13 Facts About the 13 Colonies-- Part 1

From the September 27, 2021 History.com.

I'm just listing them.  Go to the site to find out the background.

1.  Connecticut enacted the first constitution in America.  Late 1630s.

2.  Maryland was founded as a haven for Catholics.

3.  Massachusetts  was the birthplace of American iron industry.

4.  Pennsylvania was created to pay a debt.

5.  New Jersey had the alternate name of New Caesarea.  (The Roman name for the island of Jersey in England.)

6.  Virginia's most lucrative crop was tobacco, even though it was opposed by  the king  and the Virginia Company.

--CootCol

Return of Drive-In Theaters-- Part 4: The Mahoning, Shankweiler's and Bengies

**  THE MAHONING DRIVE-IN THEATER in Horsham, Pennsylvania decided not to go with digital and stay retro with 35 millimeter films.  Today, fans travel from all over the country for its multi-day movie marathons of genre and cult classics.  ("Zombiefest" regularly sells out.)

On site camping is available and the door to the projection room is always open so guests can see the original 1940s-era film projectors in action.

**  SHANKWEILER'S DRIVE-IN THEATER is Orefield, Pennsylvania, close to The Mahoning.  It opened in 1934, a year after Hollingsfead's now-lost, groundbreaking venue.   It is now the oldest drive-in in thye country.

**  THE BENGIES DRIVE-IN THEATRE in Middle River, Maryland (1956).  Drive-in design has its own refinements and architectural engineer Jack Vogel was an expert at it.   For one of his family's own venues (this one) he designed a special curved screen that focuses light for a better image, with the right proportions to display the then-new Cinemascope widescreen format without cropping.

The 120-by 52 foot screen is now the largest drive-in screen in the United States.

The venue is now run by Jack's son, D. Vogel, who has continued the tradition of audience participation, asking people to flash their headlights to vote for upcoming movies if they like the trailer.

Love Them Old Drive-Ins.  --Cooter

Some More Facts About 9/11 (And My Thoughts)

I was unable to do my annual commemoration of 9/11 yesterday, so am doing it today in seven of my eight blogs.

From the Do Something Organization "11 facts about 9/11."

**  After the 9/11 atacks on the World Trade Center towers,  the rescue and recovery clean-up of the 1.8 million tons of wreckage from the WTC took 9 months.

I would have liked to have seen that one section of the exterior that was still standing be kept as part of the Memorial.

Plus, when I heard about the call for blood donations, I was thinking that I doubted anyone in those towers when they fell would have survived.  Only a few did.

**  Passengers aboard United Flight 93 heard about the earlier airplane attacks and crashes and decided to attempt to retake ontrol of the plane from the hijackers.  As a result, the hijackers deliberately crashed the plane into the Pennsylvania field instead of their unknown target.  

Personally, I think the Capitol was the target.  That is the seat of our government.

Saving America's Battlefields: Battle of Brandywine

From the American Battlefield Trust September 2022 calendar.

BRANDYWINE, PENNSYLVANIA

187 acres saved.

Fought on September 11, 1777, the Battle of Brandywine pitted the Americans, led by George Washington and rising stars Nathaniel Greene and Marquis de Lafayette, against British forces under William Howe and Wilhem von Kynpausen.

A pivotal British victory, Brandywine cleared the way for the Redcoats to capture and occupy Philadelphia, forcing the Continental Congress to flee.

The Trust and its many partners have saved 187 acres of the Brandywine Battlefield, which is  located about 32 miles southwest of Philadelphia near Chadd's Ford, Pennsylvania.

--Cooter

Charles Willson Peale-- Part 2: A Prolific Painter

His estate is now part of the campus of LaSalle University in Philadelphia.  It can still be visited.

Peale also raised troops for the American Revolution and eventually became a captain in the Pennsylvania militia in 1776 and participated in several battles.  While in the field, he continued to paint. doing  miniatures of American officers.  After the war, he made many into larger paintings.

From 1779 to 1780 he was in the Pennsylvania state assembly, after which he returned to painting full time.

Peale was quite prolific as an artist and did portraits of scores  of historic  figures such as Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton to name a few.

He is probably best known for his portraits of George Washington.  The first time Washington sat for his portrait with Peale was 1772 and they had six other sittings.  Using these  seven as models, Peale produced altogether close to sixty portraits of Washington.  In January 2005, a full-length portrait of Washington at Princeton from 1779 sold for $21.3 million, setting a  record for the highest price ever paid for an American portrait.

--Cooter

Andrew Pickens, Patriot Commander at Battle of Kettle Creek-- Part 1

 From American Battlefield Trust.

