Check the funnies from TownHall.com
Posted 8:35 a.m., Thursday, March 24
On this date in 1765 Britain enacted the Quartering Act, which required American colonists to provide housing for British troops. Eleven years later the following was listed as a grievance against King George III in the Declaration of Independence: "For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us." In 1789 the Third Amendment to the Constitution read: "No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law."
Posted 11:40 a.m., Wednesday, March 23
Our autistic son Tommy cuts the grass for the first time. View photo gallery.
Posted 8:25 a.m., Wednesday, March 23
On this date in 1775 Patrick Henry said: "Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me: Give me liberty or give me death!" See link for full text of speech.
On this date in 1743 at the London premiere of Handel's Messiah, the entire audience at Covent Garden rose to their feet with King George II at the beginning of the Hallelujah Chorus, a tradition that continues today.
Posted 5:50 p.m., Saturday, March 19
Piedmont Women's Center banquet March 15. View photo gallery.
See more about Set Free the movie by clicking here.
Order Jeannie Smith's book Shattered Into Beautiful.
Posted 8:15 a.m., Wednesday, March 16
From the American Minute with Bill Federer
March 16
James Madison, born born March 16, 1751, was called the "Chief Architect of the Constitution." He wrote many of the Federalist Papers, which helped convince States to ratify the Constitution.
He introduced the First Amendment in the first session of Congress.
During the War of 1812, Madison proclaimed two National Days of Prayer, 1812 and 1813.
When the British marched on Washington, D.C., citizens evacuated, along with President and Dolly Madison. On Aug. 25, 1814, as the British burned the White House, Capitol and public buildings, dark clouds began to roll in. A tornado sent debris flying, blew off roofs and knocked chimneys over on top of British troops. Two cannons were lifted off the ground and dropped yards away.
A British historian wrote: "More British soldiers were killed by this stroke of nature than from all the firearms the American troops had mustered."
British forces fled in confusion, and rains extinguished the fires.
Madison then proclaimed a National Day of Public Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer to Almighty God on Nov. 16, 1814.
Two weeks after the War ended, Madison proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving and Devout Acknowledgment to Almighty God, March 4, 1815.
Posted 8 a.m., Monday, March 14
On this date in 1794 Eli Whitney received a patent on his cotton gin.
On this date in 1939 the republic of Czechoslovakia was dissolved, paving the way for Nazi occupation.
On this date in 1964 a jury in Dallas convicted Jack Ruby of murdering Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin of President John Kennedy, the previous November.
March 13
American Minute with Bill Federer
Susan B. Anthony died March 13, 1906.
Raised a Quaker, her father owned a cotton mill and refused to buy cotton from farmers who owned slaves. Susan B. Anthony's religious upbringing instilled in her the concept that every one is equal before God and motivated her to crusade for freedom for slaves and a woman's right to vote.
Opposing liquor, drunkenness and abortion, Susan encountered mobs, armed threats, objects thrown at her and was hung in effigy.
Quoted in The Revolution, July 1869, Susan B. Anthony stated: "I deplore the horrible crime of child-murder.... No matter what the motive, love of ease, or a desire to save from suffering the unborn innocent, the woman is awfully guilty who commits the deed. It will burden her conscience in life, it will burden her soul in death; but oh! Thrice guilty is he who ... drove her to the desperation which impels her to the crime."
Posted 7:10 a.m., Friday, March 11
On this date in 1958 the U.S. Air Force accidentally dropped an atomic bomb on South Carolina. Read more.
Posted 7:45 a.m., Tuesday, March 8
On this date in 1851 tribal decrees banned abortion, abandonment and infanticide in Old Calabar in West Africa (Nigeria) largely through the influence of missionary Hugh Goldie. Goldie originally met stiff resistance from tribal chiefs and even fellow missionaries who felt his pro-life convictions would compromise their evangelistic efforts.
