History lessons is a grouping of historical stories and tidbits. The topics range from the American Civil War through interesting items from around the world. Please use the comments area to ask questions and make suggestions for future topics.
In July 1890, 125 years ago, two territories – Wyoming and Idaho – joined the Union and earned the right to have stars added to the American flag to signify their new statehood. But it didn’t happen without some glitches involving a national law and a national holiday, and one of the states came up… continue
A century ago, in its annual report about its many efforts to promote patriotism, the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) listed a “Flag Alphabet Acrostic.” It used the 26 letters of the alphabet to teach about the American flag and flag etiquette. The DAR has been committed to promoting the American flag since its… continue
The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, a city that has a municipal flag, recently hosted an unusual art installation by the oddly named William Pope.L. It was a gigantic American flag with elongated red-and-white stripes that were torn into individual strips. The artist told The New York Times that his work represented “one… continue
Two centuries ago, British, Prussian and other armies, led the Duke of Wellington, united to defeat Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in Belgium. As a result, a college in Canada is named after the conflict. And both Waterloos have flags. The mammoth number of troops deployed in 1815 needed flags to know where to… continue
June 14 is Flag Day and June 17 marks the 240th anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775, one of America’s early steps toward independence from Great Britain. So this is an appropriate time to link the two. Or maybe not. Some scholars think that the American forces had no flag to wave… continue