(September 13, 1739 to August 11, 1817)

The son of Scots-Irish immigrants, Andrew Pickens was born September 13, 1739, in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.  When he was a teenager,  his family moved to the Waxhaws region of South Carolina.

From 1760-61, Pickens fought in the Cherokee War, serving as an officer in a provincial regiment.  In 1764, he moved to Abbeville, South Carolina, where, a year later, he married  Rebecca Calhoun, the aunt of future pro-slavery politician John C. Calhoun.

When rebellion against Britain broke out in 1775, Pickens was made a captain of militia.  That autumn he took part in a campaign against Loyalists in the South Carolina backcountry and fought in the Siege of Ninety Six, the first major engagement of the revolution outside of New England.

In  the autumn 1776, Pickens served in an expedition that destroyed dozens of Cherokee towns.

--Cooter

A Native American Timeline-- Part 6: George Armstrong Custer and the Little Bighorn

**  NOVEMBER 27, 1868:  Lt.Col. George Armstrong Custer leads an early morning attack on Cheyenne living with Chief Black Kettle destroying the village and killing more than 100 people, including Black Kettle.

**  1873:  Crazy Horse encounters George Custer for the first time.

**  1874:  Gold is discovered in South Dakota's Black Hills.  U.S. troops ignore a treaty and invade the territory which has been set aside for the Indians.

**  JUNE 25, 1876:  In the Battle of the Little Big Horn, also known as Custer's Last Stand, troops under Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer fight Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne warriors, led by Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, along the Little Bighorn River.

Custer and his soldiers are killed, increasing tensions between the Indians and white Americans.

**  OCTOBER 6, 1879:  The first students attend Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania.   This is the country's first off-reservation school, created by Civil War veteran Richard Henry Pratt.  It is designed to assimilate Indian students into American society.

--Cooter

9/11 Timeline-- Part 5: Flight 93, Collapse of the North Tower and the Seven World Trade Center Building

All times are Eastern.

**  10:07 am:  After passengers and crew members aboard the hijacked Flight 93 contact friends and family and learn about the attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., they mount an attempt to retake the plane.  In response, the hijackers deliberately crash the plane into a field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania., killing all 40 passengers and crew aboard.

**  10:28 am:  The World Trade Center's North Tower collapses, 102 minutes after being struck by Flight 11.

**  11 am:  New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani calls for the evacuation of Lower Manhattan south of Canal Street, including more than one million residents,  workers and tourists, as efforts continue throughout the afternoon to search for survivors.

**  1 pm;  At Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, President Bush announces that U.S. forces are on high alert throughout the world.

**  2:51 pm:  The U.S. Navy dispatches missile destroyers to New York and Washington, D.C.

**  5:20 pm:  The 47-story Seven World Trade Center building collapses after burning for hours; the building had been evacuated in the morning, and there are no casualties., though the collapse forces rescue workers to flee for their lives.

A Sad Day in U.S. history.

A Timeline of 9/11-- Part 1: Flights 11 and 175

Every September 11 I stop my blogs to remember.

All times Eastern Daylight Savings Time.

On September 11, 2001, on a clear, sunny day, terrorists on board three hijacked  passenger planes carried out coordinated suicide missions against the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon outside of Washington, D.C..  Everyone aboard the planes were killed and  nearly 3,000 people on the ground.

A fourth plane crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania,  killing all aboard after the passengers tried to gain control of the plane themselves.

**  7:59 am:  American Airlines Flight 11, a Boeing 767,  with 92 people aboard,   takes off from Boston's Logan International Airport, en route to Los Angeles.

**  8:14 am:  United Airlines Flight  175, a Boeing 767 with 65 people aboard, takes off from Boston; it also is headed for Los Angeles.

**   8:19:  Flight attendants  aboard Flight 11 alert ground personnel that the plane has been hijacked; American Airlines notifies the FBI.

During this time I was at home finishing up my coffee and getting ready to drive from Spring Grove to my teaching job in Round Lake, Illinois.  We are at an hour's difference in Central Time Zone.

December 25, 1776: Washington Crosses the Delaware-- Part 1: To Catch the Hessians By Surprise

From the December 25, 2020, AeroTech News "Remembering Christmases past, major military events."

Throughout the history of our country, several notable military events have taken place on this date.

1776:  WASHINGTON'S FAMOUS CROSSING OF THE DELAWARE RIVER

The winter of 1776 didn't start very well for General Washington and his Continental Army.  They suffered many defeats in the first few months of the American Revolution and had been pushed out of New York and New Jersey and now were in Pennsylvania.  For the troops, the morale was low.