Posted 9:30 p.m., Monday, March 7
Jim Lee announces his candidacy for South Carolina Senate District 8. View photo gallery.
On this date in 1945 U.S troops crossed the Rhine River at Remagen to enter Germany.
On this date in 1936 Adolf Hitler ordered his troops to march into the Rhineland in violation of the Treaty of Versailles.
On this date in 1876 Alexander Graham Bell received his patent for the telephone.
Posted 1:10 p.m., Sunday, March 6
On this date in 1857 the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 against against Dred Scott, finding that neither he, nor any person of African ancestry, could claim U.S. citizenship, and therefore Scott could not bring suit in federal court. Scott's temporary residence outside Missouri did not bring about his emancipation under the Missouri Compromise, which the court ruled unconstitutional.
On this date in 1836 the Alamo, a former mission in San Antonio, Texas, fell to Mexican Gen. Santa Anna, and the whole garrison was slaughtered, including former Tennessee Congressman Davy Crockett, Col. James Bowie and their Texan comrades.
On this date in 1713 Clement XI issued a papal bull, Unigenitus, condemning Jansenist teachings. Among propositions condemned were claims that the Scriptures may be read by all men, and that the Lord's Day should be sanctified by reading the Bible.
On this date in 1950 Silly Putty was invented.
From the American Minute with Bill Federer www.AmericanMinute.com
Col. Henry Knox, 25, unbelievably moved 59 cannons 300 miles from Fort Ticonderoga to Boston.
On the night of March 4, 1776, with wagon wheels wrapped in straw to muffle the noise, the cannons were strategically put on Dorchester Heights overlooking Boston Harbor.
The next morning, vulnerable British sailors were shocked.
On March 6, 1776, Gen. George Washington ordered: "Thursday...being set apart by . . . this Province as a day of fasting, prayer and humiliation, 'to implore the Lord and Giver of all victory to pardon our manifold sins and wickedness, and that it would please Him to bless the Continental army with His divine favor and protection,' all officers and soldiers are strictly enjoined to pay all due reverence on that day to the sacred duties of the Lord of hosts."
Finally, on March 17, amidst a violent storm, British Gen. William Howe evacuated his ships and 3,000 men from Boston.
Gen. Washington described the British evacuation of Boston to his brother, John Augustine Washington, March 31, 1776: "Upon their discovery of the works next morning, great preparations were made for attacking them; but not being ready before the afternoon, and the weather getting very tempestuous, much blood was saved and a very important blow . . . prevented. That this most remarkable Interposition of Providence is for some wise purpose, I have not a doubt."
Posted 9:35 a.m., Saturday, March 5
On this date in 1946 former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill made his Iron Curtain speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri: "From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an Iron Curtain has descended across the Continent . . . allowing police governments to rule Eastern Europe."
From the American Minute with Bill Federer
Colonists were forced to house British soldiers.
On March 5, 1770, a crowd protested and in the confusion British soldiers fired, killing five, one of whom was Crispus Attucks, the most famous African American who participated in the Revolution.
Paul Revere's popular engraving of the Boston Massacre fanned flames of anti-British sentiment.
Joseph Warren, the president of the Massachusetts Congress who sent Paul Revere on his midnight ride, said on the second anniversary of the Massacre, 1772: "If you perform your part, you must have the strongest confidence that the same Almighty Being who protected your pious and venerable forefathers . . . will still be mindful of you. . . . May our land be a land of liberty . . . until the last shock of time shall bury the empires of the world in one common undistinguishable ruin!"
John Hancock, first to sign the Declaration of Independence, said on the fourth anniversary of the Boston Massacre, 1774: "Let us play the man for our GOD, and for the cities of our GOD. . . . By a faithful discharge of our duty to our country, let us joyfully leave her important concerns in the hands of HIM who raiseth up and putteth down empires and kingdoms of the world as HE pleases."
Posted 10:45 a.m., Friday, March 4
From American Minute with Bill Federer
Until 1937, March 4 was Inauguration Day. Presidents acknowledged their faith upon assuming office.
