John Fletcher Thanks for stopping by and taking time out of your day to read my post.  My intent is to put a smile on your face.  Hopefully you’ll go away with some information you may have forgotten about or did not know.  Now sit back and enjoy the post for the day.John was born in Rye, England back in 1579 (I remember that date well), anyway his father Richard died shortly after his birth and he was sent to his paternal uncle Giles Fletcher who was a poet and minor official.    A highly intelligent boy he entered Corpus Christi College, Cambridge at the age of eleven.  Little is known about his time in college, but records show he was preparing for a career in the church.  Don’t really know what happened but he decided on another path.  He worked closely with someone you may have hea... 01/09/2016

Dorothy Mae Thanks for stopping by and taking time out of your day to read my post.  My intent is to put a smile on your face.  Hopefully you’ll go away with some information you may have forgotten about or did not know.  Now sit back and enjoy the post for the day.Dorothy Mae was born in Cockermouth, Cumberland back in 1771 to John and Ann.  Both died when she was young and she was sent to live with her aunt Elizabeth.  She reunited with her brother in 1795 and never left.  For the first few years they lived in poverty and begged for cast-off clothes from their friends.  She was somewhat of a diarist and amateur poet.  She once wrote, “I should detest the idea of setting myself up as an author, give it to my brother----“.  One of her most famous writings was not published until 1874 al... 01/08/2016

Charles Mason Thanks for stopping by and taking time out of your day to read my post.  My intent is to put a smile on your face.  Hopefully you’ll go away with some information you may have forgotten about or did not know.  Now sit back and enjoy the post for the day.Charles was born in Gloucestershire, England back in 1728 to Charles and Anne.  He attended Tetbury Grammer School.  He lived near Dr. James Bradley a Professor at Oxford.  He as offered a position of assistant at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich.  It was Charles’s job to compile tables of lunar distances for deriving longitude.  Charles was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1767. In 1786 after working again for the Royal Observatory he returned to America where he died the same year.  But can you te... 01/07/2016

 Charles Dawson Thanks for stopping by and taking time out of your day to read my post.  My intent is to put a smile on your face.  Hopefully you’ll go away with some information you may have forgotten about or did not know.  Now sit back and enjoy the post for the day.Charles Dawson was born in Lancashire, United Kingdom in 1864.  His family moved to Hastings, Sussex, when he was still very young.  He studied law but also pursued a hobby of collecting fossils.  Having a hobby of fossil hunting he turned that into some very important findings.  He made a number of important fossil finds.  He found several unknown species of mammals.  Including three new species of dinosaurs, a new fossil plant among the few.  The British Museum conferred him the title of Honorary Collector.  He was elec... 01/06/2016

Hugh Thanks for stopping by and taking time out of your day to read my post.  My intent is to put a smile on your face.  Hopefully you’ll go away with some information you may have forgotten about or did not know.  Now sit back and enjoy the post for the day.Hugh was born in Akyab, British Burma back in 1870 to Charles and Mary.  In 1872 his mother was in England on a visit when she was charged by a cow (not making this up), anyway the shock caused her to miscarry, she never recovered and died soon after the event.  Hugh was sent to live with his grandmother and attended Pencarwick School.  In 1893 he followed his father to Burma where two years later the contracted malaria and returned to England.  When WWI started he joined the military where in 1916 he was killed by a German sniper i... 01/05/2016

Hermann Thanks for stopping by and taking time out of your day to read my post.  My intent is to put a smile on your face.  Hopefully you’ll go away with some information you may have forgotten about or did not know.  Now sit back and enjoy the post for the day.This one is going to be difficult, I don’t want to give it away before I need to, hopefully I can but we’ll see.Hermann was born in Merton, Surrey, England to Francis and Catherine in 1873.  He later changed his name but we’ll get to that shortly.  In 1889 after the death of his father he changed his name to Madox.  In 1894 he eloped with this girlfriend Elsie and moved to Winchelsea.  They had two daughters and in 1904 he suffered a mental breakdown due to financial and marital problems.  I could not find out what happened to th... 01/04/2016

Aphra Johnson Thanks for stopping by and taking time out of your day to read my post.  My intent is to put a smile on your face.  Hopefully you’ll go away with some information you may have forgotten about or did not know.  Now sit back and enjoy the post for the day.Aphra Johnson, is an interesting subject in history.  Her early life and history is obscure.  The history does not make it clear who her father or mother was but mere speculation.  She was reported to be living in Surinam, which is also known as Dutch Guiana, for several years.  She was reported to have married in the mid 1660’s, but that is not confirmed.  Anyway after her husband’s death she allegedly served as a secret agent for Charles II of England while she was living in the Netherlands.  Apparently she was not paid a... 01/03/2016

