Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, was born NOVEMBER 30, 1835. His first popular story was “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” written in 1865 while he was in San Francisco. In 1866, as a reporter for the Sacramento Union, Mark Twain traveled to the Sandwich Islands (present-day Hawaii). In 1867, a newspaper funded Mark Twain’s voyage […]

President Franklin Pierce placed thefirst Christmas Tree in the White House in 1856.  Born NOVEMBER 23, 1804, Franklin Pierce, was elected a Congressman at age 29 and a Senator at age 33. Franklin Pierce resigned from Congress during the Mexican-American War and enlisted as a private. He was eventually promoted to brigadier general. Pierce’s leg was crushed at the Battle of Churubusco. A Northern Democrat,Franklin Pierce ran for President […]

Born a slave in New York in 1797, she spoke only Dutch until sold around the age of 9, together with a flock of sheep, for $100. Suffering hardships, her third master made her marry an older slave with whom she had five children. In 1827, she escaped to Canada. After New York abolished slavery, she returned as a domestic […]

American Minute with Bill Federer – NOV 23 His only son, 11-year-old Bennie, was killed when their campaign train rolled off its tracks. This happened to 14th President Franklin Pierce, who was born NOVEMBER 23, 1804. Elected to Congress at age 29, Franklin Pierce was a Senator at 33. He resigned from Congress during the Mexican-American War and enlisted as […]

James Otis (1725-1783) was the King’s advocate-general of the vice-admiralty court at Boston. In 1761, he was elected as a representative of Boston to Massachusetts’ colonial government, called the General Court. His main political opponent was acting Massachusetts Governor Thomas Hutchinson, a politically polarizing figure whose unbending Loyalist acts greatly increased tensions with colonists. Choosing loyalty to Britain over America, […]

He lost two sons in the Revolution and was the only clergyman to sign the Declaration. His name was John Witherspoon. A delegate from New Jersey, he declared: “Gentlemen, New Jersey is ready to vote for independence … The country is not only ripe for independence, but we are in danger of becoming rotten for the want of it!” He served on 120 […]

The Vietnam War Memorial was dedicated NOVEMBER 13, 1982, honoring 58,000 American troops who died. U.S. forces inflicted over a million enemy fatalities, yet involvement by politicians thwarted victory. North Vietnamese colonel, Bui Tin,received the unconditional surrender of South Vietnam on April 30, 1975. Bui Tin explained how the protests by “anti-war peace demonstrators” was key to the Communist victory: “Every day our […]

THE AMERICAN MINUTE The 11th hour of the 11TH DAY OF THE 11TH MONTH of 1918, World War I ended. Though the Armistice was signed at 5:00 AM, fighting continued till 11:00 AM, killing nearly 11,000 more men. In 1921, President Warren Harding had the remains of an unknown soldier killed in France buried in the Tomb of the Unknown […]

“When the first Muslim American was recently elected to Congress, he took the oath to defend our Constitution using the Holy Qur’an,” stated President Obama in Cairo, Egypt, June 4, 2009. As nice as this sounds, there is a historical dilemma, namely, how can one swear to defend a Constitution upon a book that instructs followers to overthrow it? There […]

“We are under tremendous attacks… We are attacked by the Communists who in their own documents state that capitalism – democracy – carries within itself the seeds of its own destruction,”  stated President Dwight Eisenhower. Continuing his address, NOVEMBER 9, 1954, to the National Conference on the Spiritual Foundation of American Democracy at the Sheraton-Carlton Hotel, Washington, DC, President Eisenhower […]

Who is the KING in America? Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defined “KING” as: “KING, n. 1. The chief or SOVEREIGN of a nation; a man invested with supreme authority over a nation, tribe or country; a monarch. Kings are absolute.” Romans 13:1 “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has […]

Mercy Otis Warren was called “The Conscience of the American Revolution.” She was wife of Massachusetts House Speaker James Warren and sister of patriot James Otis. Mercy Otis Warren corresponded with many American leaders, including: Franklin, Jefferson, Hamilton and John Adams. In 1805, Mercy Otis Warren published a 3 volume History of the Rise, Progress and Termination of the American […]

James Otis (1725-1783) was the King’s advocate-general of the vice-admiralty court at Boston. In 1761, he was elected as a representative of Boston to the Massachusetts General Court. There in February of 1761, Otis argued for five straight hours on the illegality of the “Writs of Assistance.” The Writs of Assistanceallowed government agents to enter anyone’s home without notice, for no reason or probable cause, […]

After the victory over the British at Yorktown, many of the Continental soldiers grew disillusioned with the new American government, as they had not been paid in years. The Continental Congress had no power to tax to raise money to pay them. A disgruntled group of officers in New York met and formed a Newburgh Conspiracy. They plotted to march […]

October 29, 1929, the New York Stock Exchange crashed. Panic ensued as Wall Street sold 16,410,030 shares in a single day. Billions of dollars were lost and America plunged into the Great Depression. An estimated 15 million Americans were unemployed and nearly half of all banks failed. The Great Depression began with a rapid contraction of credit. This occurred despite the existence of the Federal Reserve which was […]

The Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World was dedicated OCTOBER 28, 1886. The 450,000 lbs statue, standing 305 feet above the pedestal base, was gift from France. Built by Gustave Eiffel, builder of the Eiffel Tower, it was designed by Auguste Bartholdi, who wrote: “The statue was born for this place which inspired its conception. May God be pleased to […]

At age 16, after his father died, Sam Houston ran off to live with the Cherokee Indians on the Tennessee River. He was adopted by Chief Oolooteka and given the name “Raven.” Three years later, Sam Houston returned to Knox County, Tennessee, and opened a one-room schoolhouse – the first school built in the State. He joined the army and […]

Sam Houston studied law under Judge James Trimble, passed the bar, and opened up a legal practice in Lebanon, Tennessee. Houston was appointed the local prosecutor and was given a command in the state militia. Sam Houston was elected to Congress in 1823, and became Governor of Tennessee in 1827. After a short failed marriage in 1829, Sam Houston resigned and moved to the Arkansas Territory where he lived […]

American Minute with Bill Federer Yale President Ezra Stiles stated in 1783: “Most states of all ages … have been founded in rapacity, usurpation and injustice … The Nimrods … (were) the first invading tyrants of the ancient ages … The spirit of conquest had changed the first governments … All succeeding ones have in general proved one continued series […]

After Columbus discovered the New World, Spain grew in power to surpass Portugal as the largest global empire, giving rise the saying, the sun never set on the Spanish Empire. From Madrid, the Spanish Holy Roman Emperor Charles V ruled territories in Europe, North America, Central America, South America, Africa, Asia, the Pacific, and all the way to the Philippines. Catholic Spain was instrumental in beating back the attacks of the Muslim […]