For example, President John Adams in March 4, 1797 gave "veneration for the religion of a people who profess and call themselves Christians . . . to consider a decent respect for Christianity among the best recommendations for the public service."
In March 4, 1809, President James Madison referred to the "guidance of that Almighty Being."
President John Quincy Adams said in March 4, 1825: "'Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh in vain.'"
On March 4, 1841, President William Harrison said: "I deem the present occasion sufficiently important . . . in expressing to my fellow citizens a profound reverence for the Christian religion."
President Franklin Pierce, on March 4, 1853, said: "There is no national security but in the nation's humble, acknowledged dependence upon God."
President James Buchanan, March 4, 1857, said: "Cultivate peace . . . with all nations . . . in a spirit of Christian benevolence."
In March 4, 1861, Abraham Lincoln wrote: "Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance on Him who has never yet forsaken this favored land, are still competent to adjust in the best way all our present difficulty."
President Calvin Coolidge said on March 4, 1925: "America . . . cherishes no purpose save to merit the favor of Almighty God."
Posted 10:30 a.m., Friday, March 4
150 years ago today Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as the 16th president. Read his inaugural address here.
On this date in 1789 the first U.S. Congress under the Constitution met for the first time at 26 Wall Street in New York City. The lawmakers were forced to immediately adjourn for lack of a quorum.
On this date in 1791, the Republic of Vermont joined the Union as the 14th state. Read more about the Vermont Republic.
On this date in 1925 President Calvin Coolidge's inauguration was broadcast live on 21 radio stations coast to coast. Video and audio.
Posted 1:05 p.m., Wednesday, March 2
On this date in 1836 the Texas Declaration of Independence was signed by 58 delegates at an assembly at Washington-on-the-Brazos and the Republic of Texas was declared. David G. Burnet is elected interim president by the delegates.
On this date in 1876, Republican Rutherford B. Hayes was declared the winner of the 1876 presidential election over Democrat Samuel Tilden. Tilden of New York outpolled Hayes of Ohio in the popular vote, and had 184 electoral votes to Hayes's 165, with 20 votes uncounted. These20 electoral votes were in dispute in Florida, Louisiana and South Carolina. Each party reported its candidate had won the state, while in Oregon one elector was declared illegal (as an "elected or appointed official") and replaced. The 20 disputed electoral votes were ultimately awarded to Hayes after a bitter legal and political battle, giving him the victory. The ruling came after the Republican-led Congress made a deal with the Southern states promising to end Reconstruction in exchange for Hayes votes. Read more.
Posted 10:10 a.m., Tuesday, March 1
The spring edition of The Palmetto Patriot, the quarterly publication of the South Carolina Society Sons of the American Revolution, has been printed. You can read it here.
Posted 9:10 a.m., Tuesday, March 1
The Articles of Confederation, were ratified when Maryland became the final state to ratify them March 1, 1781. It took all 13 colonies to approve the document.
The Articles of Confederation declared: "Whereas the delegates of the United States of America in Congress assembled did on the fifteenth day of November in the Year of Our Lord 1777, and in the second year of the independence of America agree on certain Articles of Confederation and perpetual union between the States...
"The said states hereby severally enter into a firm league of friendship with each other, for their common defense, the security of their liberties, and their mutual and general welfare, binding themselves to assist each other, against all force...or attacks made upon them...on account of religion, sovereignty, trade, or any other pretense."
The Articles end with the line: "It has pleased the Great Governor of the World to incline the hearts of the Legislatures we respectively represent in Congress, to approve of and to authorize us to ratify the said Articles of Confederation."
On this date in 1845 President John Tyler signed a congressional resolution to annex the Republic of Texas.
On this date in 1932 the infant son of aviator Charles Lindbergh and his wife Anne was kidnapped from their home near Hopewell, New Jersey. Read more.