Gustave Thanks for stopping by and taking time out of your day to read my post.  My intent is to put a smile on your face.  Hopefully you’ll go away with some information you may have forgotten about or did not know.  Now sit back and enjoy the post for the day.Gustave was born in Rouen, France back in 1821 to Achille and Anne.  His father was a senior surgeon at the major hospital in Rouen.  He (Gustave) began when he was eight.  Anyway he was educated in Rouen, but in 1840 he went to Paris to study law.  In 1846 he abandoned the study of law after an attack of epilepsy.  During a year long journey to the Middle East he contracted syphilis.  His sexual activity included both male and female prostitutes.  He never married.  BTW you may know him better as Gustave Flaubert. He wrote Madam... 01/02/2016

Thomas Conway Thanks for stopping by and taking time out of your day to read my post.  My intent is to put a smile on your face.  Hopefully you’ll go away with some information you may have forgotten about or did not know.  Now sit back and enjoy the post for the day.Thomas Conway was born in Ireland; however, he was educated in France. I have nothing to report about his early childhood.   He spent 20 years in the French Army, where he rose to the rank of Colonel.  When the American Revolutionary War started he volunteered to serve the American rebels in 1777.  Silas Deane introduced him to the Congress.  Based on Mr. Deane’s introduction they appointed him Brigadier General on May 13th, and sent him to George Washington.  He was involved in the Battle of Germantown and praised for his ... 01/01/2016

Watching Northwestern vs TennesseeI am watching Northwestern vs Tennessee anticipating a Win for Tennessee as I know Rob Thomas is.  Anyway a little information as my wife is starting to cook dinner.  What’s on the menu you may ask?  Well I’m glad you did, here is what I’ll be enjoying this afternoon…Black eyed peas of courseCorn muffinsKale with ham and bacon…YumScalloped potatoesDessert of course banana nut bread…For you Rob…. GO VOLSHope everyone is enjoying this very first day of the new year.   Remember to smile, it's going to be a good year 01/01/2016

 Reddeford Thanks for stopping by and taking time out of your day to read my post.  My intent is to put a smile on your face.  Hopefully you’ll go away with some information you may have forgotten about or did not know.  Now sit back and enjoy the post for the day.Reddeford was born in Roane County Tennessee back in 1798.  I have no research about his childhood or who his parents were.  What I can tell you in 1832 he set out with an expedition from Fort Osage, Missouri.  The mission was to explore the Great Salt Lake and to find an overland route to California.  He was an accomplished mountain man and scout.  He led a gold-hunting expedition into the mountains of central Arizona near Prescott.  The expedition struck gold along the Hassayampa River.  Regardless of his prior accomplishmen... 12/31/2015

Janszoon Thanks for stopping by and taking time out of your day to read my post.  My intent is to put a smile on your face.  Hopefully you’ll go away with some information you may have forgotten about or did not know.  Now sit back and enjoy the post for the day.Okay this is a good one.  If you guess it before you’re told, I’ll well I don’t really know but you’ll win the chicken dinner if you buy it.  Alright on with the show.  Janszoon was reported to be born in Lutjegast, Dutch Republic in 1603, but the first available source mentioning him only dates back to 1631.  Janszoon was reported to be living as a widower during that time when he became engaged to marry 21 year-old Jannetje.  (BTW I didn’t make up these names I just report what I’ve read and researched).  Anyway after his marr... 12/30/2015

ElizabethThanks for stopping by and taking time out of your day to read my post.  My intent is to put a smile on your face.  Hopefully you’ll go away with some information you may have forgotten about or did not know.  Now sit back and enjoy the post for the day.No I’m not writing about Elizabeth Weintraub, but who knows what tomorrow will bring.  Alright, this Elizabeth was born in Amherst, Massachusetts in 1830 to Edward and Emily.  She in her notes described her father in a warm manner, however she wrote about her mother as being regularly cold and aloof.  In 1840 she attended Amherst Academy, where he studied in English and classical literature and arithmetic to name a few.  For the first 15 years of her life she did not go far from her home, however in 1855 she took one of her long... 12/29/2015

