Memorial Day, 2015

by Jack Le Moine

Time: January 31, 1968
Place: Vietnam

A US "tunnel rat" soldier prepares to enter a Viet Cong tunnel.

Public domain image from Wikipedia.

This Memorial Day we remember the Tet Offensive. The Communist forces launched 85,000 men at selected targets throughout the country. These included the major cities such as Hue and even the U.S. embassy in Saigon. Counter-attacks destroyed most of these forces. At the end, Across South Vietnam, 4,100 Americans and other allied troops, 4,900 ARVN, 14,000 civilians, and 20,000 NVA and Viet Cong lay dead.

Last year we remembered Little Round Top at the Battle of Gettysburg.

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Further information: The Tet Offensive.

Great Mothers in Church History

by Jack Le Moine

Tomorrow is Mother's Day. Who do you think are the greatest mothers in religeous history? Compare with this article.

From the latest happenings in things historical. This article Great Mothers in Church History was published yesterday in Baptist Press. The article’s author is David Roach.

Income Tax Day 2015

Page 4 of the return showing the income tax rates for 1862.
Public domain form from the Tax History Project.

The first income tax was adopted and signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1862 as a war measure. This links to the complete income tax package for that year. Forms, instructions, and tax tables brought the entire package to four (!) pages.

 There were two basic rates: 3% of those whose incomes were <$10,000 and 5% for incomes >$10,000. Interest from government bonds were taxed at 1.5%. The instructions' explained a standard deduction of $600 by saying that this was the average expenses of a family in 1862.

 After years of court rulings and constitutional amendments, this little seedling grew into the monster tax package Americans struggle with today.

Saint Patrick's Day, 2015

by Jack Le Moine

Time: March 17, 1762
Place: New York City

Fair use image from a Clip Art collection.

With the French and Indian War over, the colonies were at peace. The Irish soldiers of the British garrison staged a parade down Broadway. People were receptive to celebration. A Saint Patrick’s Day Parade would be an annual fixture in New York ever more.

The Catholic Church had made March 17 a feast day to commemorate Saint Patrick a century before. Since Saint Patrick was the patron saint of Ireland, this day became a civic celebration as well as a religious one for the Irish.

Celebrations would grow all around the world.

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Further information: Jerry Wilson, Wilstar.com.

Chinese New Year, 2015

This may be the oldest holiday we celebrate as it goes back 4,000+ years.  This is the year of the goat.  More about this holiday.

Ash Wednesday, 2015

by Jack Le Moine

This is the first day of Lent in the Christian religion. It is approximately 40 days before Easter when Jesus Christ rose from the dead. The number 40 days comes from passages in the Bible where Jesus went to the desert and prayed and fasted for 40 days. The thinking is that Christians can stand to fit into their schedule some small amount of prayer and fasting, too.

The custom of ashes comes from Biblical Times where penitents used ashes to signify their remorse of their sins. It also ties into the idea of “ashes to ashes, from dust to dust”. In the end, we’re all going to some spiritual destination in the afterlife or if religion is just superstition, we’re going to just stop existing.

The custom of putting on a sprinkling of ashes on one’s forehead grew in the first millennium of Christianity and was ratified by Pope Urban II in 1091. Protestants had and have varying beliefs and practices on this.

I like the idea of this holiday because it reminds us of the big picture in life.

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Further information: Wikipedia.

President’s Day, 2015

by Jack Le Moine

President’s Day consolidated the birthdays of Washington and Lincoln into one holiday together with the rest of the presidents. This consolidation of multiple holidays into one is a welcome exception to the trend of holiday overload that fills the calendar with holidays. It is a shame that people have stopped observing some of the official holidays.

Presidents have been accorded varying degrees of greatness. Some have been just overlooked. Today, this blog draws attention to one of those.

Chester A. Arthur (President 1881 – 1885) was one of those presidents who did not do much but the nation greatly expanded during his time. Perhaps there’s a causal connection there?

Of all the presidents his reputation and record of corruption in his previous office of Collector of the Port of New York made him distasteful. He epitomized the machine politics of that time. Then he became President on the death of James Garfield. He championed civil service reforms that did away with many of the corrupt practices he had done before.

He was sick at the end of his term and died the next year after his term ended.

Alexander McClure wrote, "No man ever entered the Presidency so profoundly and widely distrusted as Chester Alan Arthur, and no one ever retired ... more generally respected, alike by political friend and foe."

Here are two pieces of wisdom to take away from his life: (1) the importance of repentance and redemption; and (2) results matter more than activity.

Mark Twain wrote, "[I]t would be hard indeed to better President Arthur's administration."

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Further information: The White House.

Valentine’s Day, 2015

This is a passage from The Courting of Dinah Shadd, by Rudyard Kipling. This short story was part of Indian Tales, published in 1899.

"'A word wid you, Dempsey,' sez I. 'You've walked wid Dinah Shadd four times this fortnight gone.'

"'What's that to you?' sez he. 'I'll walk forty times more, an' forty on top av that, ye shovel-futted clod-breakin' infantry lance-corp'ril.'

"Before I cud gyard he had his gloved fist home on my cheek an' down I went full-sprawl. 'Will that content you?' sez he, blowin' on his knuckles for all the world like a Scots Greys orf'cer. 'Content!' sez I. 'For your own sake, man, take off your spurs, peel your jackut, an' onglove. 'Tis the beginnin' av the overture; stand up!'

