Posts Tagged ‘history’
Betsy Ross
American Minute with Bill Federer A 3-cent stamp honoring Betsy Ross was issued in Philadelphia, JANUARY 2, 1952, commemorating the 200th anniversary of her birth. Born a day earlier, January 1, 1752, to a Quaker family in Philadelphia, Betsy was the 8th of 17 children. She apprenticed as a seamstress and fell in love with upholsterer John [...]
Rudyard Kipling
American Minute with Bill Federer "Oh, East is East, and West is West, And never the twain shall meet, Till earth and sky stand presently, At God's great judgment seat" wrote Rudyard Kipling in Ballad of East and West. Born DECEMBER 30, 1865, in Bombay, India, he was sent back to England at age 5 for schooling. Poor eyesight ended hopes of a [...]
U.S. Presidents and Hanukkah
American Minute with Bill Federer The first President to light the National Menorah, Jimmy Carter, speaking of hostages held by Islamic terrorists in Iran, 1979, said: Commitments to be free are ever present in the hearts of all Americans because 50 of our fellow citizens are not free. Ronald Reagan, the second President to give a HANUKKAH [...]
The Armenian Massacre
American Minute with Bill Federer Armenia was one of the first nations to become Christian around 301 AD, with its capitol of Ani called the "city of a 1,001 churches." Muslim Turks began invading in the 11th century, making Christians second-class citizens called "dhimmi," and forcing boys to convert and serve in the Muslim army as [...]
Johannes Kepler
American Minute with Bill Federer An attack of smallpox when he was four-years-old left him with crippled hands and poor eyesight. Overcoming those handicaps, he studied Copernicus' works and at age 23 became a professor of astronomy. His name was Johannes Kepler, born DECEMBER 27, 1571. His laws of planetary motion, known as Kepler's Laws, [...]
Pearl Harbor: The Seeds and Fruits of Infamy
Free Enterprise Zone, The Freeman, Jim Powell Pearl Harbor: The Seeds and Fruits of Infamy - Click to Buy For decades the prevailing view among historians has been that because the American people were too stubborn and stupid to concern themselves with foreign wars, President Franklin Roosevelt had to lie for a noble cause—namely, [...]
George Washington and “Victory or Death”
American Minute with Bill Federer The first six months of the Revolution saw the Continental Army chased out of New York, across New Jersey, and into Pennsylvania. Ranks dwindled from 20,000 to 2,000 exhausted soldiers- most leaving at year's end when their six-month enlistment was up. Expecting a British invasion, the Continental Congress [...]
Christmas Eve
American Minute with Bill Federer On Christmas eve, DECEMBER 24, 1492, Columbus' ship, the Santa Maria, ran aground on the island of Haiti. Columbus left 40 men and named the settlement la Navidad, promising to return the next year. He wrote that day to Spain's King and Queen: In all the world there can be no better or gentler people. Your [...]
My Favorite Christmas Story
By Phyllis Schlafly By popular request, I'm going to tell you my favorite Christmas story that I first told five years ago on these broadcasts. I have a good friend who has enjoyed a tremendously successful career in television and radio. I going to tell you a true story about one of these media personalities that he personally told to me. [...]
The Battle of The Bulge
American Minute with Bill Federer Battle of the Bulge- Nazis amassed three armies for an enormous attack against the Allies in the Ardennes Forest and soon surrounded the 101 Airborne Division in southern Belgium, demanding their surrender. U.S. General Anthony McAuliffe answered in one word: "Nuts." This response confused the Nazi commander, [...]
John Newton and Amazing Grace
American Minute with Bill Federer Amazing grace! How sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found, Was blind, but now I see. These were the words of John Newton, a former slave ship captain, who died DECEMBER 21, 1807. At age 11, his mother died and he went to sea with his father. He fell in love with Mary [...]
The Meaning of Christmas
American Minute with Bill Federer Ronald Reagan stated in his Christmas Address, DECEMBER 20, 1983: Sometimes, in the hustle and bustle of holiday preparations we forget the true meaning of Christmas...the birth of the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ... During this glorious festival let us renew our determination to follow His example. Franklin [...]
Charles Wesley
American Minute with Bill Federer "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" was a carol written by Charles Wesley, born DECEMBER 18, 1707, at Epworth, England. The 18th child of Rev. Samuel and Susanna Wesley, he excelled in school and came to the attention of Garret Wesley, or Wellesley, a Member of Parliament with a large fortune in Daugan, Ireland. [...]
Beethoven and the Lord
American Minute with Bill Federer A peer of Mozart and Haydn, he started becoming deaf at age 28, yet incredibly wrote some of the world's most beautiful symphonies, concertos and sonatas. This was Ludwig van Beethoven, baptized DECEMBER 17, 1770, in Bonn, Germany. President Jimmy Carter noted while visiting Bonn, July 14, 1978: As the [...]
The Boston Tea Party
American Minute with Bill Federer The Boston Tea Party took place DECEMBER 16, 1773, just three years after the Boston Massacre, where the British fired into a crowd, killing five. The British passed unbearable taxes: 1764 Sugar Act -taxing sugar, coffee, wine; 1765 Stamp Act -taxing newspapers, contracts, letters, playing cards and all [...]
