Good morning, it’s Monday, June 25, 2018. Sixty-five years ago today, an engagement notice appeared in many of the nation’s newspapers: A charismatic U.S. senator had popped the question to a young Washington journalist. A September wedding date was set. The future bride and groom each came from a prominent and wealthy Catholic family. Sen. John F. Kennedy, freshman Democrat […]

June 25 is the 176th day of the year (177th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 189 days remaining until the end of the year. Holidays Arbor Day (Philippines) Christian feast day: Eurosia Philipp Melanchthon (Lutheran) Presentation of the Augsburg Confession (Lutheran) Prosper of Aquitaine Prosper of Reggio William of Montevergine June 25 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Independence […]

June 24 is the 175th day of the year (176th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 190 days remaining until the end of the year. Holidays Army Day or Battle of Carabobo Day (Venezuela) Bannockburn Day (Scotland) Christian Feast Day: María Guadalupe García Zavala Nativity of St. John the Baptist June 24 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Day of […]

Good morning, it’s Friday, June 23, 2017. Forty-five years ago today, Richard M. Nixon made a momentous mistake in judgment, with fateful ramifications for his legacy. It occurred in a late morning Oval Office meeting with White House chief of staff H.R. Haldeman. In their conversation, Haldeman tells the president that Attorney General John Mitchell has concocted a plan for […]

June 23 is the 174th day of the year (175th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 191 days remaining until the end of the year. Holidays Christian feast day: Æthelthryth Marie of Oignies June 23 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Father’s Day (Nicaragua, Poland) Grand Duke’s Official Birthday (Luxembourg) International Widows Day (international) National Day of Remembrance for Victims […]

The equestrian statue of Edward Horner stands inside St Andrew’s Church in the village of Mells in Somerset, south-western England. The sculpture was designed by the architect Sir Edwin Lutyens and executed by the equestrian painter and war artist Alfred Munnings. It is a memorial to Edward Horner, who died of wounds in the First World War. Edward Horner was the only surviving son and heir of Sir John and Lady […]

As I have mentioned a time or two – I fought hard against NAFTA and lost, Rush Limbaugh and Newty GetRich fought hard to get it passed – as did many other **conservative** GOP members back then. I happened across this roll call vote in my archives while looking for another item and thought – it is TIME to repost […]

June 22 is the 173rd day of the year (174th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 192 days remaining until the end of the year On this day the Summer solstice may occur in the Northern Hemisphere, and the Winter solstice may occur in the Southern Hemisphere. Holidays Anti-Fascist Struggle Day (Croatia) Christian Feast Day: Aaron of […]

June 21 is the 172nd day of the year (173rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 193 days remaining until the end of the year. This day usually marks the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere and the winter solstice in the Southern Hemisphere, which is the day of the year with the most hours of daylight […]

Good morning, it’s Tuesday, June 20, 2017. On this date in 1863, West Virginia became the 35th state in the Union, though “Union” was a loaded word then — and very much in doubt. West Virginia had broken away from Virginia at the onset of the Civil War because its people did not want to secede from the U.S. for […]

The 1864 re-election of Lincoln “was closer than either the popular or electoral votes” indicated, and without the soldier vote in six crucial States, Lincoln would have lost to George B. McClellan.  The slim margins of Republican victory in most States “were probably due largely to the presence of soldiers as guards and as voters at the polls,” and had […]

June 20 is the 171st day of the year (172nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 194 days remaining until the end of the year. In the Northern Hemisphere, the Summer solstice sometimes occurs on this date, while the Winter solstice occurs in the Southern Hemisphere. Holidays Christian feast day: Adalbert of Magdeburg Florentina John of Matera Blessed […]

Hello, it’s Tuesday, June 19, 2018. On this date in 1980, Washington Post readers were offered a counterintuitive story in their morning paper. Ronald Reagan, having clinched the Republican presidential nomination, met with a group of Post editors and writers for lunch the day before, where he made news. Hosted by esteemed Post publisher Katharine Graham, the session lasted about […]

June 19 is the 170th day of the year (171st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 195 days remaining until the end of the year. Holidays Christian feast day: Gervasius and Protasius (Catholic Church) Juliana Falconieri Romuald Zosimus Sadhu Sundar Singh (Anglican) June 19 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) Day of the Independent Hungary (Hungary) Feast of Forest (Palawan) […]

Good morning. It’s Monday, June 18, 2018. On this date 243 years ago, Abigail Adams wrote an agonized letter to her husband. John Adams was in Philadelphia at the Continental Congress. Abigail was at their house in Braintree, Massachusetts. From there she could hear the artillery raging in the Battle of Bunker Hill. The letter opens with her signature salutation […]

June 18 is the 169th day of the year (170th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 196 days remaining until the end of the year. Holidays Autistic Pride Day (International) Christian Feast Day: Bernard Mizeki (Anglican and Episcopal Church) Elizabeth of Schönau Gregorio Barbarigo Leontius, Hypatius and Theodulus Marina the Monk (Maronite Church, Coptic Orthodox Church of […]

The first formal “Father’s Day” was celebrated JUNE 19, 1910, in Spokane, Washington. Sonora Louise Smart Dodd heard a church sermon on the newly established Mother’s Day and wanted to honor her father, Civil War veteran William Jackson Smart, who had raised six children by himself after his wife died in childbirth. Sonora Louise Smart Dodd drew up a petition supported by the Young Men’s Christian Association and […]

June 17 is the 168th day of the year (169th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 197 days remaining until the end of the year. Holidays Bunker Hill Day (Suffolk County, Massachusetts) Christian feast day: Albert Chmielowski Botolph (England and Scandinavia) Gondulphus of Berry Hervé Hypatius of Bithynia (Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic Churches) Rainerius Samuel and […]

In my family ancestors  —   Calamity Jane   aka  Martha Jane Cannary In my family history research it was a surprise to learn that Calamity Jane was one of the limbs in my family tree – the branch that my maternal grandfather was from. Just as it was a surprise to learn that on my Paternal branches was Andrew J. Still […]

Good morning, it’s Friday, June 16, 2017. One hundred and fifty-nine years ago today, a former one-term congressman from Illinois delivered one of the most momentous political orations in American history. “A house divided against itself cannot stand,” Abraham Lincoln told an audience of Illinois Republicans at the state capitol in Springfield, Illinois. “I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, […]