Don’t Know Much About the “Negro Riots” in Watts

The recent urban riots in London that spread to other parts of England beg an obvious question: Can it happen in America? Of course, it has already happened in America, more than once

Don’t Know Much About Thoreau

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. On August 9, 1854, Henry David Thoreau published Walden: Or, Life [...]

“Is there hope for America in era of broken trust?”

We are in an era of broken trust. The deep divisions in Washington, evident most recently in the wrangling over the debt ceiling, drove this home. Opinion polls in the wake of the debate confirmed the worst news for the Beltway Crowd: Confidence in Congress has plunged to an all-time low.

Don’t Know Much About® The Gulf of Tonkin Attacks

When Administrations Lie, Thousands Die. That is today’s history lesson on the date of a controversial “attack” on the U.S. Navy in the Gulf of Tonkin off the cost of North Vietnam. That attack led to the passage of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution a few days later and America’s deepening involvement in the war [...]

Historical Libraries, Societies and Museums: “Beam me IN!”

“BEAM ME IN, SCOTTY!” Apologies to Captain Kirk and Star Trek. I know it’s really, “Beam me UP, Scotty.” For more than 20 years, I have been traveling the country, visiting museums, historical societies, bookstores, libraries and teacher conferences to share my love for history, geography and all the subjects I have covered in the [...]

Don’t Know Much About History -21 Years, Still Going Strong!

My how time flies! When Don’t Know Much About History was first published in 1990, it was simply meant to serve as a fresh new take on American history. Busting myths, with a dose of humor and real stories about real people, the book was conceived as an antidote to the dull, dreary textbooks we [...]

A Case of “Loving” Revisited

Last week’s historic passage of a “gay marriage” law in New York state meant that six states and the District of Columbia now permit same sex marriage; a number of other states allow a form of civil union. The addition of New York doubled the number of Americans living in states with same sex marriage. [...]

America’s Founding Fathers: A List of Fascinating Facts

The “Founding Fathers” were real men, not those faces chiseled in stone on Mount Rushmore. Here are some little known but fascinating facts you may not know about some of the men who were present at the birth of the nation –including some whose names you may not know!

America’s “Other” Independence Day

America’s birthday is fast approaching. But let’s not wait for July 4th to light the fireworks. There is another Independence Day on the horizon. Juneteenth falls on June 19 each year. It is a holiday whose history was hidden for much of the last century. But as the nation now observes the 150th anniversary of the Civil War’s onset, it is a holiday worth recognizing

Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Juneteenth-Our-Other-Independence-Day.html#ixzz1PXGpVxj8

Don’t Know Much About History… Still!

The latest in the perennial drumbeat of bad news about failing American History grades in American schools has just been released. And it is as bad as ever. So the first simple question is:Why Are we so Bad at History?