Dave Does History

On January 17, 1920, the United States embarked on a bold and unprecedented social experiment with the enactment of Prohibition via the Volstead Act. This act, named after Congressman Andrew Volstead, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, who managed the legislation, was designed to enforce the 18th Amendment, effectively outlawing the manufacture, sale, and transportation of intoxicating liq...

There is perhaps, no single American Founding Father who has as much influence on your life today as does Alexander Hamilton. Born in obscurity, risen to glory, and fallen tragically, Hamilton’s story is one of relentless ambition, immense intellect, and enduring legacy. From the Caribbean isles to the heights of American politics, his life was a whirlwind of controversy, innovation, and drama. Jo...

Born on December 18, 1913, David M. Jones’s journey from a young dreamer to a revered military figure is a tale of bravery, innovation, and unwavering dedication. Today, we delve into the multifaceted life of this remarkable individual, from his early years and pivotal role in the daring Doolittle Raid, through his harrowing experiences in World War II to his post-war service as a test pilot and h...

In September 1787, after months of deliberation, the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia presented a new Constitution to the states for ratification. Pennsylvania, hosting the convention, was poised to play a critical role in the unfolding drama. The state was a microcosm of the broader national debate, encapsulating the tension between the desire for a strong central government and the fear...

For the anniversary of the Peal Harbor attack, Dave made an appearance on the Florida Round Table show with Bill Mick to talk about the USS Utah, a Florida Class Battleship, lost in the attack… On the morning of December 7, 1941, lying at berth F-11 on the west side of Ford Island, the USS Utah BB-31, a  Florida Class  battleship that had been disarmed and was now used as a training ship, awoke to...

Born on  December 5, 1782 , Martin Van Buren was the first American President who had been born a citizen of the United States. That said, his first language was  NOT  English! He would go on to start a major political party and was long noted for his spectacular ability to conduct politics, leading to one of his nicknames, “The Little Magician.” Long distrustful of the banks, he found a home in t...

Sixty years ago this week, President Lyndon Johnson announced the formation of the Warren Commission to investigate the assassination of John Kennedy. The Nation was deep in shock and needed some reassurance. One year and eight hundred and eighty-eight pages later, the commission announced its findings. Those can be boiled down to this: Lee Harvey Oswald fired the Magic Bullet that killed Presiden...

Over the course of eight days, beginning on the 25th of Kislev (this year, the evening of December 7th), Jews around the world will light the  Hanukkiah, or Hanukkah Menorah . Each night, a new candle is added, until the light from the Menorah is brilliant and fills the home with its life and luster. Almost twenty-two hundred years ago, the Jews sought to rededicate the Temple in Jerusalem. The Te...

In the annals of American history, few figures have stirred as much controversy and debate as Senator Joseph McCarthy. Known for his relentless pursuit of alleged communists within the United States government during the early 1950s, McCarthy’s actions and the era named after him, “McCarthyism,” have become synonymous with witch hunts and unfounded accusations. But who was Joseph McCarthy beyond t...

On November 7, 1916, the nation did something it had not done since 1832: it reelected an incumbent Democrat Party President to a second term. Woodrow Wilson, who ran his campaign on the slogan, “He kept us out of the war,” pulled out one of the closest elections in US history, albeit without the controversy and rancor of other close races. The biggest issue of the campaign had been the US positio...

On October 31, 1864, Nevada became the 36th State to join the Union (I just got that BB-36 was USS Nevada!). While most States that joined the Union did so with certain conditions that varied with the era in which they were admitted, most of them had similar conditions,  vis-à-vis  republican governments and the banning of slavery and so forth. Nevada on the other hand, was unusual in that its fir...

On December 7, 1941, the bombs rained down on the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor. Of the eight Battleships present that day, seven were put out of action. Two of those, Oklahoma, and Arizona, permanently. The other six Battleships were essentially obsolete. In fact, the very reason that the Battleships were in Pearl Harbor that day was because they were useless to accomplish the task the Navy ne...

