor” press when there were other spies and turncoats doing their thing...

Benedict Arnold wasn't our only traitor. Meet Dr. Benjamin Church.
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October 2, 1775: Whoa…We’re Halfway There!? - 250 and Counting It was not so very long ago that some of us sought directions from Mapquest. Then we printed them out in order to make a trip of some kind. It was only a lit...

On This Day in 1775, Benedict Arnold's troops reach the halfway point of their journey to Quebec.
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September 29, 1775: David McConaughy - 250 and Counting During the episode we noted that not much is known about David McConaughy’s early life. Even his adult life isn’t especially well-documented. We ...

On This Day in 1775: an influential president of Washington College is born. Also, George Washington gets some bad news from home.
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September 21, 1775: RIP Abel Prescott - 250 and Counting In the episode itself I took the time to hammer home the point that many of our historical legends aren’t quite what they seem to be. But also importan...

On this day in 1775, one of the forgotten heroes of April's midnight ride, Abel Prescott, dies from a wound he received that night.
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September 20, 1775: War for Sale - 250 and Counting Calling Bernard Romans a “Renaissance Man” wouldn’t be far from the truth, given his various talents and the fact that folks from that era ...

On this day in 1775, artist Bernard Romans offers for sale a print depicting the battle in Charleston Harbor. Its popularity further inflames anti-British sentiment.
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September 16, 1775: New Delegates to Congress - 250 and Counting So obviously this Josiah Bartlett isn’t the guy on The West Wing, in part because President Bartlet is fictional. (Okay, maybe entirely because of that...

On this day in 1775, Josiah Bartlett and John Langdon arrive in Philadelphia to represent New Hampshire in the Continental Congress.
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September 14, 1775: John Henry Hobart - 250 and Counting John Henry Hobart was born on this day in 1775, and he came that close to dying on the same day in 1830, on September 12. We read once that, statistically, m...

Reverend John Henry Hobart was born on this day in 1775, in Philadelphia.
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September 13, 1775: A Flag Makes Its Debut - 250 and Counting Let’s talk state vexillology. Believe it or not, there are people who are very passionate about state flags. (Not me, he said, about to go into a mini-...

OTD in 1775: The first incarnation of South Carolina's flag makes its debut.
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September 12, 1775: Another Washington Enters the Fray - 250 and Counting We mentioned a while back that John Adams had siblings, as did George Washington. This wasn’t one of them, and as far as anyone can tell, it’s mo...

OTD in 1775: William Washington, cousin to George, joins the Virginia militia.
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September 11, 1775: One Siege Begins, Another Continues - 250 and Counting As the winter of 1775 approached, George Washington had to think about the state of the siege of Boston. In short, housing and clothing thousands of men in a...

OTD in 1775: Setting the stage for the siege at Fort St. John, and Washington ponders a water-based attack on Boston.
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September 10, 1775: A Mutiny in Cambridge - 250 and Counting The riflemen in the Continental Army were a special breed of soldier. They weren’t subject to all the drudge work that most of the other soldiers had t...

OTD in 1775: there's a mutiny going on in Cambridge.
Also, a brief tribute to Todd Cochrane at #blubrry , our hosting company.
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September 4, 1775: The Offensive in Canada Grows - 250 and Counting An invasion of Canada seems a little absurd on its face, but when you think about it in the context of the Revolution, it actually starts to make sense. Afte...

OTD in 1775: more forces arrive in preparation for the Canadian invasion.
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September 2, 1775: Independence Hurricane - 250 and Counting Sometimes when we research these shows we learn stuff that doesn’t have a lot to do with history—not directly—but is interesting nonetheless, and does ...

OTD in 1775: a huge hurricane makes its way up the east coast of North America, doing damage from North Carolina to Newfoundland.
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September 1, 1775: Virginia Gazette Headlines - 250 and Counting Nothing beats the speed of gossip, and apparently the Virginia Gazette on this day had plenty of it to share. A few of the stories were quite serious, relati...

OTD in 1775: the Virginia Gazette has a couple of serious things to report, and one that's not so much with the serious.
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August 31, 1775: The Liberty Tree Dies - 250 and Counting The cover art for today’s episode may be one of the most famous art pieces depicting an event of the American Revolution, and it happened under the Lib...

