Catholic Textbook Project

251 years ago this week, the Battle of Bunker Hill was fought.

The Battle of Bunker Hill: June 17, 1775 The members of the Massachusetts assembly rejoiced when they heard the news of Arnold and Allen’s victories on Lake Champlain. The same could not be said of the men who had gathered to form the Second Continental Congress. These men, who were representatives from each of the thirteen colonies, had...

250 years ago this week, the Virginia Declaration of Rights is adopted by the House of Burgesses.

The Virginia Declaration of Rights Is Adopted by the House of Burgesses: June 12, 1776 By war, the former English colonies of North America had won their independence. But what they had obtained by war, they could lose in peace—if they found no effective means of governing themselves. Revolutions often follow a predictable path in history. First, revolutionaries establish a new gove...

82 years ago this week, General Patton and 176,000 Allied troops cross the English Channel into Normandy.

General Patton and 176,000 Allied Troops Cross the English Channel into Normandy: June 6, 1944 While the British and the Americans fought the Germans in Italy, their air forces had been carrying out bombing raids on Germany itself. But Allied air strikes, though very destructive to both property and human life, did not bring about the results Churchill and Roosevelt had desired. Air raids did...

172 years ago this week, the Kansas-Nebraska Act is passed.

The Kansas-Nebraska Act Is Passed: May 25, 1854 It was a year of troubles, was 1854. It was a year of economic depression. It was a year of unrest. Besides the upheaval over slavery, in the cities a smoldering resentment of the poor against the rich was growing more evident. And now the Kansas-Nebraska Act had shredded a 30-year compromise that h...

113 years ago this week, the Treaty of London is signed.

The Treaty of London Is Signed: May 17, 1913 Italia irredenta—“unredeemed Italy”—was the name Italian nationalists gave to those lands where Italians lived but that as yet were not part of Italy. The most important of these territories were Trentino in the Alps, the Italian Tyrol, and Trieste, a port city northeast of Italy—all of wh...

419 years ago this week, Jamestown settlement is founded.

Jamestown Settlement Is Founded: May 11, 1607 For over 50 years following Cabot’s last voyage, England ignored the New World.

251 years ago this week, Allen and Arnold lead their men to the shores of Lake Champlain to capture Fort Ticonderoga.

Allen and Arnold Lead Their Men to the Shores of Lake Champlain to Capture Fort Ticonderoga: May 9, 1775 Benedict Arnold, a merchant of New Haven, Connecticut, wanted to do great things for the colonial cause and his own reputation. But by the end of the Revolution, he did grave harm to the colonials, and his return to England as a Tory has earned him forever the name of traitor and turncoat. It all be...

213 years ago this week, American forces capture York, burning the provincial assembly buildings.

American Forces Capture York, Burning the Provincial Assembly Buildings: April 27, 1813 Despite the fervor of the “War Hawks” (as those who had pushed for war with Great Britain were called), the American army and navy were not prepared for war. Great Britain’s navy had more than 100 ships; the United States, only five frigates. Great Britain’s army was also much larger than Am...

193 years ago this week, Ozanam and seven of his friends establish the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

Ozanam and Seven of His Friends Establish the Society of St. Vincent de Paul: April 23, 1833 Like all Europeans, Catholics in the 1840s were divided on how to meet the challenges of their time. The Church in Western Europe was in many ways still in a state of shock because of the French Revolution and its aftermath. It was hard for Catholics, bishops and popes included, to understand fully....

65 years ago this week, a force of anti-Castro Cubans land at the Bay of Pigs on the southwestern coast.

A Force of Anti-Castro Cubans Land at the Bay of Pigs on the Southwestern Coast: April 17, 1961 The 1950s was a time when European colonies in Africa and Asia were loosening themselves from their European masters to form their own independent states. While in some places this was done peacefully, insurgent violence beset other regions—such as French Indochina in East Asia, where, in 1954, Co...