"He stud all he know, but he niver peeled his jacket, an' his shoulders had no fair play. I was fightin' for Dinah Shadd an' that cut on my cheek. What hope had he forninst me? 'Stand up,' sez I, time an' again whin he was beginnin' to quarter the ground an' gyard high an' go large. 'This isn't ridin'-school,' I sez. 'O man, stand up an' let me get in at ye.' But whin I saw he wud be runnin' about, I grup his shtock in my left an' his waist-belt in my right an' swung him clear to my right front, head undher, he hammerin' my nose till the wind was knocked out av him on the bare ground. 'Stand up,' sez I, 'or I'll kick your head into your chest!' and I wud ha' done ut too, so ragin' mad I was.

"'My collar-bone's bruk,' sez he. 'Help me back to lines. I'll walk wid her no more.' So I helped him back."

"And was his collar-bone broken?" I asked, for I fancied that only Learoyd could neatly accomplish that terrible throw.

"He pitched on his left shoulder point. Ut was. Next day the news was in both barricks, an' whin I met Dinah Shadd wid a cheek on me like all the reg'mintal tailor's samples there was no 'Good mornin', corp'ril,' or aught else. 'An' what have I done, Miss Shadd,' sez I, very bould, plantin' mesilf forninst her, 'that ye should not pass the time of day?'

"'Ye've half-killed rough-rider Dempsey,' sez she, her dear blue eyes fillin' up.

"'May be,' sez I. 'Was he a friend av yours that saw ye home four times in the fortnight?'

"'Yes,' sez she, but her mouth was down at the corners, 'An'—an' what's that to you?' she sez.

"'Ask Dempsey,' sez I, purtendin' to go away.

"'Did you fight for me then, ye silly man?' she sez, tho' she knew ut all along.

"'Who else?' sez I, an' I tuk wan pace to the front.

"'I wasn't worth ut,' sez she, fingerin' in her apron.

"'That's for me to say,' sez I. 'Shall I say ut?'

"'Yes,' sez she, in a saint's whisper, an' at that I explained mesilf; and she tould me what ivry man that is a man, an' many that is a woman, hears wanst in his life.

"'But what made ye cry at startin', Dinah, darlin'?' sez I.

"'Your—your bloody cheek,' sez she, duckin' her little head down on my sash (I was on duty for the day) an' whimperin' like a sorrowful angil.

"Now a man cud take that two ways. I tuk ut as pleased me best an' my first kiss wid ut. Mother av Innocence! but I kissed her on the tip av the nose and undher the eye; an' a girl that let's a kiss come tumble-ways like that has never been kissed before. Take note av that, sorr. . . ."

Here’s the complete story.

Martin Luther King Day, 2015

This may be the most political of all holidays with only one third of businesses taking the day off.  Given due regard to all sides, it does seem that with the Civil Rights revolution being so important to American History, a special day such as this one to commemorate and celebrate is needed.

Epiphany, 2015

This is the traditional day that the three wise men came to worship Jesus.  Some scholars believe that Jesus was already a small boy then they arrived.  Whatever the circumstances, this story has great importance to both the historian and the theologian.

New Year's Day, 2015

Happy New Year from History Moments.

A new year and here’s our plans for this blog.  A lot of our stuff we publish can be located in Gutenberg.org as text files or some other e-book file.  We make these files accessible by organizing the material and publishing it as episodes.  Think of this approach like watching a TV miniseries.

Specific Plans:
Herodotus will be continued to the end of Book IV.
French Wars series will be concluded this year.
Other original articles using the you-are-there approach shall appear.
Other things of note going on in history will be brought to your attention
Expect something each day.

Housekeeping:
A website to organize the series will appear, too.
Labels shall be organized to distinguish between permanent categories and labels for specific series and miniseries.

New Year's Eve, 2014

Before the year recedes entirely into history, let's do a quick retrospective of it.

Christmas, 2014

Merry Christmas from History Moments and remember that Jesus is the reason for this holiday.

Christmas Eve, 2014

All Things Georgian presents a small cookbook of Christmas recipes from past centuries.

Thanksgiving, 2014

From History News Network here is an old 2001 post by Rick Shenkman exploding some commonly held myths.  Like any article of this kind, remember that just because some author declares something to be a myth does not mean that it actually is.

Hence my picture, not that I believe that the pilgrims dressed in black but to make the point.

Veterans Day, 2014

There are two holidays honoring our armed forces: Memorial Day for those who died and Veterans Day for the rest.  I worry that we have too many holidays and therefore the significance of each individual one gets lost on the average American.  Most people do not seem to take this day off work.

All Saints Day, 2014

The article I link to uses the unfortunate word "cult" which I suppose reflects the general unfashionabiltiy of religion among the academics.  Are fans of today's celebrities "cultists"?

Except for that caveat, I suggest you read this article from Jonathan Jarrett's A Corner of Tenth Century Europe blog for All Saints Day.

Halloween, 2014

Halloween is a good time to link to this story about a house that was used to detain enemy spies.  Who lurks inside now?

This is from the History@Kingston blog.

Columbus Day, 2014

This should not be controversial.  Columbus did good and bad things like most people.  Since he lived largely, his deeds good and bad were large, too.

Labor Day, 2014

Celebrating the value of work.

I like the saying,

Pray as if everything depended on God; work as if everything depended on you.

Thought for this holiday.