In light of Detroit’s declaration of bankruptcy in recent days, I found today’s feature rather timely.  On this date in 1701, the city of Detroit was founded by Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac.  As you can guess, he was from France, and he was serving King Louis XIV.  It was originally a trading post, and as you might […]

I think my daughter would love today’s feature since she has been taking swimming lessons for four years now.  On this date in 1827, the first swimming school in the United States was begun.  Francis Lieber, a German-born philosopher and gymnast, was the one who started this school at the invitation and urging of the Boston Gymnasium.  At first, this […]

I had the privilege of seeing Stonehenge when I visited England a few years ago.  Albeit, it was from a distance since it was the time of the summer solstice, but I even got a picture (not as good as the one featured here).  I think Stonehenge continues to fascinate us, and it is preserved for historical and religious significance. […]

My vacation interrupted my “day in history posts,” but they are back!  On this day (or approximately on this date–give or take a day) in 356 B.C., the great Temple of Artemis was destroyed by arson.  The original temple was one of the seven ancient wonders of the world, and its original site was at Ephesus (modern-day Turkey).  It was […]

Something unprecedented happened in presidential history on today’s date.  It was on this date in 1940, that President FDR was nominated for a third term in office.  I was first introduced to the FDR of history in the beloved children’s film of the 1980’s–Annie!.  Yes, I wanted to be Little Orphan Annie for a while, and I thought that FDR […]

Welcome to the Happiest Place on Earth!  That’s right!  On this date in 1955, Disneyland officially opened.  Walt Disney himself dedicated it, and television covered it extensively.  It changed theme parks as we know it.  It still remains the original park that continues to have success.  My daughter and I are planning a Disney Cruise next year, and so this […]

In the gaming world, it is clear that Nintendo is one of the leaders.  I remember that they were almost the standard in the new game systems.  And on this date in 1985, the Nintendo Entertainment System first went on sale in Japan (from what I can tell, this is accurate).  Unfortunately, what began so well didn’t seem to continue […]

I was surprised to discover that this happened so early in television history.  On this date in 1951, the very first sporting event was broadcast in color on television.  It was the Molly Pitcher Handicap horse race from Monmouth Park Jockey Club, Oceanport, N.J.  Unfortunately, most did not see it in color since color TV’s were not readily available until […]

First of all, there is some discrepancy concerning today’s date, but part of that is because we are talking about an event that happened in B.C. (I will continue to use B.C. and A.D. instead of the new-fangled B.C.E. and A.C.E.).  On this date (or on July 12) in 100 B.C., Julius Caesar was born.  His full name was Gaius […]

Well, this is certainly something that should capture our attention.  It was on this date in 2012 (just last year!) that Chris and Colin Weir became the biggest Euromillion lottery winners in history with a record £161 million!  They are a retired Scottish couple, and they became Scotland’s twenty-first richest citizens.  It boggles my mind to even wrap my mind […]