On this day, August 8th, 1754 in Philadelphia, PA, Joseph Greer was born. One of eleven children, his family would move to the frontier of Staunton, Virginia and later the Watauga River area of Tennessee. In 1769 Joseph, his father and brothers were among 40 men who would defend Fort Watauga from more than 300 Indians—he had just turned 15. During

In his General Orders of August 7, 1782 issued from his headquarters in Newburgh, New York, George Washington decreed the creation of two Honorary Badges of Distinction and a Badge of Military Merit. Previous custom was to only present military honors to the high-ranking officers of victorious forces rather than honoring individual soldiers. Of the

On this day, July 13th 1729, Captain John Parker was born. “Stand your ground. Don’t fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here.” Captain John Parker’s words to his men on Lexington Green on April 19, 1775 have become inextricably associated with the beginnings of the Revolutionary

On this day in 1779, Hugh M. Brackenridge delivers an Eulogium to those gathered in Pennsylvania to honor those who have fallen during the Revolutionary War: “IT is the high reward of those who have risked their lives in a just and necessary war, that their names are sweet in the mouths of men, and

On this day, May 4th, 1918, the relocated graves of Colonel Israel Agnell and his first wife, Martha, were dedicated at a ceremony in Providence, Rhode Island. Israel Agnell was born on August 24th, 1740 to Oliver and Naomi Agnell in Providence, Rhode Island and was a fifth generation descendant of one of the original settlers

The Massachusetts Spy was a colonial weekly newspaper founded in 1770 by Isaiah Thomas and his former master, Zechariah Fowle; later Thomas would buy out Fowle to become sole publisher. Having a circulation of around 3,500, the Spy was substantially more popular than other newspapers of the day which typical had circulations of less than