Isayevich Thanks for stopping by and taking time out of your day to read my post.  My intent is to put a smile on your face.  Hopefully you’ll go away with some information you may have forgotten about or did not know.  Now sit back and enjoy the post for the day.Isayevich was born in Kislovodsk, Russia in 1918 to Isaakly and Taisiya.  His father was killed shortly after learning his wife was pregnant with Isayevich.  Taisiya never remarried, but she was educated and encouraged his literary and scientific learnings.   Not much is written about his early childhood, but he attended the Rostov State University.  During WWII he served as a commander in the Red Army.  He was involved in several major actions and twice decorated.   While in East Prussia he witnessed war crimes against local G... 12/28/2015

 Emily Helm Thanks for stopping by and taking time out of your day to read my post.  My intent is to put a smile on your face.  Hopefully you’ll go away with some information you may have forgotten about or did not know.  Now sit back and enjoy the post for the day.Emily Helm was the wife of southern General Ben Hardin Helm.  He was killed at the Battle of Chickamauga in 1863.   In that same year she visited the White House and was greeted by none other than President Lincoln himself.  While she was at the White House General Daniel Sickles, who had been wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg, told Lincoln that she should not have a Rebel in his house.  I just love what Lincoln told General Sickles.  I take it this is verbatim, Lincoln replied. “General Sickles, my wife and I are in the ha... 12/27/2015

Pickering Thanks for stopping by and taking time out of your day to read my post.  My intent is to put a smile on your face.  Hopefully you’ll go away with some information you may have forgotten about or did not know.  Now sit back and enjoy the post for the day.Pickering was born near Missoula, Montana back in 1880 to John and Olive.  In her young years she helped the family buy cleaning, sewing and doing general outdoor work.  She graduated from high school in 1898, where she went on to the University of Montana and graduated in 1902 with a Bachelor of Science degree. At 28 she moved to San Francisco and then to Spokane, Washington where she became involved in the women’s suffrage movement.  In 1914 Montana passed an amendment granting women unrestricted voting rights. In 1916 she wa... 12/26/2015

 Albert Thanks for stopping by and taking time out of your day to read my post.  My intent is to put a smile on your face.  Hopefully you’ll go away with some information you may have forgotten about or did not know.  Now sit back and enjoy the post for the day.Albert was born in Rhaumem, Germany back in 1869 to Joseph and Rosalie.  I could not find anything written about his early childhood, except as a teenager, he got a job with the firm of Mason and Rice.  You may ask what Mason and Rice did, well you’ll need to read to find out because it’s part of the rest of the story.  Well because of that job he received a scholarship to further his education.  I’ll give you a hint in that the studied under Henry Bacon.  Okay that is the only hint you’ll get.  In 1895 he founded a firm and as t... 12/25/2015

Grover Thanks for stopping by and taking time out of your day to read my post.  My intent is to put a smile on your face.  Hopefully you’ll go away with some information you may have forgotten about or did not know.  Now sit back and enjoy the post for the day.Grover was born in Columbus Ohio in 1894 to Charles and Mary. He had two brothers and once while they were playing William Tell, one of his brothers shot Grover in the eye with an arrow, resulting in him losing the eye.  In 1913-1918 he attended The Ohio State University, but he never graduated because of his poor eyesight.You may know him better as James Grover Thurber, he worked for the Department of State in Washington, D.C. and later at the Embassy of the United States, Paris.  When he returned in 1925 he got a job as a report... 12/24/2015

John Froelich Thanks for stopping by and taking time out of your day to read my post.  My intent is to put a smile on your face.  Hopefully you’ll go away with some information you may have forgotten about or did not know.  Now sit back and enjoy the post for the day.John was born in Girard, Iowa back in 1849.  Back in the late 1800’s he and his crew would go from place to place at harvest time in Iowa and the Dakotas, threshing the farmer’s crops for a fee.  He used a steam powered thresher, but the cost associated with hauling the machine around was not making him a profit, needless to say that one spark could set the prairie afire.  So in 1890 he produced the first gasoline engine for tractors.  He and eight other investors formed the Waterloo Gasoline Traction Engine Company in 1894... 12/23/2015

PierreThanks for stopping by and taking time out of your day to read my post.  My intent is to put a smile on your face.  Hopefully you’ll go away with some information you may have forgotten about or did not know.  Now sit back and enjoy the post for the day.Pierre was born in 1685 in Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, Canada to Rene and Marie.  His father died when he was six, he was educated at the Jesuit Seminary in Quebec.  At the tender age of 14 he received a cadet’s commission in the colonial regulars.  At 22 he enlisted in the French Army and fought in several battles.  He returned to Canada in 1712 and for 15 years he supported his family by farming and fur-trading along the Saint Lawrence River.You may know Pierre better as Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Verendrye.  If not don... 12/22/2015