Ludlow Massacre

The Ludlow Massacre was a mass killing perpetrated by anti-striker militia during the Colorado Coalfield War.  Soldiers from the Colorado National Guard and private guards employed by Colorado Fuel and Iron Company (CF&I) attacked a tent colony of roughly 1,200 striking coal miners and their families in Ludlow, Colorado, on April 20, 1914. Approximately 21 people were killed, including miners' wives and children.

Battle Of Lundy's Lane

The Battle of Lundy's Lane was the bloodiest battle of the War of 1813.  It took place a mile west of Niagara Falls in 1814.  Neither side won a decisive victory, but the Americans' advance into Canada was and they had to retreat to Ft. Erie.  The American general Winfield Scott was wounded.  There is a memorial in Drummond Hill Cemetery, Ontario.

Harris Treaty

The Harris Treaty was a 1958 agreement that provided for the opening of five ports to U.S. trade, in addition to those opened in 1854 as a result of the Treaty of Kanagawa; it also exempted U.S. citizens living in the ports from the jurisdiction of Japanese law, guaranteed them religious freedom, and arranged for diplomatic representation and a tariff agreement between the United States and Japan.

War Of the Spanish Succession

The War of the Spanish Succession lasted from 1701 to 1714.  It arose out of the disputed succession to the throne of Spain following the death of the childless Charles II, the last of the Spanish Habsburgs. The war was primarily a struggle to determine whether the vast possessions of the Spanish Empire should pass to the House of Bourbon or to the House of Habsburg, both of which had dynastic claims, or whether they should be partitioned to preserve the balance of power in Europe.  Philip of Anjou, he grandson of Louis XIV, the king of France, was the Bourbon claimant. England, Holland, the Holy Roman Empire and Prussia decided to support Archduke Charles, the younger son of the Habsburg Emperor Leopold I.

Emu War

The Emu War was a  wildlife management operation undertaken in Australia in 1932.  Although farmers were expected shoulder most of the responsibility for curbing the population, the military (armed with Lewis guns) was called in, thus the name.  The attempt to cull the population largely failed: farmers asked for military assistance again in 1934, 1943, and 1948.

The Dover test

The thing I learned today is that the Dover test is a phrase used to express the American public's willingness to support an overseas war.  It refers to the mortuary center at Dover air force base, where over 50,000 flag-draped coffins have arrived since 1955.  The phrase may have been coined by John Glenn.

The Spanish American War

The thing I learned today is that the Spanish-American War lasted less than a year, from April to August of 1898. Independence of Cuba was the question; the explosion of the USS Maine, American corporate imperialism, and yellow journalism ruled the day.

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

The thing I learned today is that The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo granted, via the Mexican Cession, the US the region that is now California, Nevada, New Mexico, and Arizona, as well as part of Wyoming. It came at the end of the Mexican-American war (1846-48). The Treaty provided for property rights of Mexicans in the area, which largely went unhonored.

Copperheads was a name given to Northern Democrats who opposed the Civil War and sympathized with the South, so named by their opponents because they were dangerous. Also called Butternuts and Peace Democrats.

Ohi Day

Ohi Day or Ochi Day is celebrated throughout Greece, Cyprus and the Greek communities around the world on 28 October each year. Ohi Day commemorates the rejection by the Greek dictator Ioannis Metaxas of the ultimatum made by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini on 28 October 1940. It also commemorates the subsequent Hellenic counterattack against the invading Italian forces at the mountains of Pindus during the Greco-Italian War and Greek resistance during the Axis occupation.  Ohi (Οχι) means "no" in Greek.

Treaty of Cordoba

The Treaty of Córdoba established Mexican independence from Spain at the conclusion of the Mexican War of Independence. It was signed on August 24, 1821 in Córdoba, Veracruz, Mexico.

Yamato

On April 7, 1945, the Japanese battleship Yamato, one of the greatest battleships of its time, was sunk south of Kushu by American torpedoes in Japan’s first major counteroffensive in the struggle for Okinawa.

James Lawrence

James Lawrence was a commander of the USS Chesapeake in the 1812 war famous for his dying command, "Don't give up the ship," during an action against HMS Shannon. This was used in Oliver Hazard Perry's battle flag.

Stonewall Jackson's arm

Stonewall Jackson's amputated left arm is buried (probably) at Ellwood, his brother's house, near Chancellorsville, Virginia. His body is buried at a memorial cemetery in Lexington, Virginia.

Walt Whitman worked as a volunteer nurse for the Union Army during the U.S. Civil War. His experiences led to the poetry collection "Drum Taps."

The Hells Angels, before the Motorcycle Club, was the name of the 303d Bombardment Group, a B-17 Bomber group in WWII.

Stonewall Jackson

Thomas Jackson, a Confederate general, got his nickname 'Stonewall' at the first battle of Bull Run, in July, 1861. He was accidentally wounded by Confederate soldiers in 1863, at Chancellorsville.

John André

John André was a British officer hanged in 1780 as a spy during the American Revolution. Admired even by the American commanders, he wrote a poem while awaiting execution that ends with the lines, "A few more setting suns at most / Shall land me on fair Canaan's coast / Where I shall sing the song of grace / And see my glorious Hiding Place."

Hermann Goering was Hitler's commander of the Luftwaffe and was a WWI ace, with 22 confirmed kills. He committed suicide by cyanide at Nuremberg.

Joseph Goebbels

Joseph Goebbels was Hitler's Minister of Propaganda. After Hitler's suicide, he tried to arrange a ceasefire with the soviets, then gave morphine and cyanide to his children, then killed his wife and himself.