It is January 30th, and 188 years ago today the nation was shocked by the first known assassination attempt on a sitting president of the United States. The attempt by Richard Lawrence on the life of President Andrew Jackson was, in itself, high drama, and his trial one of great attention. And yet, even an assassin turned out to be far less interesting than Washington Politics.
On October 19, 1762 the day was so dark at Fort Detroit that candles were needed to see at noon. A British officer called the day "The most extraordinary dark day perhaps ever seen in the world." Some would take the darkness as a sign.
Solenopsis invicta, the “Red Imported Fire Ant”, native to South America, has proven a tenacious and destructive pest in the United States, costing Americans billions of dollars every year. That is why, in the late 1950s, the United States embarked on an all out war against the six-legged menace.