On this date in 1954 five U.S. Congressmen were shot and wounded by Puerto Rican nationalists firing from the spectators gallery. Read more.
Posted 8:05 a.m., Monday, Feb. 28
On Feb. 29, 1796, President George Washington signed the Jay Treaty, settling some of the outstanding differences between the United States and Great Britain. Read more.
From the American Minute with Bill Federer
Richard Stockton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, died on this date in 1781. His grandson, Robert, was the U.S. Navy Commodore who helped freed slaves found Liberia, West Africa, and in 1846, captured California, resulting in the city of Stockton being named for him. His brother-in-law, Elias Boudinot, was a Continental Congress President and founder of the American Bible Society. His daughter married Declaration signer Benjamin Rush.
After Stockton signed the Declaration of Independence, the British invaded New Jersey, forcing him to move his family for safety. Richard was betrayed, dragged from his bed at night and imprisoned in New York. His farm was pillaged and his library, one of the best in the country, was burned.
With his health broken from more than a year in the British prison, Stockton died bankrupt at age 51 on Feb. 28, 1781. New Jersey placed statue of him in the U.S. Capitol Statuary Hall.
Richard Stockton wrote in his Will: "As my children...may be peculiarly impressed with the last words of their father, I think proper here, not only to subscribe to the entire belief of the great leading doctrine of the Christian religion...but also in the heart of a father's affection, to exhort them to remember 'that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.'"
Posted 1:05 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 27
Christian villagers in Laos face starvation. Read the rest.
Posted 6:40 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 26
Annual meeting of the Col. Robert Anderson Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution Feb. 26 at Hopkins Farm in Simpsonville, South Carolina. View photo gallery.
Posted 7:50 a.m., Friday, Feb. 25
On this date in 1570 Pope Pius V excommunicated England's Queen Elizabeth I for embracing the Protestantism of her father.
On this date in 1986 President Ferdinand Marcos fled the Philippines after 20 years of dictatorial rule.
On this date in 1948 the Communists seized power in Czechoslovakia with the aid of military power from the Soviet Union.
From the American Minute with Bill Federer
American Minute with Bill Federer
Feb. 25
"Our institutions reflect the belief of our founders that all men were endowed by their Creator with inalienable rights. . . . They believed that human institutions ought primarily to help men develop their God-given possibilities," said Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, who was born Feb. 25, 1888, in the home of his Civil War general grandfather.
Speaking on communism, Dulles remarked at the Jesuit Alumni Dinner, April 11, 1955: "Man, we read in the Holy Scriptures, was made a little lower than the angels. Should man now be made little higher than domesticated animals which serve the purpose of their human masters?
"So men face the great dilemma of whether to use force to resist aggression which imposes conditions which violate the moral law and the concept that man has his origins and his destiny in God."
Feb. 24
On this date in 1945 American soldiers liberated Manila, Philippines. My late mother in law, who lived through the occupation, wrote a book titled Mis Ultimos Quarenta Dias en El Infierno (My Last Forty Days in Hell).
On this date in 1903 the United States signed an agreement acquiring a naval station at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
On this date in 1804 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it is the final authority with regard to issues of constitutional interpretation in the case of Marbury v. Madison.
Feb. 23
On this date in 1896 Leo Hirschfield introduced the Tootsie Roll.
Posted 4:55 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 23
Here's a video I shot of Dr. Alveda C. King, niece of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Feb. 23 From the American Minute With Bill Federer
American Minute with Bill Federer
February 23
The Panama Canal Zone was acquired by the United States for $10 million on Feb. 23, 1904.
Planned by President William McKinley, construction on the canal began under President Theodore Roosevelt.
President Taft said in his Address to Congress, Dec. 6, 1912: "Our defense of the Panama Canal, together with our enormous world trade and our missionary outposts on the frontiers of civilization, require us to recognize our position as one of the foremost in the family of nations, and to clothe ourselves with sufficient naval power to give force to our reasonable demands, and to give weight to our influence in those directions of progress that a powerful Christian nation should advocate."
