My two favorites together in one place! I wish I was from Maine. Maybe then I’d be a better and more prolific writer. I don’t know how @hcrichardson.bsky.social and @stephenking.bsky.social do it, but I’m glad they do.

President Chester A. Arthur signed Pendleton Act on 1/16/1883. It established merit-based civil service in lieu of patronage or “spoils” system (though there was still plenty of that, too). Arthur’s approval surprised everyone; he owed his career to patronage. Here’s a short piece I wrote on Arthur.

I realize this is over a year old but I just saw it and DAMN that’s good.

Hiram R. Revels died 125 years ago today: 1/16/1901. The Mississippi legislature appointed him in 1870 to complete the term of one of the state’s US Senate seats, vacant since Mississippi’s 1861 secession. This made Revels the first Black American to serve in either house of Congress. Image: LOC.

Operation Desert Storm began on 1/16/1991. The United States and allies launched air strikes on Iraq to force Saddam Hussein’s troops to evacuate Kuwait. Iraq had invaded Kuwait 5 months earlier. I was a senior in high school and remember going to a friend’s house to watch it on CNN. Image: CNN.

Happy National Hat Day! To celebrate, here are two new beauties for my “teams that no longer exist” collection. On the left: the Houston Oilers (now Tennessee Titans). On the right, the Cleveland Indians (now the Guardians). I couldn’t bring myself to buy a racist “Chief Wahoo” for the latter.

Things you can learn from these pictures: 1. We got snow here in northeast Ohio last night. 2. I am not a good photographer.

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” ~Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 1967. King was born in Atlanta on this day 97 years ago: Jan. 15, 1929. Image: Boston University.

If I say “American treason,” what name immediately jumps to mind? Oh, wait… Well anyway, Benedict Arnold was born in Connecticut on this day 285 years ago: Jan. 14, 1741. Image: Brown University.

258,994. That’s the current combined number of YouTube views of the first two episodes of the Battle of the Bulge video series on which I’ve had the pleasure of working with the great @hcrichardson.bsky.social and her amazing team. Thanks to everyone who has watched so far. Please keep watching!

Here’s a link to the second episode of the Battle of the Bulge series I’ve been working on with @hcrichardson.bsky.social and her team.

I know I feel that way. Especially since I’m also one of those people: a longtime, career civil servant discarded by the current administration. That’s what I get for knowing my agency’s policies and the law and actually following them.

“Not a very satisfactory day. The question of persons, and the value which each places upon his own merits, as compared with the estimate which others place upon him, is the chief evil of choosing men for service.” ~President-elect James A. Garfield, Jan. 13, 1881. Image: Library of Congress.

First of all, yes, last night was an embarrassment. But kudos to Mike Tomlin for his 19-year run. Could Steelers make a run at Brian Flores, currently Def. Coord. of the Vikings? He spent a year in Pittsburgh after getting fired from Dolphins HC job. Unless his ongoing NFL lawsuit gets in the way.

Johnny Cash performed his famous concert for inmates at Folsom State Prison in California on this day 58 years ago: Jan. 13, 1968. Normally I dislike country music, but Johnny Cash is definitely the exception. I actually saw him live once in the early 1990s. June Carter Cash performed with him.

On this day 141 years ago-Jan. 13, 1885-former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and Vice President of the United States Schuyler Colfax died cold and alone in a Mankato, Minnesota train station. Here’s a We’re History piece I wrote several years ago about Colfax’s life and death.

We’re kickin’ it old OLD school for the playoff game tonight.

Jack London, author of “The Call of the Wild,” “White Fang,” and more, was born in San Francisco 150 years ago today-1/12/1876. Twice ran as Socialist candidate for mayor of Oakland, CA; also faced criticism for some racially insensitive views and writings. Image: L.C. Page & Co./Public domain.

On this day in 1932, Hattie Wyatt Carraway (D) of Arkansas became first woman elected to the US Senate. Appointed in Dec. 1931 to fill her late husband’s Senate seat, she won a Jan. 12, 1932 special election. She then won full terms in Nov. 1932 and 1938. Image: Library of Congress.

As we say in the part of Pennsylvania where I grew up, “friends don’t let friends become Eagles fans.” So go Niners today, and go Steelers tomorrow night. (No offense to my friends who are Eagles fans. Hey, you’ve got a much more recent Super Bowl title than we do! Two, in fact.)

Alice Paul was born in New Jersey on this day in 1885. She was a feminist & women’s suffrage advocate and vocal supporter of the Nineteenth Amendment. Paul was an important strategist behind many events that generated support for the Amendment, which became law in 1920. Image: Library of Congress.

Alexander Hamilton—Founding Father, first Secretary of the Treasury, founding member of the Federalist Party—was born on this day in 1755. What a life this guy led. I have this crazy idea…hear me out…for a Broadway musical about him. It sounds crazy, I know. Image: National Portrait Gallery.

Been getting nice notes about my work on @hcrichardson.bsky.social’s Battle of the Bulge videos. One guy called me “Frank.” So now my wife’s calling me Frank. And I’m calling here Estelle. As in “Frank and Estelle Costanza.” She just yelled at me “YOU’RE NOT GIVING AWAY OUR WATER PIK!” IFKYK

Rare photo of the first-ever Antifa meeting. Image: Eisenhower Presidential Library.

