It was the spring of 1974 and residents of the Alaska panhandle town of Sitka woke to a surprise. 3400 foot mount Edgecumbe, towering over the city, was belching thick, black smoke. Little did the worried residents know that local resident Porky Bickar was following in an ancient tradition. This episode of The History GuyContinue reading “Porky Bickar and Foolish History”
Tag Archives: history of holidays
War, Madness, and the First Valentine
The story of the first valentine is a thrilling story with a mad king, one of history’s most climatic battles, and poetry. It is a complex tale that involves two great kingdoms and all the machinations of a royal court. Part Shakespeare, part Game of Thrones, all history that deserves to be remembered.
January 1 and the New Year
In a sense, every day could be seen as the beginning of the new year, in that every day occurs about 365 days after the same day the previous year. So how did we come to adopt January 1st as the beginning of the year?
Christmas Trees: A Forgotten History
The history of the Christmas tree is rather interesting, being both surprisingly ancient, and surprisingly new, with a host of different traditions, and many innovations, one involving a toilet brush. The History Guy recalls the forgotten history of Christmas trees.
Evacuation Day
November 25 was celebrated as a holiday in America for more than a century, and not because of Thanksgiving. In1783, the United States had much to celebrate, and owed a unique debt to a young sergeant, a largely forgotten hero named John Van Arsdale. The History Guy recalls a forgotten American holiday.