President Woodrow Wilson, in his Thanksgiving Proclamation, Oct. 23, 1913, said: "We have seen the practical completion of a great work at the Isthmus of Panama, which not only exemplifies the nation's abundant capacity of its public servants but also promises the beginning of a new age of co-operation and peace.
'Righteousness exalteth a nation' and 'peace on earth, good will towards men' furnish the only foundation upon which can be built the lasting achievements of the human spirit."
On March 31, 1976, fromer California Gov. Ronald Reagan said: "Well, the Canal Zone is not a colonial possession. It is not a long-term lease. It is sovereign United States Territory every bit the same as Alaska and all the states that were carved from the Louisiana Purchase.... We bought it, we paid for it, we built it, and we intend to keep it."
President Jimmy Carter gave away the Panama Canal in 1977 and today, passage through the ports at either end, Balboa and Cristobal, is effectively controlled by China's Huchinson Whampoa's Panama Ports Company.
Posted Sunday, Feb. 20, 9:05 p.m.
Florin Fodor of Campus Crusade for Christ in Romania speaks to Buncombe Road Baptist Church Feb. 20. Click here for the worship service.
Feb. 22 from the American Minute with Bill Federer
George Washington was born Feb. 22, 1732. He was unanimously chosen as the Army's Commander in Chief, unanimously chosen as President of the Constitutional Convention, and unanimously chosen as the first U.S. President.
After the Declaration of Independence was read to his troops, General Washington ordered chaplains placed in each regiment, stating: "The General hopes and trusts, that every officer and man, will endeavour so to live, and act, as becomes a Christian Soldier, defending the dearest Rights and Liberties of his country."
General Washington said at Valley Forge, May 2, 1778: "To the distinguished character of Patriot, it should be our highest Glory to laud the more distinguished Character of Christian."
To the Delaware Indian Chiefs who brought three youths to be trained in American schools, Gen. Washington said, May 12, 1779: "You do well to wish to learn our arts and ways of life, and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ."
The Writings of George Washington (March 10, 1778, 11:83-84, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1934), recorded George Washington's order: "At a General Court Marshall whereof Colo. Tupper was President . . . Lieutt. Enslin of Colo. Malcom's Regiment tried for attempting to commit sodomy, with John Monhort a soldier;
Secondly, For Perjury in swearing to false Accounts, found guilty of the charges exhibited against him, being breaches of 5th. Article 18th Section of the Articles of War and do sentence him to be dismiss'd the service with Infamy.
His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief approves the sentence and with Abhorrence and Detestation of such Infamous Crimes orders Liett. Enslin to be drummed out of Camp tomorrow morning by all the Drummers and Fifers in the Army never to return."
In his Farewell Address, 1796, Washington said: "Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and Morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great Pillars of human happiness."
Feb. 20
On this date in 1962 Col. John Glenn orbited the earth three times in Friendship 7. Watch video. Glenn became in oldest man in space when he flew aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery Oct. 29, 1998. Watch video.
On this date in 1809 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Martin v. Hunter's Lessee that the power of the federal government is greater than that of any individual state, a notioned construed by many as a direct contradiction of the 10th Amendment, which says: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
Feb. 20 From the American Minute with Bill Federer
William Prescott was born on this date in 1726. As Revolutionary War colonel, he built the fortifications at Breed's Hill and commanded the militia at the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775. He fought in the battles of Long Island in 1776 and Saratoga in 1777.
After the Boston Tea Party, where colonists threw 342 chests of British East India tea overboard, Parliament passed the Boston Port Bill, blockading the harbor and starving the inhabitants. The Committee of Correspondence sent word to the other Colonies, who called a Day of Fasting and Prayer, June 1, 1774, "to seek divine direction and aid."
