Grantian Florilegium
Penman of the Revolution
Widely known as the “Penman of the Revolution,” John Dickinson (1732-1808), wrote many of the most influential documents of the period—from the Declaration of Rights in 1765 and the Articles of Confederation in 1776 to the Fabius Letter in 1787 which ...
Birth of a Nation
The independent state of Israel was proclaimed in Tel Aviv as British rule in Palestine came to an end on this day in 1948. Immediately, all of its Arab neighbors declared war and vowed to ...
The Panama Canal
President Theodore Roosevelt authorized the start of construction on the Panama Canal on this day in 1904. The fifty mile canal crossed the Isthmus of Panama and enabled ships to travel from the Pacific and Atlantic ...
St. George’s Day
The Patron Saint of England, Lybia, Lebanon, and Greece, George was a Syrian Christian soldier who quickly rose through the ranks of the Roman the army into the Imperial Guard by virtue of his valor ...
Aggravated Gossip
“Gossip, even when committed in the name of justice, is still gossip–only now, it is gossip aggravated by self-righteousness.” Maurice Baring
Cleveland at 216
April 19, 2012: First settled on this day in 1796, Cleveland remained a sleepy little village at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River on the shores of Lake Erie for nearly two decades. But the nearby ...
A Radical Take on the 90-10 Rule
J.C.Penney opened his first Golden Rule Store, in Kemmerer, Wyoming on this day in 1902. His life credo was, “You can’t outgive God.” He proved it by building amulti-million dollar commercial empire while always giving away ninety-per…