Who are you friends with? Why are you friends with your friends? In the early American republic, men and women formed and maintained friendships for many of the same reasons we make friends today: companionship, shared interests, and, in some cases...
Did you know that George Washington’s favorite drink was whiskey? Actually, it wasn’t. Washington preferred Madeira, a fortified Portuguese wine from the island of Madeira. Why the false start to today’s exploration of history? Gregory Dowd, a...
History is about people, but what do we know about the people behind history’s scenes? Who are the people who tell us what we know about our past? And how do they come to know what they know? Today, we begin our year-long “Doing History” series with...
Did George Washington really start the French and Indian War? Why should we remember a battle that took place over 260 years ago? Today, we investigate the answers to those questions as we explore the Battle of the Monongahela with David Preston...
Benjamin Franklin’s life spanned almost the entire 18th century. Between his birth on January 17, 1706 and his death on April 17, 1790, Franklin lived well-traveled and accomplished life. Michael D. Hattem, research assistant for the Papers of...
Have you heard the saying “behind every great man stands a great woman?” Vivian Bruce Conger, the Robert Ryan Professor in the Humanities at Ithaca College, joins us to explore the two great women that Benjamin Franklin had standing...
In 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue as part of the great European quest to find new routes and shortcuts to the spice islands and territories of Asia. Spain and Portugal led this quest during the 15th and 16th centuries and their...
Did you know that Russian activities in North America caused the Spanish to colonize California? When we think of North America in 1776, our minds take us to the Atlantic seaboard where inhabitants in thirteen colonies fought Great Britain for...
What about the British Redcoats? When we discuss the military history of the American War for Independence, we tend to focus on specific battles or details about the men who served in George Washington’s Continental Army. Rarely do we take the...
On June 1, 1785, King George III received his first diplomat from the United States, John Adams. Do you know what happened when His Majesty came face-to-face with Adams? Sara Georgini, Assistant Editor at the Adams Papers Documentary Editing...