In August 1774, William Prescott led the men of Pepperell, Massachusetts, to deliver many loads of rye, telling Boston's inhabitants:
"We heartily sympathize with you, and are always ready to do all in our power for your support, comfort and relief, knowing that Providence has placed you where you must stand the first shock. We consider that we are all embarked in [the same boat] and must sink or swim together."
Prescott continued: "Let us all be of one heart, and stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free. And may He, of His infinite mercy, grant us deliverance of all our troubles."
Feb. 18
On this date 150 years ago, in 1861, former Mississippi Sen. Jefferson Davis was sworn in as President of the Confederate States of America.
Feb. 16 From the American Minute with Bill Federer
Gov. William Bradford wrote that in 1625, a Pilgrim ship was returning to England with dried fish and 800 pounds of beaver skins to trade for supplies: “They . . . were well within the England channel, almost in sight of Plymouth. But . . . there she was unhapply taken by a Turkish man-of-war and carried off to Morocco where the captain and crew were made slaves.”
Muslim pirates of Morocco raided European coasts and carried away more than a million to the North African slavemarkets, where also they sold tens of millions of Africans into slavery.
In 1627, Algerian Muslim pirates, led by Murat Reis the Younger, raided Iceland, and carried 400 into slavery. One captured girl, who had been made a slave concubine in Algeria, was rescued back by King Christian IV of Denmark.
On June 20, 1631, the entire village of Baltimore, Ireland, “The Stolen Village,” was captured by Muslim pirates. Only two ever returned.
Thomas Osborne Davis wrote in his poem, “The Sack of Baltimore” (1895):
“The yell of ‘Allah!’ breaks above the shriek and roar;
O’blessed God! the Algerine is lord of Baltimore.”
Kidnapped Englishman Francis Knight wrote: “I arrived in Algiers, that city fatal to all Christians and the butchery of mankind.”
Moroccan Sultan Moulay Ismail had 500 wives and forced 25,000 white slaves to build his palace at Meknes. He was witnessed to have killed an African slave just to try out a new hatchet he was given.
In 1785, Morocco recognized the new country of the United States by capturing two American ships and demanding tribute. Thomas Jefferson met Tripoli’s envoy in France and reported to Congress:
“The Ambassador answered us that it was . . . written in their Qur’an, that all nations who should not have acknowledged Islam’s authority were sinners, that it was their ... duty to make war upon them . . . and to make slaves of all they could take as prisoners.”
Despite paying nearly 20 percent of the U.S. Federal budget as extortion payments, the Muslims continued their piracy. Jefferson finally sent the U.S. Marines to stop Morocco's Barbary pirates.
The U.S. frigate "Philadelphia" ran aground on Morocco's shallow coast and was captured.
On Feb. 16, 1804, in what Admiral Horatio Nelson called the “most bold and daring act of the age,” Lt. Stephen Decatur sailed his ship, the Intrepid, into the pirate harbor of Tripoli, burned the captured U.S. frigate “Philadelphia” and escaped amidst enemy fire. The Marines later captured Tripoli and forced the Pasha to make peace on U.S. terms.
Frederick Leiner wrote in The End of the Barbary Terror-America’s 1815 War Against the Pirates of North Africa (Oxford University Press): “Commodore Stephen Decatur and diplomat William Shaler withdrew to consult in private. . . . The Algerians were believed to be masters of duplicity, willing to make agreements and break them as they found convenient.”
John Quincy Adams, America's sixth President, wrote: ”Our gallant Commodore Stephen Decatur had chastised the pirate of Algiers. . . . The Dey (Omar Bashaw) .... disdained to conceal his intentions; 'My power,' said he, 'has been wrested from my hands; draw ye the treaty at your pleasure, and I will sign it; but beware of the moment, when I shall recover my power, for with that moment, your treaty shall be waste paper.'”
America's war with the Muslim Barbary Pirates was the country's first war after the Revolution, giving rise to the Marine Anthem: "From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli."
