Free Republic

Elections and other political processes are pivotal to the quality of a country’s governance. Elections can either greatly advance or set back a country’s long-term democratic development, as well as U.S. foreign policy priorities. The most fundamental principle defining credible elections is that they must reflect the free expression of the will of the people. To achieve this, elections should be transparent, inclusive, and trusted by voters and those elected. There have been several questionable elections. In 1876, Republican Rutherford B. Hayes won against Democrat Samuel J. Tilden in an election marred by voter fraud, and violence. But the 2020...

Of all post-war decades, the 1970s has undoubtedly had the worst press, but the truth is that most ordinary families in 1970s Britain were better off than ever, writes historian Dominic Sandbrook. The 1950s are symbolised by the television and the washing machine, which transformed the lives of so many families. We misremember the 1960s as the decade of the Mini, which was actually invented in 1959, the mini-skirt, which surprisingly few women actually wore, and the Pill, which most women never took. We remember the 1980s as the decade of gigantic hair, shoulder-pads, the Filofax and the home...

Historians have found themselves caught in the middle of America's debate over gun control ever since the Supreme Court ruled in 2022 that firearms laws must be consistent with American "tradition." That decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen set off a new wave of challenges to state and federal restrictions on guns. "What's happening now is a fight over what the Second Amendment ultimately means," says Chuck Michel, president and general counsel at the California Rifle & Pistol Association, which is suing the state over newly passed limits on concealed firearms. "This truly is a...

The Return of 1848 A specter is haunting the West.In Serbia and Belarus, the people demonstrated against fraudulent elections. In Brazil, the people swarmed into government buildings after a fraudulent election. In America, the people swarmed into Congress after a fraudulent election. In Sri Lanka, the people swarmed into Temple Trees—the Prime Minister’s residence—over a mismanaged economy. In Holland, farmers revolted over the government’s plan to destroy agriculture. In Germany, the farmers revolted when the government targeted them. In France, farmers sprayed manure onto government buildings. In France, the offices of Blackrock were breached and trashed. In Iceland, it...

The Big Bopper, Richie Vallens and Buddy Holly.

Retail giant Target recently confirmed it was removing one of its Black History Month products from store shelves after finding out that that product misidentified three civil rights leaders. After historically savvy users pointed out that Target’s Black History Month magnet book mixed up the three civil rights icons, W.E.B. Du Bois, Booker T. Washington and Carter G. Woodson, the store confirmed the blunder. Target noted it was removing the items from shelves and letting the product’s producers know about the mistake. A TikTok video shared by user Issa Tete on Tuesday pointed out the flaw in the holiday-themed item....

New York’s venerable American Museum of Natural History and leading institutions across the country are shutting down major exhibits of Native American artifacts in response to new federal regulations limiting the display of cultural items. Under the guidelines announced recently by the Biden administration, museums must obtain permission from Native American tribes before displaying or performing research on cultural items, many of which were donated generations ago by archeologists who had stolen them after digging up sacred burial grounds. The policy led the museum to close two exhibits — the Hall of the Great Plains, which includes jewelry, tools and...

Image Credit : National Geographic (Social) - RUBÉN SALGADO ESCUDERO Archaeologists have discovered an intact jade mask in the tomb of a Maya King at Chochkitam, a little-known Maya polity in northeastern Peten, Guatemala. Contemporary inscriptions indicate that Chochkitam was a royal city with a lineage traced back to Preclassic times. The site was first reported in 1909, with ongoing studies recording three main monumental groups connected by a long central causeway. In a recent announcement on National Geographic, excavations at Chochkitam have led to the discovery of an interlocking jade mask in the burial of a Maya King. Jade...

Jan. 25 (UPI) -- A statue that went missing from Louisville, Ky., nearly 30 years ago has been returned to the city by a man who had it in his back yard. David Greer said his father worked on a renovation project in 1996 at the Belvedere, an elevated event space in downtown Louisville, when he brought the statue home. "Dad said they tossed it to the side and he asked if he could have it, and they said, sure. That's where it began its life at [our] house," Greer told WLKY-TV. The statue depicts the Greek god Pan playing...

This video is one of many in a series created from an interview conducted by Edward C. Ezell with Eugene Stoner in 1988 at ARES Inc. in Port Clinton, Ohio. All the footage is courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution Archives. All I have done is cut some of the waiting time between tapes out and tried to fix the audio. Otherwise, what you are seeing is entirely unadulterated. Feel free to ask any questions about the various topics of the video in the comments. I will do my best to answer them.