Washington desperately needed to renew their faith in the battle for independence, so he decided to surprise the Hessians --  German troops hired by the British -- who were stationed in Trenton, New Jersey.  He figured that doing so after the enemy's Christmas celebrations that would find them groggy, hungover and not ready to fight.

Also, there was one of those winter storms brewing as well as armies generally going into winter quarters and not fighting until spring.

--Cooter

We Spent the Next Week in Class Studying About 9-11 and Events As They Unfolded

I not only stopped my lesson plans for September 1, but continued doing so for the next week.  I told my students this was going to be their Pearl Harbor or JFK assassination.

We located Israel, the Arab countries of the Middle East as well as Washington, D.C., New York City and Pennsylvania, all major parts of 9-11.

I then started talking about world events that led up to what happened.

My seventh graders then began writing a 500-word essay on their own experience on 9-11.  You can't get any closer to history than when you write about something you have actually experienced.

I retired in 2006, but every one of my classes after 2001 had to write a 500-word essay on their experiences from that day.  They could also include what happened to the rest of their relatives on that day.

Five Lies About Early American History You Might Have Learned in School

From the Literacy Site by Allison Stout.

1.  CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS DISCOVERED  THE AMERICAS.

2.  THE ENTIRE THANKSGIVING STORY  There is a 4:30 minute video for you to watch.

3.  THERE WERE 13 ORIGINAL COLONIES--    There were only 12 because Delaware was a part of Pennsylvania until 1776.  Delaware may not have been a colony, it was the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution (hence the nickname "The First State).

4.  THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE WAS ADDRESSED TO KING GEORGE III.  It was actually an explanation to the world and England that the colonies had to cut ties with England.  And, John Hancock did not sign his name really big so that King George III could read it without his glasses.    He just had an obnoxiously big signature.

5.  THE UNION FOUGHT THE CIVIL WAR TO FREE THE SLAVES.  Lincoln actually wanted to preserve the Union at first and to keep the border states happy.  Abolishing slavery would not go over big in these slave states.

It wasn't until later in the war that the goal began to shift toward freeing the slaves.

--Cooter

1918 Influenza in Butler Co., Pa.,-- Part 6: A "Forgotten Epidemic?"

The epidemic faded from public memory almost as quickly as the disease itself vanished.  The deaths of servicemen in the Great War received far more attention than the deaths caused by the influenza.

Furthermore, on November 11, 1918, the Great War, known now as World War I in the U.S. and the First World War in Britain (hey they wouldn't have known about the second one back then) which overshadowed the influenza outbreak in western Pennsylvania (well, it was also in Chicago and in much of the rest of the United States in October that year).

This was kind of like the Civil War's Sultana Disaster which took place April 27, 1865, when the steamboat Sultana blew up while carrying several thousand recently released Union prisoners.  It is regarded as the worst maritime disaster in U.S. history with at least 1,168 deaths. But it was soon forgotten what with the end of the Civil War, Lincoln Assassination and the killing of John Wilkes Booth all occurring around the same time.

The Influenza epidemic of 1918 became "The Forgotten Epidemic" until various other outbreaks in more recent history brought back the memories.

I'm not so sure it was all that forgotten, but definitely this new coronavirus we're involved with these days has brought back the memory.  I was completely unaware of how hard western Pennsylvania was hit, though, until I came across the information about the immigrant cemetery in Butler County which started this thread.

And, there is still one more entry to go.

--Cooter

1918 Influenza in Butler Co., Pa.,-- Part 3: Medical Help Arrives, Hotels and Tents

Already shorthanded by the war in Europe, the 1918 influenza outbreak in Butler County further depleted medical personnel, sickening nine nurses and a number of staff, and hampering their efforts to combat the disease effectively.  The Pennsylvania Department of Health sent a doctor and three nurses to help.

Meanwhile, the hospital neared full capacity and the city health board considered  requisitioning a hotel in the city as a temporary hospital.  Tents were sent to Butler so patients could receive open air treatment which seemed to improve their health.

By mid-October, however, the Butler City Health Board reported 3,000 cases since the crisis had begun, just a few weeks earlier.

I don't know about you, but this sounds all to familiar.

--Cooter

1918 Influenza in Butler County, Pa.,-- Part 2: The "Grippe" Spread Quickly, Very, Very Quickly

On September 23, 1918, Dr. Phillip E. Marks, director of  the Bureau of Infectious Diseases in Pittsburgh, seemed to shrug off the seriousness of this new epidemic, saying it was nothing more than an attack by  the "old fashioned Grippe" (the common name for influenza at the time)

He said, "If persons will take care to sneeze into their handkerchiefs, there will be no danger of the germs spreading."   That danger, however was becoming quite clear by the beginning of October, some seven days later as the influenza had enveloped Pennsylvania, that's how fast it was spreading.