The Bill of Rights Limit the Federal Government, Not States
American Minute with Bill Federer Newly independent, the thirteen States were concerned that their new Government may become too powerful, as King George's was. They insisted handcuffs be place on the power of the Federal Government. We call these the First Ten Amendments or Bill of Rights, ratified DECEMBER 15, 1791. These Amendments did [...]
The Day George Washington Died
American Minute with Bill Federer He caught a chill riding horseback several hours in the snow while inspecting his Mount Vernon farm. The next morning it developed into acute laryngitis and the doctors were called in. Their response was to bleed him heavily four times, a process of cutting one's arm to let the "bad blood" out. They also had [...]
Phillips Brooks and O Little Town of Bethlehem
American Minute with Bill Federer Phillips Brooks was born DECEMBER 13, 1835. The bishop of the Episcopal Church in Massachusetts, Phillips Brooks took a trip to the Holy Land in 1865, and wrote home: After an early dinner, we took our horses and rode to Bethlehem...It was only about two hours when we came to the town, situated on an [...]
Homer on Ithaca: Adams “Defense” No. 39
Liberty Letters, John Adams, 1786 A Defense of the Constitutions of the United States, Letter 39 Ancient Monarchical Republics: HOMER on ITHACA Dear Sir, THE court of Ithaca, in the absence of Ulysses, is an admirable example of the intrigues of the archons, and their insatiable ambition. The throne of Ithaca, and the sceptre of [...]
The State of Pennsylvania
American Minute with Bill Federer Pennsylvania became the 2nd State to join the Union on DECEMBER 12, 1787. The Continental Congress had met there, the Declaration of Independence was signed there, and the Liberty Bell was rung there. The Continental Army spent the freezing winter of 1777 at Valley Forge there. In 1787, the Constitution was [...]
Lincoln, and the Pledge of the South
American Minute with Bill Federer President Abraham Lincoln, on DECEMBER 8, 1863, announced his plan to accept back into the Union those who had been in the Confederacy. In his proposed pledge, he twice required the acknowledgement of God: Whereas it is now desired by some persons heretofore engaged in said rebellion to resume their [...]
Pearl Harbor
American Minute with Bill Federer DECEMBER 7, 1941- a date which will live in infamy- the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. Thus spoke President Franklin D. Roosevelt following the attack on Pearl Harbor by over 350 Japanese aircraft. Five American battleships and [...]
Saint Nicholas
American Minute with Bill Federer Greek Orthodox tradition tells of Saint Nicholas being born to a wealthy, elderly couple in what is now Turkey in the year 280 AD. When his parents died, he generously gave to the poor. Upon hearing of a merchant who went bankrupt and that creditors were about to take his daughters, Saint Nicholas threw [...]
Meet the Presidents
Dr. Paul G. Kengor, The Center for Vision and Values Editor’s Note: The “V&V Q&A” is an e-publication from The Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College. In this latest edition, Dr. Paul Kengor, the executive director of the Center, interviews Walter Eckman, author of the recent book, “Meet the Presidents” (Schiffer [...]
Elhanan Winchester, a Century Sermon On the Glorious Revolution
Called Unto Liberty, Elhanan Winchester: 1788, Founding Era Sermons A native of Brookline, Massachusetts, Winchester was at first a Baptist and later a Universalist clergyman at churches in Massachusetts and South Carolina, in Philadelphia and London. A remarkable personality possessed of a photographic memory, he became learned in biblical [...]
Hugh Williamson
American Minute with Bill Federer A signer of the Constitution licensed to preach? This was Hugh Williamson, delegate from North Carolina, born DECEMBER 5, 1735. At age 24 he studied theology in Connecticut, was admitted to the Presbytery of Philadelphia and preached two years, visiting and praying for the sick, till a chronic chest weakness [...]
Hernando Cortez and The Conquest of the Aztecs
American Minute with Bill Federer A thirty-three year old conquistador landed in Mexico with five hundred men. He was shocked to find the Aztecs taking prisoners of the weaker tribes, ripping their hearts out atop temples, and in a frenzy eating their bodies. With help from other tribes, the conquistador fought the Aztecs, freed prisoners, [...]
In Freeing the Slave, We Are All Free
American Minute with Bill Federer The Confederates won the Second Battle of Bull Run, crossed the Potomac River into Maryland and captured Harper’s Ferry. But the Confederate drive was halted at the Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest day of fighting in American history. In total, over a half million lost their lives in the Civil [...]
Mark Twain
American Minute with Bill Federer "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" was his first popular story, written while in San Francisco. He then sailed to the Holy Land and wrote Innocents Abroad. While on this trip, he saw the picture of his friend's sister, Olivia Langdon of Elmira, New York, and he fell in love. Immediately upon his [...]
C.S. Lewis
American Minute with Bill Federer His death went unnoticed, as he died the same day John F. Kennedy was shot, but his works are some of the most widely read in English literature. Originally an agnostic, he served in World War I and became a professor at Oxford and Cambridge. He credits his Catholic friend and fellow writer, J.R.R. Tolkien, [...]
