Category Archives: History

Peter Piper’s Practical Principles of Plain and Perfect Pronunciation (1836)

Peter piper, without pretension to precocity or profoundness, puts pen to paper to produce these puzzling pages, purposely to please the palates of pretty prattling playfellows, proudly presuming that with proper penetration it will probably, and perhaps positively, prove a peculiarly pleasant and profitable path to proper, plain and precise pronunciation.

He prays parents to purchase this playful performance, partly to pay him for his patience and pains; partly to provide for the printers and publishers; but principally to prevent the pernicious prevalence of perverse pronunciation.

The Great Democracy Scam of 2016

Some Great Quotes Rather than a democracy, we increasingly have an elective dictatorship. People are merely permitted to choose who will violate the laws and trample the Constitution. — James Bovard, in The Great Democracy Scam of 2016, September 29, 2016. Election results are often only a one-day snapshot of transient mass delusions. — James… Read More »

John Adams: “There is nothing I dread So much, as a Division of the Republick into two great Parties…”

There is nothing I dread So much, as a Division of the Republick into two great Parties, each arranged under its Leader, and concerting Measures in opposition to each other. This, in my humble Apprehension is to be dreaded as the greatest political Evil, under our Constitution. — John Adams, in letter to Jonathan Jackson,… Read More »

Converting Between Julian Dates and Gregorian Calendar Dates in Fortran (and JavaScript)

When looking through some of my old papers I found at my father’s house after he died, I found some old Fortran code for converting Gergorian calendar dates to and from Julian dates. I haven’t used Fortran since the 1970s, so the code looked a little strange. Some examples of Julian dates: Julian Date Equivalent… Read More »

Sedan Crater

Project Plowshare and the Sedan Experiment Predictions Detonation Photographs Taking a Tour of the Sedan Crater References Links Sedan Crater is located at 37°10’36.5”N 116°02’47.0”W (37.176820, -116.046382) in Area 10 on the Nevada National Security Site (formerly the Nevada Test Site) near Mercury, Nye County, Nevada. It was added to the National Register of Historic… Read More »

The Coinage Act of 1792

The Coinage Act of 1792, also known as the Mint Act of 1792, was passed by the United States Congress on April 2, 1792. The Act established the United States Mint and regulated the coinage of the United States. The long title of the legislation is An act establishing a mint and regulating the Coins… Read More »

Declaration of Independence (United States of America)

This article is about the Declaration of Independence of United States of America. For other declarations of independence, see the Wikipedia article “Declaration of independence”. Believe me, dear Sir: there is not in the British empire a man who more cordially loves a union with Great Britain than I do. But, by the God that… Read More »

Armistice Day, Veterans Day, and Victims of Statism Day

By Perry Willis and Jim Babka, Zero Aggression Project Veterans Day used to be called Armistice Day. Armistice Day remembered the moment when World War One ended, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918. Armistice Day was a valuable holiday. It constantly reminded people of the biggest mistake… Read More »