On this day in 1776, the Continental Congress adopts our Declaration of Independence. It had already resolved on July 2 that “these United Colonies are, and, of right, ought to be, Free and Independent States . . . .” Now it formally adopted a written document, too. It took nearly a month to write the Declaration. You may know that Thomas Jefferson was the primary author, but he had help, too. What is the rest of the story? On June 11, Congress nominated a “Committee of Five” to draft a declarat

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On this day in 1941, a hero is born. Robert F. Foley originally thought he’d be a basketball star. After all, he had 15 offers to play college basketball by the time he was a high school senior. But a visit to West Point changed everything; it settled the future in his mind. “I wanted to be an airborne ranger infantryman,” he concluded. “I mean there was no question in my mind that’s exactly what I wanted to do.” Foley graduated from West Point in 1963. By early November 1966, he was in Vietnam,

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On or around this day in 1621, the Pilgrims enjoy a three-day feast! They are grateful for their harvest after a long, hard first year in the New World. You already know that the Pilgrims fled England because they feared religious persecution. Their voyage on the Mayflower began in September 1620—and it was a rough one. “In many of these storms the winds were so fierce, and the seas so high, as they could not bear a knot of sail, but were forced to heave to for many days together,” the future Go

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