“Eighteen years ago tonite [sic], I slept on the ground with my command…in Eastern Kentucky awaiting the morning to fight [CSA general] Humphrey Marshall.” ~Future POTUS James A. Garfield, 1/9/1880, remembering night before his first Civil War battle: Middle Creek, fought 1/10/1862. Image: LOC.

It’s been a pleasure working w/ @hcrichardson.bsky.social and her team on this new video series. I am grateful to her not only for her years of friendship and mentoring, but also for her bringing me into this important work as I’ve looked for my next career opportunity.

“History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.” ~President Dwight D. Eisenhower, First Inaugural Address, Jan. 20, 1953. Photo: Getty Images.

What history podcasts do you listen to and recommend? I’ve tried a few and haven’t found anything that pulled me in. (But admittedly, I haven’t tried many.) Thanks in advance for any recommendations! Image: rachelcorbett.com.au

"The dogmas of the quiet past, are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion...We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth." ~President Abraham Lincoln, Dec. 1, 1862. Image: Library of Congress.

The latest acquisition for my “teams that no longer exist” collection. The Athletics still exist, of course, but they’re no longer the Oakland A’s. Right now they’re just “the Athletics” with no city designation and playing two more seasons in Sacramento before moving to Las Vegas in 2028.

Like, say, “The Last Lincoln Republican: The Presidential Election of 1880.” That’s a totally random example, of course.

Happy belated birthday to Millard Fillmore, 13th President of the United States, born Jan. 7, 1800. As VP, he became president upon 1850 death of Pres. Zachary Taylor. He was the last Whig president & had a lucrative post-presidential career as an Alec Baldwin impersonator. Image: Public domain.

“…insuring to our fellow citizens the blessings which they have a right to expect from a free, efficient, and equal government.” On this day in 1790, President George Washington delivered the first State of the Union address to Congress. Follow the link to read the entire speech.

Picked this up the other day in a bookstore while on a short trip out of town. Can’t wait to get into it. @profmsinha.bsky.social

I hate the term “revisionist history.” Good history should be revisionist. We should always look at new evidence, reexamine old evidence, rethink interpretations & perspectives. Having said that, this isn’t even “revisionist history.” This is the Executive Branch gaslighting 350 million Americans.

“Death had to take him sleeping because if he’d been awake, there would have been a fight.” ~Attributed to Vice President Thomas Marshall upon hearing of the death of former President Theodore Roosevelt on Jan. 6, 1919 (107 years ago yesterday). Image: Library of Congress.

We all know what day it is. As usual, @hcrichardson.bsky.social explains it better than anyone.

On this day in 1925, Nellie Tayloe Ross (D) became governor of Wyoming, making her America’s first female governor. Her husband had been governor & died in office in 1924. She won a special election to succeed his successor. She was later Director of the U.S. Mint, 1933-53. Image: Public domain.

Happy New Year to all! My resolution is to have a billion Bluesky followers by the end of the year. So if you could all help me out with that, that’d be great. I mean, where else are you getting hard-hitting “here are photos of my baseball hats” content? Exactly. Tell your friends.

Our final installment (for now) of the totally-useless-but-fun-for-me-at-least-and-that’s-what-really-matters “hats I have and wear for teams that no longer exist” takes us back to hockey. Here, in all its glory, is my Quebec Nordiques hat. Today, you know the Nordiques as the Colorado Avalanche.

On this day in 1853, enslaved Black man Solomon Northup regained his freedom. He was a free Black man from New York who was kidnapped in Washington, DC and sold into slavery in Louisiana. He later wrote a memoir entitled “Twelve Years a Slave.” Image: Public domain image from Northup’s memoir.

Mood.

For the literally 10s of you begging for more of my “hats of teams that no longer exist” content, I give you…the Brooklyn Dodgers.

On this day in 1933, Minnie D. Craig (R) made history when she became Speaker of the North Dakota State House of Representatives. She was the first non-temporary female Speaker of the House in any U.S. state. She held the office until Jan. 8, 1935. Image: State Historical Society of North Dakota.

Dear @profootballtalk.bsky.social: I love you guys and have been reading you for years. But until you get rid of the videos that now automatically open MULTIPLE times every time I read an article on the app, I’m out. I’ll be looking for a new app for sports news. Anyone have any suggestions for me?

“I’m fed up to the ears with old men drumming up wars for young men to die in.” ~World War II bomber pilot/U.S. Representative and Senator/1972 Democratic presidential candidate George S. McGovern. Images: Dakota Wesleyan University (left); public domain (right).

Second piece I’ll publish in 2026 is a chapter in @ohiounivpress.bsky.social book “Ohio’s First Ladies: From the Midwest to the White House,” edited by Katherine Jellison & coming fall ‘26. My chapter: “‘A Wonderfully Wise Woman’: The Life of Lucretia Rudolph Garfield.” Image: Library of Congress.

If you read the academic journal Middle West Review, look for my co-authored article w/ Chris Blubaugh in the Fall 2025 issue (which hasn’t shipped yet). Our piece is entitled “Was James Garfield Really a ‘Dark Horse’ in 1880?” It looks at the 1880 Republican Nat’l Convention. Image: Smithsonian.

“If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict the dividing line will not be Mason & Dixon’s, but between patriotism and intelligence on one side, and superstition, ambition, and ignorance on the other.” ~President Ulysses S. Grant, 1875. Image: LOC.