Feb. 15
On this date in 1898 the battleship USS Maine sank in the Havana, Cuba, harbor after an explosion of unknown origins killing 260 crew members. This led to the Spanish-American War and inspired the battle cry, "Remember the Maine."
From the American Minute:
Slavery in Cuba began earlier and lasted longer than anywhere else in the Americas, from 1521 to the late 1870s. In 1868, a Creole farmer began a revolt for racial equality, freedom of speech and association. Spain spent 10 years putting down the insurgency. The independence movement grew and in 1895 Spain sent 200,000 soldiers who put tens of thousands of Cubans into concentration camps. Many died of starvation, disease and exposure.
The American public demanded President William McKinley intervene for peace, but on Feb.15, 1898, the U.S.S. Maine blew up in Havana Harbor under suspicious conditions.
President McKinley approved the Resolution of Congress: "Whereas the abhorrent conditions which have existed for more than three years in the island of Cuba, so near our own borders, have shocked the moral sense of the people of the United States, have been a disgrace to Christian civilization, culminating, as they have, in the destruction of a United States battle ship, with 266 of its officers and crew, while on a friendly visit in the harbor of Havana, and cannot longer be endured. . . .
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives . . . that the people of the island of Cuba are and of right ought to be free."
On this date in 1965 the Maple Leaf flag flew for the first time on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario. I was surprised that the Maple Leaf flag was of such recent origin.
On this date in 1933, President-elect Franklin Delano Roosevelt survives an assassination attempt in Miami. The bullet strikes Mayor Anton Cermak of Chicago, who dies March 6. Assassin Giuseppe Zangara is executed in an electric chair March 20.
Feb. 14
St. Valentine, third century pastor imprisoned for his faith. Sent notes to his congregation on leaves he plucked from tree outside his cell. Dragged before the Prefect of Rome, who condemned him to be beaten to death with clubs and have his head cut off.
Feb. 12
Cotton Mather, influential pastor, statesman and author, was born on this day in 1663. George Washington would later call him the Father of the Founding Fathers.
On this date in 1973 the first American POWs were released from Vietnam. Watch video.
On this day in 1554 Lady Jane Grey (1536/1537–1554), also known as The Nine Days' Queen, who occupied the English throne from July 10-19, 1553, was executed by order of her stepsister Bloody Mary.
Wednesday, Feb. 9
William Henry Harrison, who would become the ninth President, was born this day in 1773. In his Inaugural address, March 4, 1841, he said: "I deem the present occasion sufficiently important and solemn to justify me in expressing to my fellow citizens a profound reverence for the Christian religion, and a thorough conviction that sound morals, religious liberty, and a just sense of religious responsibility are essentially connected with all true and lasting happiness." Harrison died April 4, serving the shortest term of any U.S. president.
Posted 8:20 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 30
Our autistic son, Tom Jr. (center), was baptized today at Buncombe Road Baptist Church in Greenville, South Carolina, by Pastor Gerald Roe (right). Thanks to all who share with us in our battles with autism.
Jan. 30 From the American Minute with Bill Federer
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born Jan. 30, 1882, in Hyde Park, New York. On Oct. 6, 1935, President Roosevelt said: "We cannot read the history of our rise and development as a nation, without reckoning with the place the Bible has occupied in shaping the advances of the Republic.... Where we have been the truest and most consistent in obeying its precepts, we have attained the greatest measure of contentment and prosperity."
In a Fireside Chat, March 9, 1937, FDR said: "I hope that you have re-read the Constitution of the United States in these past few weeks. Like the Bible, it ought to be read again and again."
In a campaign address, Nov. 1, 1940, Roosevelt said: "Those forces hate democracy and Christianity as two phases of the same civilization."
In a radio address, Nov. 4, 1940, Roosevelt said: "Democracy is the birthright of every citizen, the white and the colored; the Protestant, the Catholic, the Jew."
