History Schmistory: August 18. Truth or Dare?
Friday, August 18, 2023
1587: Virginia Dare, the first American child of English descent, is born. Sad news for the Truths, across the road, who are  two weeks overdue.
History Schmistory: August 17. Moving stick-people? One please!
Thursday, August 17, 2023
1908: Fantasmagorie by Emile Cohl, debuts as the first animated film in history. Try it with your own soundtrack! … …Or don’t.
History Schmistory: August 16. Can you hear me now?
Wednesday, August 16, 2023
1858: The United States exchanges overseas greetings with the United Kingdom for the first time through the transatlantic telegraph cable.
Which was destroyed 4 weeks later by this guy…
[Portrait of Wildman Whitehouse, 1856-1865, Maull and Polyblank, Science Museum, 1856-1865. Object No. 1980-2/50. © This image is available for use under the following license: CC-BY-NC-ND 2.0]
His complaint was it didn’t work fast enough, so he turned up the juice too high and fried the thing. Way to go, Wildman.
He tried to make it up to everybody with a communications device of his own…
No one was amused.
History Schmistory: August 15. I see ridiculous pants in your future…
Tuesday, August 15, 2023
1519: Panama City is founded. A super great rock song is prognosticated shortly thereafter.
History Schmistory: August 14. Can’t get enough (US) Football?
Monday, August 14, 2023
1959: Founding of the American Football League (AFL), which lasted 9 seasons, then merged with the NFL as the AFC. The XFL wasn’t so lucky. Remember that? What a joke!
History Schmistory: August 13. Getting a-head
Sunday, August 13, 2023
1792: King Louis XVI is arrested by the National Tribunal and declared an enemy of the people. When faced with the guillotine, he asked if they could just take a little off the top.
History Schmistory: August 11. Welcome to the 500 club! Someone will be with you shortly.
Friday, August 11, 2023
1929. Babe Ruth becomes the first baseball player to hit 500 career home runs. Though most agree it’s because he was all hopped-up on hot dogs.
By National Photo Company [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
History Schmistory: August 10. A Voyage to Reminder
Thursday, August 10, 2023
1519 – Ferdinand Magellan’s five ships set sail from Spain to circumnavigate the globe. Though Magellan was killed just before the final leg of the journey, the expedition was a success. Not only were they the first to encircle the globe, they were also the first to travel from the Atlantic into the Pacific Ocean, as well as the first to cross the Pacific.
And yet it’s this guy gets a holiday?!…
History Schmistory: August 9. No more Richard jokes!
Wednesday, August 9, 2023