As many of you know, I’m a huge baseball fan. In fact, I’ve published three books about baseball with a fourth soon on the way. So, I couldn’t resist making today’s blog post about the Bill Buckner ground ball in the 1986 World Series. I just hope Red Sox fans don’t discontinue following the blog. […]
Month: October 2019
Marcus Junius Brutus Dies by His Own Hand
The name Marcus Junius Brutus is well-known in history, not least because of Julius Caesar’s dying remarks to him in Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar. The real Marcus Junius Brutus was a leader of the group of conspirators who plotted against Caesar and carried out his assassination in 44 BCE. They thought they were restoring the […]
The Saturday Night Massacre and Watergate
For the second straight day, 1973 was a critical year in US history. October 20 marks the anniversary of the event in the Watergate Crisis known as the Saturday Night Massacre. The Saturday Night Massacre involved president Richard Nixon ordering Attorney General Elliot Richardson and then Deputy AG William Ruckelshaus to fire Special Prosecutor Archibald […]
The Arab Oil Embargo Begins in 1973
October 19 of 1973 ranks as one of the most momentous economic days in US history. On that day, Arab nations announced their Arab Oil Embargo against the United States. The Arab Oil Embargo included a ban on exports to the US and a ten percent cut in overall production. There were politics at work […]
Major Vietnam War Protests Begin
October 15 and 16 of 1965 saw some of the first major Vietnam War Protests in the United States. These began, perhaps predictably, in Berkeley, California, where about 10,000 protestors marched to the military base in Oakland. Similar protests took place on 5th Avenue in New York City, in Philadelphia, in Boston, and in Ann […]
The U.S. Invades Canada—and Fails
When I used to teach U.S. history to college students, our discussion of when the U.S. invades Canada always got a good laugh. I suppose because the idea of invading Canada seems so beyond possible to them today, they don’t know how else to respond. However, it happened once, during the War of 1812. The […]