In a radio address, May 27, 1941, Roosevelt said: "The Nazis are as ruthless as the Communists in the denial of God."
On Jan. 25, 1941, Roosevelt wrote the Foreword to a Special Military Edition of the New Testament and Book of Psalms, published by The Gideons International and distributed to millions of U.S. military personnel: "The White House, Washington, To the Armed Forces: As Commander-in-Chief I take pleasure in commending the reading of the Bible to all who serve in the armed forces of the United States. Throughout the centuries men of many faiths and diverse origins have found in the Sacred Book words of wisdom, counsel and inspiration. It is a fountain of strength and now, as always, an aid in attaining the highest aspirations of the human soul. Very sincerely yours, Franklin D. Roosevelt"
Posted 2 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 23
Walt Wilkins Jan. 18 speech to Upstate Republican Women
Solicitor Walt Wilkins Speaks to Upstate Republican Women from Thomas Hanson on Vimeo.
View photo gallery
Jan. 22
On this date in 1996, Norma McCorvey, "Jane Roe" in the Roe v. Wade decision, asked the Supreme Court to reverse its ruling in light of the fact that the case was based on fraudulent evidence. The Court declined.
Jan. 21
On this date in 1702 Cotton Mather published his greatest work Magnalia Christi Americana (The Glorious Works of Christ in America). It details the religious development of Massachusetts other nearby colonies from 1620 to 1698. George Washington said that Cotton Mather "was undoubtedly the Spiritual Father of America's Founding Fathers."
Jan. 18
On this date in 1788, the first English settlers arrived in Botany Bay in Australia to establish a penal colony.
Posted 10:10 a.m., Monday, Jan. 17
South Carolina Society Sons of the American Revolution celebrates the 230th anniversary of the Jan. 17, 1781 Battle of Cowpens Jan. 15 at Cowpens National Battlefield in South Carolina. In the Revolutionary War battle, American Gen. Daniel Morgan's troops decisvely defeated British troops under Col. Banastre Tarleton. View photo gallery.
Jan. 16
On this day in 1786 the Virginia General Assembly passed the Ordinance of Religious Freedom, which disestablished the Anglican Church as the state church and guaranteed that no person could be molested for his or her religious beliefs. Thomas Jefferson had worked with the legislature to get such a law passed, often allying himself with Baptists and Presbyterians, who had suffered under the law. The inscription on his tombstone, as he requested, reads: “Here was buried Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of American Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, and father of the University of Virginia.” American Minute with Bill Federer
Jan. 14
On this date in 1639, the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, the first constitution in the American Colonies, was adopted by representatives from Wethersfield, Windsor and Hartford.
On this date in 1784, the Continental Congress ratified the Treaty of Paris, which officially established the United States as an independent and sovereign nation.
RECEPTION FOR SOUTH CAROLINA STATE HOUSE CANDIDATE — Phyllis Henderson (second from left) at campaign event Dec. 7 in Simpsonville. From left: Rep. Dwight Loftis, candidate Phyllis Henderson, House Speaker Bobby Harrell, Rep. Garry Smith and Rep. Dan Hamilton. View photo gallery.
Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton spoke at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, Monday night, Nov. 29, as a guest of the Conservative Students for a Better Tomorrow, an amazing group of young people. Here's their website.
Here's a video of my interview with Ambassador Bolton before his speech.
John Bolton Interview from Thomas Hanson on Vimeo.
Here is my video of Ambassador Bolton's speech.
John Bolton, former U.N. Ambassador, speaks at Furman from Thomas Hanson on Vimeo.
Here is my still photo gallery of the John Bolton event.
We went to press Thursday with the Winter edition of The Palmetto Patriot, the quarterly publication of the South Carolina Society Sons of the American Revolution. Click here to read.
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Articles used in my thesis
Posting of these articles does not imply endorsement. I share them to show what was being said in the press of that day.
Article titled “The Government and the Press” copied from the New York World in the October 18, 1862, Los Angeles Star.