OTD in 1775: Loyalists in Boston, with the help of British soldiers, cut down and then burn the Liberty Tree.
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August 30, 1775: Your Cows or Your Life - 250 and Counting The HMS Rose was a 20-gun ship of the Royal Navy, built in 1757. When hostilities broke out between the Colonies and the Crown, the Rose was tasked with prev...

OTD in 1775: probably the first attack on American soil by the British Navy.
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August 24, 1775: No Liquor Was Lost—We Hope - 250 and Counting Fraunces Tavern is an historic landmark and the oldest and most historic bar in New York City. That’s what it says on their website, so. At various poi...

OTD in 1775, there was some action in lower Manhattan, and a beloved watering hole took a hit.
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August 22, 1775: HMS Scarborough Leaves Portsmouth - 250 and Counting Things were heating up all over, but it was still especially prevalent in the northeast. This time around, problems are cropping up in New Hampshire. The HMS...

OTD in 1775: The HMS Scarborough leaves Portsmouth after annoying the locals enough that they can't negotiate with each other.
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August 21, 1775: Rhode Island Cracks Down - 250 and Counting We have two events taking place on this day. First, Rhode Island allows the death penalty for certain activities at sea. Next, word goes out that the Contine...

OTD in 1775: Rhode Island gets tough, plus the Continental Army is looking for supplies. Clearly they expect the Siege of Boston to take a while.
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1. I'm not in radio but I'm still broadcasting through the magic of podcasting (and the show has three radio affiliates now, go figure!)
2. Where's that blonde girl I was dating so seriously?
3. Really? I'm so stupid.
4. I'm a grandfather? Really?
5. What do you mean I don't live in NY anymore?

August 15, 1775: Washington Makes Some Appointments - 250 and Counting We do seem to be spending a lot of time with George Washington this week. It stands to reason, though: Washington was a very busy guy at this time, what with...

OTD in 1775 George Washington makes some appointments to his organization. Clearly he's got a good eye for talent.
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August 11, 1775: Washington Gets Serious About POWs - 250 and Counting While today is perhaps the earliest documented instance of George Washington expressing concern for his captured troops, it certainly wouldn’t be the l...

OTD in 1775: General Washington sends a note to General Gage about the treatment of captured troops, which includes a thinly-veiled threat.
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August 10, 1775: John Adams Loses A Brother - 250 and Counting It’s peculiar, sometimes, how we know a lot of stuff about famous people, but we don’t often know much about their relatives. Sometimes we don&#8...

OTD in 1775, John Adams' youngest brother Elihu dies of dysentery while participating in the Siege of Boston.
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August 8, 1775: The Battle of Gloucester - 250 and Counting It was another net win for the Americans as the HMS Falcon, which had originally been assigned to the Colonies to enforce the Intolerable Acts, took a run at...

OTD in 1775, the Battle of Gloucester marks another small victory for the Colonists as a British attempt at stealing livestock fails.
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August 7, 1775: A Victory in Failure - 250 and Counting Once again, complacency wins the day. An American ship heads to Florida to raid the British ammunition stores there, and instead stumbles on a ship carrying ...

OTD in 1775, a ship in Florida plunders a huge amount of British munitions...but not from the place they expected to find them.
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August 6, 1775: A Long March in August - 250 and Counting I’m the first to admit that my math didn’t work out during yesterday’s episode. I have no excuse other than I’m on vacation this week...

OTD in 1775: Riflemen finish a 600-mile march to Boston in twenty-one days.
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August 5, 1775: Open Up That Golden Gate - 250 and Counting Meanwhile, three thousand miles away from the action… …the Spanish were exploring the West Coast and claiming a lot of territory in their name. I...

OTD in 1775: Spanish explorers enter the San Francisco Bay for the first time.
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Work in Progress: The Voting Rights Act Work in Progress is a recurring feature on CAMPAIGN TRAILS, in which I share some of the more interesting materials I’ve uncovered in my book-in-progress on the work of John Doar and the Civil Rights ...

Today marks the sixtieth anniversary of the Voting Rights Act's passage in Congress.

Here's what happened next: