On this date, in the year of our Lord, 1775, political leader Patrick Henry stood and delivered an extemporaneous speech with which we Americans should be acquainted.
While many of us could say we have heard the phrase, "Give me liberty or give me death!" woefully few have read the entire speech.
Due to the fact thatHenry gave this extemporaneously, there are no notes and/or outline in Henry's own handwriting. What we are blessed with; however, are the writings of two men in attendance that day who,sensing the significance of the speech, wrote it out even as it was being delivered.
READ THIS SPEECH and READ IT TO YOUR CHILDREN!
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Luther Burbank
Sunday, March 7th, is the birth date for the American scientist, Luther Burbank. He began growing a garden while still in secondary school to support his widowed mother. His curiosity led him to experiment with plants...
The Burbank potato is named for him. His white blackberry is so transparent that its small seeds can be seen. One of his most interesting creations is the plumcot, offspring of a Japanese plum and the apricot. He produced a plum that tastes like the Bartlett pear. He also developed the pomato by selection from the fruit of the potato. It grows on the potato vine but resembles a small tomato! Burbank's great Shasta daisy probably arouses the most interest of the several hundred new ornamental plants he developed. The Shasta daisy is the offspring of the English daisy, the wild American daisy, and their white Japanese cousin.
Luther Burbank was so well known for his horticultural accomplishment in his adopted state of California, that Arbor Day became known as Burbank Day.
On March 7, 1911, the school children of Santa Rosa made Mr. Burbank a pledge and had it written out and framed for him. It read:
"Today, as part of our Arbor Day exercises and in honor of one who is, we know, a sincere friend of birds and trees, we pledge ourselves to befriend all of God's creatures, to protect the birds, and not to destroy maliciously trees or any of the other beauties of nature."
The Burbank potato is named for him. His white blackberry is so transparent that its small seeds can be seen. One of his most interesting creations is the plumcot, offspring of a Japanese plum and the apricot. He produced a plum that tastes like the Bartlett pear. He also developed the pomato by selection from the fruit of the potato. It grows on the potato vine but resembles a small tomato! Burbank's great Shasta daisy probably arouses the most interest of the several hundred new ornamental plants he developed. The Shasta daisy is the offspring of the English daisy, the wild American daisy, and their white Japanese cousin.
Luther Burbank was so well known for his horticultural accomplishment in his adopted state of California, that Arbor Day became known as Burbank Day.
On March 7, 1911, the school children of Santa Rosa made Mr. Burbank a pledge and had it written out and framed for him. It read:
"Today, as part of our Arbor Day exercises and in honor of one who is, we know, a sincere friend of birds and trees, we pledge ourselves to befriend all of God's creatures, to protect the birds, and not to destroy maliciously trees or any of the other beauties of nature."
Friday, March 5, 2010
Boston Massacre
The British troops intended for the defense of the colonies began to arrive in the Colonies. But Massachusetts, along with three other colonies, refused to find them quarters.Everywhere the presence of the soldiers gave great offense; but in Boston the people were less patient than elsewhere. [Boston was the headquarters for the Sons of Liberty,an organization that was headed by Sam Adams, cousin of John Adams.] Bostonians accused the soldiers of corrupting the morals of the town; desecrating the Sabbath with fife and drum; of striking citizens who insulted them; and of using language violent, threatening, and profane.
In this state of feeling, an alarm of fire called the people into the streets[of Boston] on the night of March 5,1770. The alarm was false, and a crowd of men and boys (many sailors and riffraff from the water front) having nothing else to do, amused themselves by taunting a lone British sentry posted in front of the Custom House. The time was shortly after nine. As a throng of several hundred converged at the cobbled square where the building was located, the lone guard was reinforced by eight British soldiers with loaded muskets and fixed bayonets. Shouting and cursing, the crowd pelted the despised "Lobster-backs" with snowballs, chunks of ice, oyster shells, and stones. In the perusing melee the soldiers opened fire, killing five men.
Samuel Adams was quick to call the killings a "bloody butchery" and to distribute a print published by silversmith Paul Revere. Revere's print vividly portrayed the scene as a slaughter of the innocent, and the term "Boston Massacre" was birthed.
Note: John Adams defended the British soldiers and their captain when they came to trial.
In this state of feeling, an alarm of fire called the people into the streets[of Boston] on the night of March 5,1770. The alarm was false, and a crowd of men and boys (many sailors and riffraff from the water front) having nothing else to do, amused themselves by taunting a lone British sentry posted in front of the Custom House. The time was shortly after nine. As a throng of several hundred converged at the cobbled square where the building was located, the lone guard was reinforced by eight British soldiers with loaded muskets and fixed bayonets. Shouting and cursing, the crowd pelted the despised "Lobster-backs" with snowballs, chunks of ice, oyster shells, and stones. In the perusing melee the soldiers opened fire, killing five men.
Samuel Adams was quick to call the killings a "bloody butchery" and to distribute a print published by silversmith Paul Revere. Revere's print vividly portrayed the scene as a slaughter of the innocent, and the term "Boston Massacre" was birthed.
Note: John Adams defended the British soldiers and their captain when they came to trial.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
"The New Roof"
I found this interesting fact in a 1912 American history book...