A small town lawyer from West Virginia was in for an extraordinary surprise when he discovered a 253-year-old pre-Revolutionary War fort hidden inside the walls of his Monroe County plantation home. John Bryan, 43, a self-described history buff and amateur archeologist, purchased the property in 2019 with a hunch that the large white clapboard farmhouse was built around an old log fort known as Byrnside's Fort. 'We had to buy the property first before being able to take a crowbar to it to see if the logs were inside the walls.' It was originally built in 1770 by an early...

Native American groups did not support the removal of a statue of William Penn from Welcome Park in Philadelphia prior to the Biden administration’s now-abandoned effort to do so. William Penn was an English Quaker who moved to the American Colonies in 1682 and founded the British colony of Pennsylvania, during which time he maintained friendly relations with Native Americans of the Lenape tribe. The National Parks Service recently canceled plans to remove Penn’s statue from federal property at Welcome Park, in Philadelphia’s downtown historic district, amid strong political and public backlash against the plan, though representatives for a native...

Jack LaLanne (born September 26, 1914, San Francisco, California, U.S.—died January 23, 2011, Morro Bay, California) American exercise and nutrition guru, television personality, and motivational speaker. During his childhood, LaLanne suffered from poor health and erratic behaviour, which he would come to believe was caused by a sugar addiction. As a teen, he attended a lecture by nutritionist Paul Bragg, after which LaLanne cut sugar from his diet and embarked on an exercise routine. These lifestyle changes would come to define his decades-long quest to promote healthy living in America. In 1936 he opened the first public health club (later...

It’s time to stop debating history and facts with people who only care about the exercise of raw political power.div class="article-content"> The news that the Biden administration planned to remove a statue of William Penn in a federal park in Philadelphia that commemorates the founding of Pennsylvania, and that the purpose of the removal was to “provide a more welcoming, accurate, and inclusive experience for visitors,” should at this point not come as a surprise.Once the removals and destruction of Confederate statues and memorials began a few years ago, it was inevitable that all historical figures from America’s past, even...

NATIONAL APRICOT DAY Apricot lovers from all over the United States observe National Apricot Day every year on January 9th. #NationalAprcotDay Related to the peach, the apricot's velvety flesh is quite similar. However, the texture of the golden-orange fruit is firmer, and the flavor more tart than its cousin's. Since we easily preserve the apricot, we enjoy this versatile fruit all year long - fresh, canned, and dried. Apricots are found the world over but originated in northeastern China near the Russian border in ancient times. Later, the fruit was introduced to Europe and Armenia. The apricot found its way...

Former Vice President Mike Pence said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that the Republican Party needed to move on from the leadership of former President Donald Trump, who will be judged by history. When asked about January 6, Pence said, “I would say to every American, as I did during my presidential campaign, that I know I did my duty that day to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. I kept my oath. And they also simply need to look to the facts that the Capitol Hill police endured great hardship and great harm. I...

Hi everyone, A little post Christmas cheer for these days of Biden (the Rutabaga) and the dead economy: E-mail me at Larry@wildworldofhistory.com and I will send you your pick of any of these four ebooks: 1) American Entrepreneur, my history of American business and entrepreneurs 2) A Patriot's History of the Modern World, vol. 1, 1898-1945 3) A Patriot's History of the Modern World, vol. 2, 1946-present 4) The Rhythm of History: my autobiography.

Why is the connection between snow and Christmas so strong? Experts say it’s because songs, stories and images come back year after year and have created the tradition of an idealized white Christmas holiday. Christmas tales and carols have long since invoked images of silver bells, horse-drawn sleighs, and, of course, snow. The association of snow with the holiday and its yuletide charm, for those celebrating across the United States, is not due to a consistent white winter wonderland, however. In fact, nearly half of the contiguous U.S. historically has had a 50% chance or less of actually seeing a...

FALLS CHURCH, Va. — A federal judge on Monday issued a temporary restraining order barring removal of a memorial to Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. A group called Defend Arlington, affiliated with a group called Save Southern Heritage Florida, filed a lawsuit Sunday in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, seeking the restraining order. A hearing has been scheduled for Wednesday. Work to remove the memorial had begun Monday before the restraining order was issued, but the memorial remains in place on cemetery grounds. A cemetery spokesperson said Monday that Arlington is complying with the restraining order, but referred all...

A Trump-appointed federal judge has temporarily halted removal proceedings for the Confederate memorial at Arlington National Cemetery that began Monday, the Associated Press reported. Defend Arlington filed a lawsuit in a federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, on Sunday for a temporary restraining order, the AP reported. Work had already begun to remove the bronze elements of the memorial in accordance with recommendations in the Congressionally-mandated Naming Commission’s final report to scrub Department of Defense (DOD) assets of any symbolism that could be seen to honor the Confederacy. A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, according to the AP. The memorial has...