On This Day..... America's Great Inventor Annouces His First Invention

The Pirate King and Golden Age of Piracy- Blackbeard

I started reading up more on Blackbeard after watching this documentary(?). I had no idea Blackbeard's life was as complicated and interesting as it is portrayed here. That said, I would not take anything presented here (in this post or others I may show you) as any sort of gospel. The fact is societies view of history is always changing. Changing with the either new information or as a reflection of changing norms. More so, many so called documentaries need to embellish or just plain make up stories just to keep viewers interest. The moral of the story, always do your own homework.... but enjoy the journey.

On This Day Circa 1945- The Nuremberg Trial Begin

and the BBC did a wonderful job producing a documentary of the event.

On This Day.... New Jersey Becomes

The first state to ratify the Bill of Rights in 1789.


And the text of the Bill of Rights via USHistory.org

Amendment I

Freedoms, Petitions, Assembly

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment II

Right to bear arms

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Amendment III

Quartering of soldiers

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.

Amendment IV

Search and arrest

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Amendment V

Rights in criminal cases

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb, nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment VI

Right to a fair trial

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed; which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defence.

Amendment VII

Rights in civil cases

In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Amendment VIII

Bail, fines, punishment

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Amendment IX

Rights retained by the People

The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment X

States' rights

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.

Pele' Scores 1,000th Goal.... On This Day in 1969

I have never been a fan of soccer (football), but to many and in the history of professional sports, this is a historical event.

Ancient Greeks: Golden Age of Civilization

A look back at the rise of democracy and the city-state of Athens.

On This Day..... In 1863

President Lincoln gives one of the most memorable speeches in history while dedicating the battlefield at Gettysburg, the Gettysburg  Address. I thought I would go with some style here and not only provide you text of that great speech, counting only 272 words, remember that when leaders speak today, but also provide you a narration via Johny Cash.


And the text

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.

It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Strangely enough, scholars still debate the exact wording and punctuation of the Gettysburg Address, but the text I show above is the most recognized version, via Wikipedia.