The Constitution provided that when nine states had ratified, it should go into effect "between the states so ratifying." While it was under discussion the Federalists, as the friends of the Constitution were so named, began to refer to the Constitution as "the New Roof," which was going to cover the states and protect from political storms.
School History of the United States by John Bach McMaster
The Constitution provided that when nine states had ratified, it should go into effect "between the states so ratifying." While it was under discussion the Federalists, as the friends of the Constitution were so named, began to refer to the Constitution as "the New Roof," which was going to cover the states and protect from political storms.
School History of the United States by John Bach McMaster
First Congress
The first meeting of Congress(under the Constitution) was called to meet this date, in the year of our Lord 1789, in New York City. But when the date came, there was no Senate. Less than a majority of that body had arrived in New York, so no business could be done. When at length the Senate secured a majority, the House was still without one, and remained so until April.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Thomas Edison
Today is the birthday of the Scottish-born inventor, Alexander Graham Bell, who was born in the year of our Lord 1847.
Bell had a deep interest in in the problems of the deaf all his life. In fact, he once told his family he would rather be remembered as a teacher of the deaf than as the inventor of the telephone.
Bell was only 29 when his basic telephone patent was granted in 1876.
Bell developed an electrical apparatus to locate bullets or other metal in the body in a vain effort to save President James Garfield's life. President Garfield had been shot by an assassin in 1881. Bell perfected an electric probe which was used in surgery for several years before the x-ray was discovered. He and his associates developed the method of making phonographs records on wax discs. Bell advocated a method of locating icebergs by detecting echoes from them. He worked on methods to make fresh water from vapor in the air for men adrift at sea in open boats. For 30 years, he directed breeding experiments in an attempt to develop a strain of sheep that would bear more than one lamb at a time.
Alexander Graham Bell became a citizen of the United States in 1882.
A story told bout Bell is that he disliked the telephone because it interrupted his experiments.
Bell had a deep interest in in the problems of the deaf all his life. In fact, he once told his family he would rather be remembered as a teacher of the deaf than as the inventor of the telephone.
Bell was only 29 when his basic telephone patent was granted in 1876.
Bell developed an electrical apparatus to locate bullets or other metal in the body in a vain effort to save President James Garfield's life. President Garfield had been shot by an assassin in 1881. Bell perfected an electric probe which was used in surgery for several years before the x-ray was discovered. He and his associates developed the method of making phonographs records on wax discs. Bell advocated a method of locating icebergs by detecting echoes from them. He worked on methods to make fresh water from vapor in the air for men adrift at sea in open boats. For 30 years, he directed breeding experiments in an attempt to develop a strain of sheep that would bear more than one lamb at a time.
Alexander Graham Bell became a citizen of the United States in 1882.
A story told bout Bell is that he disliked the telephone because it interrupted his experiments.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Flat Earth
You've probably heard the story that most people of Columbus's day believed that the earth was flat. Supposedly, they thought that ship sailing beyond the horizon would fall off the edge of the earth. The story goes that Columbus single-handily disproved the flat-earth myth, and that he stood alone against the learned men of the day who ridiculed his theory of a round earth. In addition,this legend falsely blames the flat-earth theory on Bible-believing Church leaders.
Interesting reading...yes. Which is the reason that the author included this myth in his biography of Christopher Columbus! This piece of "creative literature" can be traced back to Washington Irving's book on Columbus.
THE BIBLE DOES NOT TEACH THAT THE EARTH IS FLAT.
COLUMBUS WAS NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO BELIEVED THAT THE WORLD WAS ROUND; SO DID ALL THE OTHER EDUCATED PEOPLE OF HIS DAY.
There are no biblical references to a flat earth. Biblical descriptions of the world's "four corners" and "four winds" are poetic phrases. There is nothing unusual or unscientific about depicting the earth as have four corners. The modern compass works in terms of a linear perspective, and flat maps have always been used to plot direction. When was the last time you took a globe on a trip? Why should we expect the Bible to describe reality any differently from the way we do?
What does the Bible say concerning the our planet?
It simply states that God, "stretches out the north over empty space, and hangs the earth on nothing." - Job 26:7
"It is He that sits upon the circle of the earth." -Isaiah 40:22
Interesting reading...yes. Which is the reason that the author included this myth in his biography of Christopher Columbus! This piece of "creative literature" can be traced back to Washington Irving's book on Columbus.
THE BIBLE DOES NOT TEACH THAT THE EARTH IS FLAT.
COLUMBUS WAS NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO BELIEVED THAT THE WORLD WAS ROUND; SO DID ALL THE OTHER EDUCATED PEOPLE OF HIS DAY.
There are no biblical references to a flat earth. Biblical descriptions of the world's "four corners" and "four winds" are poetic phrases. There is nothing unusual or unscientific about depicting the earth as have four corners. The modern compass works in terms of a linear perspective, and flat maps have always been used to plot direction. When was the last time you took a globe on a trip? Why should we expect the Bible to describe reality any differently from the way we do?
What does the Bible say concerning the our planet?
It simply states that God, "stretches out the north over empty space, and hangs the earth on nothing." - Job 26:7
"It is He that sits upon the circle of the earth." -Isaiah 40:22
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