By October 5,  Dr. W.L. Steen, Pennsylvania State Commissioner of Health,  ordered all public places of entertainment closed and prohibited all public gatherings.  Two days later, the Butler Eagle reported 139 new cases, bringing the total number of cases there to over 1,100.

Sounds Familiar, Doesn't It?  --Cooter

Influenza Epidemic of 1918 in Butler County, Pa.-- Part 1: In U.S. Started at Fort Riley in Kansas and Spread

From the Butler County Historical Society  "Influenza epidemic of 1918' by P. Schultz.

While thousands of men were being maimed and killed in Europe during WW I, even more so  were being killed world wide by an unseen foe.  The influenza epidemic of 1918.  It did not confine to Europe, but spread all over the world, infecting 20 to 40% of the earth's population and killing over 20 million.  Some 500,000 of those deaths took place in the United States.

The exact origin of it is not known, though first cases of it in the United States were reported from Fort Riley in Kansas in arch 1918.  It took six months to spread to Pennsylvania where it started in Philadelphia and spread from there to the rest of the state, reaching the western part of the state by September.

--Cooter

Influenza Epidemic Victims, Butler Co., Pa.-- Part 2: Immigrants

Just north of the West Winfield Township in Butler County, Pennsylvania,  is a silent, sobering place known as the Wooden Cross (or Black Cross) Cemetery.  In the early 1900s, many Polish and Slovak immigrants moved to this area in western Pa. to work in the expanding  limestone mine, sand plant, brick yards and tile works in the area.

However, in 1918, many of these men were exposed to  the influenza virus which turned into the worst pandemic ever in terms of those affected and those who died.

Many of these men died without a church, organization or family that would make sure they received a proper burial.  Like many immigrants of the time, these men had left their families behind and come to the new country to establish themselves.

At the same time, local, state and federal  governments refused to fund burials for them.  So, these men were buried here.

Influenza Epidemic Victims in Butler County, Pa-- Part 1.: The Black Cross

I came across this while researching for my Saw the Elephant Blog:  Civil War and felt it appropriate for these days of the "V".

From the HMdb, Near Cabot in Butler County, Pennsylvania.  This is in the western part of the state.

From a marker.

"Here are buried an unknown number of local victims of the worldwide influenza epidemic of 1918-1919 -- one of history's worst  epidemics in terms of death.  In Butler County, the worst period was early October to early November 1918, with some 260 deaths in the county seat alone.

"Immigrant workers in the limestone and other industries are buried in this cemetery with one to five bodies buried in each grave.  A large wooden cross  long marked the site."

Otherwise, there was nothing to denote this as a cemetery.

--Cooter

Big Mac Creator Dies-- Part 2: Who Named It?

Mr. Delligatti had a franchise in Uniontown, near Pittsburgh, when he invented the Big Mac in 1967 after deciding his customers wanted a bigger sandwich than a regular hamburger.  Demand for it exploded and soon spread to all of his 47 McDonald's in Pennsylvania.  It was added to the chain's national menu in 1968.

When asked why he named it Big Mac, he would say that the Big Mc sounded too funny.

However, McDonald's awarded the naming honor to Esther Glickstein Rose.  The true origin of the name has often been argued.  Mr. Delligatti never received any payment or royalties for coming up with the Big Mac.

Two All-Beef.  --DaMack

Think Beyond BBQ on This Fourth-- Part 1: The Reading

From the July 3, 2015, Chicago Tribune by Ron Grossman.

While you're enjoying all the festivities that go along with our country's birthday all those years ago, take a moment to thank John Adlum from York, Pennsylvania, and others from back then who wrote:  "On the morning of the seventh of July, the four companies of the town militia was paraded when the Declaration of Independence was read.  Mr. Smith (who signed it) made a speech...and then threw up his hat and hurrahed for liberty and independence.  The militia on parade and others attending followed their example."

Thanks to Congress, we know how other Americans felt back then.  A half century later, legislation was enacted to provide pensions for those who fought in the Revolutionary War.  Determining who was eligible wasn't easy as documentary evidence was scarce.  Citizen soldiers had drifted in and out of the militias and applicants for pensions had to submit an affidavit of their experience.

These are preserved in the National Archives and of great interest to historians.  It tells us more of the story and from a more common reference point, not just the generals and statesmen.

And, a Happy Birthday to the U.S..