Untold America

Most people in our generation can remember the Space Shuttle Columbia, which exploded during re-entry and resulted in the fatalities of all astronauts on board.

But it’s not the only space disaster.

In 2003, a Brazillian rocket exploded on the launch pad, killing 21 and injuring 20.

In 1986, the shuttle Challenger exploded, killing all 7 crew members.

And the famed Apollo team that landed on the moon with Apollo 11, had its own disaster with Apollo 13, which had an explosion in the oxygen tank but managed to survive the whole mission.

Maine.

Most people know that Maine was added as a state as part of the Great Compromise, to balance out the number of slave states vs. free states. 

However, most people don’t realize that the land considered Maine was already part of the United States; it was just a part of Massachusetts.

If you hadn’t noticed, there is a bit of a lull in posts on this tumblr right now. But have no fear, UntoldAmerica will be back in business within the next week.

Thomas Edison.

Thomas Edison, famous American and inventor of the more durable, longer-lasting lightbulb (contrary to popular belief, he wasn’t the true inventor of the original lightbulb), was also completely deaf in one ear and 80% deaf in the other.  He was not, however, born that way.

At the age of 14, he contracted Yellow Fever.  The illness along with (as the story goes) a fierce blow around the head by an angry train conductor, left him with his almost total lack of hearing.

As a partial result of his deafness, Edison learned Morse Code, and began to work as a telegraph operator.  These early events in his life are quite probably what led him to become such a fervent inventor.

There’s a chance that if Edison never lost his hearing, we’d still be sitting at our computers by candle-light.  Close call, anyone?

The Battle of New Orleans is a famed battle fought and won by Andrew Jackson and his ragtag group of soldiers, fighting off the heavily armed British in New Orleans, LA, a battle technically included in the War of 1812.

Ironically, the battle had no effect on the outcome of the war, because at the time of the battle, the war had already been won.  The messengers simply hadn’t spread the news of the treaty that ended the war fast enough.

What would we do without rapid communication, right?

General Robert E. Lee’s wife believed in eventual emancipation of slaves, and taught all the slave women she owned how to read, write, and sew, so that when they were freed, they could support themselves.

Arlington House and Cemetery.

The Arlington House was built by George Washington’s step-grandson George Washington Parke Custis (or rather, his slaves), and when General Robert E. Lee married Custis’ daughter Mary Anna Randolph Custis, the house transferred into his name. 

After the Civil War, the federal government took the property away from the Lee’s.  To add insult to injury, the bodies of Union and Confederate soldiers alike were dug up from battlefields all over and brought back to be buried on the family’s property. 

And so begun Arlington Cemetery. 

When the home was returned to the Lee family in the 1870’s, the Lee’s did not keep it, but promptly sold the property back to the federal government.  Presumably, the feeling of living with a ton of dead guys in the backyard did not appeal to them.

Today, the Arlington National Cemetery covers hundreds of acres, and the land goes all the way up to the Pentagon. 

The original “Star Spangled Banner” now calls the Smithsonian Museum(s) home.

However, it stayed for a long time as property of the family Armistead.  90 years, in fact.  During that time, the Armistead family used to show the massive flag - 30 feet by 42 feet - on special occasions. 

30 feet by 42 feet is pretty massive, but you won’t see that much material if you visited the flag today; while in the Armistead family property, guests to the home were allowed to snip off sections of the flag as souvenirs.  There’s even a missing star!

Another thing that makes the flag different than what you may expect - there are 15 stars (well, 14 if you consider the missing one) and 15 stripes, rather than 13 stars and 13 stripes. 

When George Washington took office as our first president, there was no precedent for how the government would be run; everything was shiny and new and being pulled out of the ears of our new leaders.

In the first few weeks of the Washington administration, Congress was just getting up on its feet, and Washington decided he needed a certain bill to be passed by them.  So, he took the bill down to the hall where Congress met, and demanded it to be passed. 

Congress said no. 

It was a remarkable new precedent for this governing body, and set a line restricting the power of the Commander-In-Chief, and upholding the power of the legislative body.  

Washington, however, didn’t really appreciate the historical significance of this move, and never set foot in Congress’ meeting place again. 

Andrew Jackson’s wife, the first lady Rachel Donelson Jackson, was at the heart of a small scandal in her day. 

Born in Virginia, she travelled to the frontier with her family when she was only 12.  When she was 17, she married a man named Lewis Robards.  Robards, however, was unreasonable, jealous, and possibly abusive, and Rachel left him in 1790.  It was understood by her that a filing for divorce had been made by Robards.

Shortly after, Rachel and Jackson met, and were married by 1791.  However, they had only been married two years when they realized that Rachel’s marriage to Robards had never been nullified, and he was now bringing charges of adultry against her.  A simple mistake by both Rachel and Jackson was churning out rather serious embarrassment.

The divorce was finalized, and the Jacksons quietly remarried in 1794, but the rumour mill had been started - even with a spotless record, a couple on the fast track like they were would have been scrutinized, and this was a serious societal crime at the time. 

The slurs, gossip, and whispers turned to be too much for Rachel, and shortly after her husband was elected to president (1828), she passed away from stress-related problems.  She had intended to wear a white dress to Jackson’s inauguration in March 1829, but was instead buried in it at their home in Tennessee.

Jackson’s words to her in his epitaph to her included;

“A being so gentle and so virtuous slander might wound, but could not dishonor.”

The words showed his contempt for the slanderous people he felt were responsible for her death.