On the night of October 14/15, 1781, a combined force of American and French forces stormed two British forts, known as redoubts, that held the right side of the British lines at Yorktown. Behind those forts waited seven thousand or so British troops and their German mercenaries. Leading the assault on Redoubt 10 was Colonel Alexander Hamilton. He had been personally selected by George Washington...

“What is the vice presidency? The Constitution dictates only two duties: casting the deciding vote if the Senate is deadlocked and replacing the president if he dies or is impeached. Apart from waiting for those two things to happen, you made the rest up and were duly forgotten by history. The exception being Aaron Burr, who shot someone, decisively lowering the bar for the rest of us.”  ― Austin...

In the early days of the Pacific War, the Japanese empire seized Wake Island from the United States. It was an epic battle, despite the inevitable outcome. An outnumbered and unsupported Marine garrison held out far longer than anyone imagined that they would. Upon seizing the island, the Japanese removed the Marines, but kept ninety-eight civilian workers, who were forced into slave labor to buil...

This week in 1789, the 1st US Congress approved the first twelve amendments to the Constitution. These twelve amendments were the response to Anti-Federalist position that the Constitution MUST have a Bill of rights. To that end, these twelve amendments listed the specific rights which were to be placed outside of government interference. Further, they would serve to limit the ability of the Gover...

In the debates over the ratification of the US Constitution, the Anti-Federalists often resorted to predictions of the worst case of the future. The understood human nature better than the Federalists did, but they lacked the ability to hope that the American people would rise above that nature. George Washington had strongly supported ratification, but by this day in 1796, he was exhausted. Not j...

It’s one of those “myths” of history, that on September 12, 1962, then President John F. Kennedy stood in Rice Stadium in Houston and announced to a stunned and surprised nation and world that the United States was committing itself to putting a man on the moon – and returning him safely – before the end of the decade. The speech is stirring and it was certainly one of Kennedy’s most noted. What i...

I am a Cold Warrior. I grew up in the heat of it, and for the final decade of it, I was directly involved. It was intense. It was personal, and it left me with a profound sense of accomplishment. But unlike the shelling of Ft. Sumter (1861), or the invasion of Serbia (1914) or the Poland (1939), the actual beginning of the Cold War is a bit more… nebulous. One could argue that the roots of the Col...

The 14th amendments Section 3 prohibition against permanently holding office has NEVER been invoked successfully. Even when it was tried the first time, it ended when Congress took action to change it. Then, in 1918, with World War I raging, a man from Wisconsin found himself charged under the 1917 Espionage Act of saying things that the government said were sedition. He was arrested, tried and co...

Who’s ready for the Presidential Campaign Debate Season? Whoo-hoo!!!! Seriously, I long ago quit watching them because – and I say this with love – they are pointless. Nothing of any substance has been discussed at a debate since 1960, and it gets worse every cycle. Today we are literally watching them not to learn anything of value, but in the hope that – like NASCAR – there will be a giant implo...

In the days following the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, there was confusion and uncertainty in the upper echelons of the Imperial Japanese government. Most of the leadership had deferred the final decision to the Emperor, who told them to “Bear the unbearable.” During the few days of waiting for the Japanese decision, the United States had paused its B-29 led bombing campaign. There ru...

By now you know that either Barbie or Oppenheimer, or possibly both, are the greatest movies ever created in the history film. Already people are talking about follow up films to tell what are known as “origin stories,” but frankly I couldn’t care less about the back-story of Barbie or Ken, or even for that matter Robert Oppenheimer. That said, there would never have been a film on Oppenheimer if...

I am often bemused by so many wannabe tough people proclaiming on social media that they are here to “punch Nazi’s in the face!” More than once I have wondered if they would even recognize a actual Nazi if they were to see one in person? My own experience tells me that they would not, because in today’s world, the attitude is that “ Everyone I don’t like is literally Hitler! “ That said, there was...

Everybody knows *that* guy. You know.. the one who has to keep asking weird questions or making absurd pronouncements when the meeting is wrapping up and everybody wants to leave. It’s almost like they are utterly oblivious and definitely not reading the room. It terms of the Constitutional convention, *that* guy is named George Mason. And while the Convention has a scheduled eleven day break, sta...