This Day in History: Sep 14, 1779: Brodhead completes Allegheny River expedition

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On this day in 1779, American Colonel Daniel Brodhead concludes an ambitious assault against the Seneca Indians throughout the Allegheny Valley of Pennsylvania. Simultaneously, Major General John Sullivan had attacked the Iroquois of New York.

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Brodhead had left Pittsburgh in August at the head of 600 men. Over the course of his mission, he destroyed 10 Indian villages, encountering only minimal resistance because the Seneca warriors had traveled to fight the Sullivan-led expedition, which had been ravaging native settlements in New York.

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On August 29, 1779, at what is modern-day Elmira, New York, near New York's southwestern border with Pennsylvania, Continental forces led by Sullivan and Brigadier General James Clinton defeated a combined force of Loyalists and Indians commanded by Captain Walter Butler and Chief Joseph Brant in the Battle of Chemung. Sullivan subsequently embarked on a scorched-earth campaign against the Iroquois in retaliation for their continued raids against frontier settlements. At least 40 of the tribe's villages were destroyed, along with valuable supplies.

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Later, Brodhead was charged with clearing the Lenape-Delaware out of the Ohio Valley. He was successful, but was replaced as the commander of the Western Department under charges of mishandling the department's finances on September 17, 1781. Broadhead's name was eventually cleared of most charges and he was made a brigadier general by George Washington later that year. Broadhead went on to become a founder of the Society of the Cincinnati, an association of Continental Army veterans; a member of Pennsylvania's General Assembly; and the state's surveyor general. In the latter position, he was tasked with mapping for settlement the land he had previously worked to empty of its original inhabitants.

Source: google.co.za via Juan on Pinterest

Source: google.co.za via Juan on Pinterest

taken from: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/brodhead-completes-allegheny-river-expedition [14.09.2012]

This Day in History: Sep 13, 1916: Children's author Roald Dahl is born

On this day in 1916, Roald Dahl, author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964) and James and the Giant Peach (1961), is born in South Wales.

 

Dahl's childhood was filled with tragedy. His father and sister died when Dahl was three, and he was later brutally abused at his boarding school. After high school, he traveled widely, joining an expedition to Newfoundland and later working in Tanzania. In World War II, he joined the Royal Air Force and became a fighter pilot. He flew missions in Libya, Greece, and Syria, and was shot down in the Libyan desert, suffering serious injuries. (He saved a piece of his femur, removed in an operation after the accident, and later used it as a paperweight in his office.)

After he recovered, Dahl was sent to Washington, D.C., as an attache. There, the writer C.S. Forester suggested he write about his war experiences, and 10 days later Dahl had his first publication, in the Saturday Evening Post.

 

Dahl wrote his first book, The Gremlins, for Walt Disney, in 1943, and the story was later made into a Disney film. He wrote several popular adult books, including Someone Like You (1953) and Kiss Kiss (1959), and began writing stories for his own four children in 1960. James and the Giant Peach and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory became bestsellers. He also wrote the screenplay for Charlie (with a title change-the movie was called Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), and a James Bond film, You Only Live Twice (1967).

 

 

Dahl did most of his writing on the family farm, writing two hours every morning, two hours every afternoon, and tending to the animals in between. He was divorced from his wife, Oscar-winning actress Patricia Neal, in 1983, and remarried. He died in 1990 at age 74.

Taken from: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/childrens-author-roald-dahl-is-born [13.09.2012]

Roald Dahl From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Roald Dahl ( /ˈroʊ.ɑːl ˈdɑːl/,^[2] Norwegian: [ˈɾuːɑl dɑl]; 13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British novelist, short story writer, poet, fighter pilot and screenwriter.
Born in Wales to Norwegian parents, he served in the British Royal Air Force during World War II, in which he became a flying ace and intelligence officer, rising to the rank of Wing Commander. Dahl rose to prominence in the 1940s, with works for both children and adults, and became one of the world's best-selling authors.^[3][4] He has been referred to as "one of the greatest storytellers for children of the 20th century".^[5] In 2008 The Times placed Dahl 16th on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".^[6] His short stories are known for their unexpected endings, and his children's books for their unsentimental, often very dark humour.

 

 

Some of his notable works include James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, The Witches, Fantastic Mr Fox, The Twits, George's Marvellous Medicine and The BFG.



 references:

1. ^ ^{a b} Roald Dahl Literary Influences infloox.com
2. ^ Pronunciation of Roald Dahl : How to pronounce Roald Dahl inogolo.com
3. ^ ^{a b} Britain celebrates first Roald Dahl Day msnbc: "Dahl's books, many of them darkly comic and featuring villainous adult enemies of the child characters, have sold over 100 million copies." (13 September 2006)
4. ^ ^{a b} Fans gather for Dahl celebration BBC News: "Exhibitions and children's reading campaigns are being held to commemorate the life of Dahl, who died in 1990 and has sold more than 100 million books." (13 September 2006)
5. ^ ^{a b c d e} Once upon a time, there was a man who liked to make up stories ... The Independent (Sunday, 12 December 2010)
6. ^ ^{a b} The 50 greatest British writers since 1945. The Times. 5 January 2008. Retrieved on 1 February 2010.

 

This Day in History: Sep 12, 1940: Lascaux cave paintings discovered

Near Montignac, France, a collection of prehistoric cave paintings are discovered by four teenagers who stumbled upon the ancient artwork after following their dog down a narrow entrance into a cavern. The 15,000- to 17,000-year-old paintings, consisting mostly of animal representations, are among the finest examples of art from the Upper Paleolithic period.

 

 

 

First studied by the French archaeologist Henri-Édouard-Prosper Breuil, the Lascaux grotto consists of a main cavern 66 feet wide and 16 feet high. The walls of the cavern are decorated with some 600 painted and drawn animals and symbols and nearly 1,500 engravings. The pictures depict in excellent detail numerous types of animals, including horses, red deer, stags, bovines, felines, and what appear to be mythical creatures. There is only one human figure depicted in the cave: a bird-headed man with an erect phallus. Archaeologists believe that the cave was used over a long period of time as a center for hunting and religious rites.

 

The Lascaux grotto was opened to the public in 1948 but was closed in 1963 because artificial lights had faded the vivid colors of the paintings and caused algae to grow over some of them. A replica of the Lascaux cave was opened nearby in 1983 and receives tens of thousands of visitors annually.

See: http://www.lascaux.culture.fr/?lng=en#/fr/00.xml 

taken from: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history [12.09.2012]