The Simple Time in American History

The Daily Show
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John Oliver searches for the simple time in American history. "One day you will be crying like a little girl on television because of the America that you have lost."

The Witch of Pungo

(HMDB) The witchcraft case of Grace Sherwood is one of the best known in Virginia. She was accused of bewitching a neighbor’s crop in 1698. Allegations grew over time until the Princess Anne County government and her accusers decided she would be tested by ducking, since water was considered pure and would not permit a witch to sink into its depths. Sherwood’s accusers on 10 July 1706 tied her hands to her feet and dropped her into the Western Branch of the Lynnhaven River near what is now know as Witch Duck Point. Sherwood floated, a sign of guilt. She was imprisoned, but was eventually released. Sherwood lived the rest of her life quietly and died by 1740.

Photo: The Historical Marker Database 

Temperance and Prohibition

(LoC) On October 28, 1919, Congress passed the Volstead Act providing for enforcement of the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which was ratified nine months earlier. Known as the Prohibition Amendment, it prohibited the "manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors" in the United States. Continued

Still Toxic After All These Years

(Aegis) Minute amounts of a World War I blister agent were found at an Aberdeen Proving Ground demolition site after a pipe was broken Tuesday.
Officials initially said nothing was found after testing, but Public Affairs Officer Robert DiMichele said Thursday afternoon that additional lab results found trace amounts of lewisite IN (sic) the pipes. The chemical agent, when in use, causes blisters when touched and in lungs when inhaled, according to DiMichele. Continued

Historians Politely Remind Nation To Check What's Happened In Past Before Making Any Big Decisions

(The Onion) With the United States facing a daunting array of problems at home and abroad, leading historians courteously reminded the nation Thursday that when making tough choices, it never hurts to stop a moment, take a look at similar situations from the past, and then think about whether the decisions people made back then were good or bad.
According to the historians, by looking at things that have already happened, Americans can learn a lot about which actions made things better versus which actions made things worse, and can then plan their own actions accordingly. Continued

Makes you wonder why they closed the Baltimore Civil War Museum

(Baltimore Sun) Last year Baltimore's tourism officials encouraged visitors to find their "happy place" and created the world's largest smiley face to help lift the region out of its doldrums. In previous years, they coaxed city visitors and residents to see jellyfish at the aquarium and celebrate Edgar Allan Poe's 200th birthday. For 2011, the tourism agency, Visit Baltimore, plans to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War's start by promoting local museum exhibits and cultural attractions with connections to the war. Continued

Md. gets a C for teaching of U.S. history

(Baltimore Sun) By the time students get to Matthew Finck's 11th-grade U.S. history class, the Civil War and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln are vague memories, historical facts they haven't heard about since eighth grade.
Beyond a very simplistic view of the causes, "they have no knowledge of the Civil War," Finck said. Continued

The South Sea Bubble

"I can calculate the movement of the stars, but not the madness of men." - Sir Isaac Newton

(Wikipedia) The South Sea Company was a British joint stock company that traded in South America during the 18th century. Founded in 1711, the company was granted a monopoly to trade in Spain's South American colonies as part of a treaty during the War of Spanish Succession. The primary element of trade was slaves (Asiento). In return, the company assumed the national debt England had incurred during the war. Speculation in the company's stock led to a great economic bubble known as the South Sea Bubble in 1720, which caused financial ruin for many. Continued

Tragedy at Chase

(Wikipedia) The Maryland train collision occurred at 1:04 pm on January 4, 1987, on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor main line in the Chase community of Baltimore County, Maryland, United States, at Gunpow Interlocking, about 18 miles northeast of Baltimore. Amtrak Train 94, the Colonial, from Washington, D.C., to Boston, crashed into a set of Conrail locomotives running light which had fouled the mainline. Train 94's speed at the time of the collision was estimated at about 108 miles per hour. Fourteen passengers on the Amtrak train were killed, as well as the Amtrak engineer and lounge car attendant. Continued

Photo: Freight Train, Chase, Maryland (MDRails)

Technology Leads More Park Visitors Into Trouble

(NYTimes) ... The national parks’ history is full of examples of misguided visitors feeding bears, putting children on buffalos for photos and dipping into geysers despite signs warning of scalding temperatures.
But today, as an ever more wired and interconnected public visits the parks in rising numbers — July was a record month for visitors at Yellowstone — rangers say that technology often figures into such mishaps.
People with cellphones call rangers from mountaintops to request refreshments or a guide; in Jackson Hole, Wyo., one lost hiker even asked for hot chocolate. Continued