By the spring of 1934, public adoration for the "Lethal Lovers," Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, was waning. Long seen as heroes of romanticism and social justice, the trial of bodies littering their wake was getting harder and harder to ignore. An Easter Sunday shoot-out that resulted in the cold-blooded murder of two highway patrolmen … Continue reading “Well, We Got Them.”

Thomas Blood was an Irishman, born in County Clare in the Kingdom of Ireland (at the time a client state under English rule) in 1618. He was the son of a successful blacksmith of English descent, who owned lands in Counties Clare, Meath, and Wicklow. His grandfather, too, was a well-respected "to-do" in the area, … Continue reading Blood in the Tower of London

President Franklin Roosevelt passed away on April 12, 1945, just weeks before the end of World War II in Europe, leaving his Vice President, Harry Truman, to gather the reins of the presidency and steer a reeling nation through what promised to be several tumultuous months. The Allies were advancing on Berlin, but victory wasn't … Continue reading One Man’s Decision

The first “official” flag of the United States was “the Continental Colors,” also known as the “Grand Union Flag.” It consisted of thirteen red and white stripes with the United Kingdom’s flag in the upper-left-hand corner, also known as the canton. It was the same design as the flag for the British East India Company … Continue reading Which Flag?

It started with a possible murder and pig-stealing. It ended, almost thirty years later, with a wedding. The McCoy family, headed by patriarch Randolph McCoy, lived on the Kentucky side of the Tug Fork River. They were a lower-middle-class family, owning a 300-acre farm and subsisting mainly from its bounty. On the other side, in … Continue reading Hogs, Bitterness, and Blood

I'm 'Enery the Eighth, I am,'Enery the Eighth I am, I am!I got married to the widow next door,She's been married seven times beforeAnd every one was an 'EneryShe wouldn't have a Willie nor a SamI'm her eighth old man named 'Enery'Enery the Eighth, I am! I was not even alive in the 1960's, but … Continue reading I’m Henry the VIII, I Am…

It's one of the most iconic sights in our nation's capital. A 555 feet and 5-1/8 inches obelisk that--per Washington D.C. law--is the tallest structure in the city. The Washington Monument. But did you know this testament to our first president was decided upon before he became our first president? In 1783, the Continental Congress … Continue reading The Obelisk that Almost Wasn’t

At 10:48 a.m. on Sunday, February 7, 1904, a fire was reported at the John Hurst and Company building on West German Street at Hopkins Place in downtown Baltimore. Supposedly, someone had tossed a smoldering cigarette into the basement. Although the city had a professional and well-trained fire department, by the time they arrived, the … Continue reading The Great Baltimore Fire

This is a story that starts with one war and ends with another. Or, rather, ends with a war that, for one man, didn't end. But let me back up. In February 1895, Cuba began its fight for independence from Spain. Though largely isolationist, there was growing demand for U.S. intervention in the crisis...a crisis … Continue reading The Forgotten Soldier