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HISTORY: unwrapped – June 2008

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June 30 , 2008 – The “Mick” and the Gospel

Baseball great Mickey Mantle played hard both on and off the field. The belief that he would die young like his father may have led to Mantle’s failure to take care of himself. In the early 1990s, Mantle entered a clinic to combat alcoholism. Several years later, he was hospitalized for cancer. The former New York Yankees slugger had admitted years earlier that there was a void in his life. He had heard the gospel message many times from Christian friends. While in the hospital near the end of his life, he came to Christ while listening to a testimonial tape by NBA Hall of Famer Pete Maravich. A few weeks before his death, Mantle shared with a close friend that he “now trusted Christ as his Lord and Savior.”

July 27 , 2008 – Little Goody Two-Shoes

No one wants to be called a “goody two-shoes”—someone who is prudish and self-righteous. But years ago American colonists considered the term “goody two-shoes” a compliment. The colonists believed that good literature had two purposes: to delight and to instruct. By the early eighteenth century interest in children's literature (and a rise in literacy) led to new markets and a flourishing of new publishers, particularly in England. Innovations in typography and printing allowed greater freedom in reproducing art through engraving, woodcut, etching, and aquatint, although illustrators were still largely anonymous and illustrations confined to frontispieces. One of the most popular fictional books in the colonies was The History of Little Goody Twoshoes, published by one of the most important early publishers, John Newberry. Goody (or Mrs.) Twoshoes was an industrious and godly woman who went through many trials but was eventually rewarded for her virtues.

Thomas Boreman was one of the first entrepreneurs to respond to the market with his miniature books entitled Gigantick Histories (1740–1743) as well as other illustrated books on subjects such as natural history. The most important of the early publishers was John Newbery (1713–1767). Newbery published vast quantities of children’s literature of all types as well as a wide range of books on reading, philosophy, and science, most covered in flowered and gilt Dutch paper and enlivened by simple woodcut illustrations. His first children’s book was A Little Pretty Pocket Book (1744), and one of the most popular was his 1765 History of Little Goody Two Shoes, regarded as the first novel written specifically for children (it is said to have been written for Newbery by Oliver Goldsmith).

July 26 , 2008 – The Courageous French Admiral

The surrender of the British at Yorktown was a shock and a huge loss for the greatest military power in the world. The improbability of the events leading up to the surrender seems miraculous and much credit goes to the intervention of a French admiral. George Washington later told Congress how much he was indebted to Count de Grasse (duh gr?s) and the French fleet. De Grasse was in the West Indies when he received word that the Americans and French had agreed to launch a joint attack on New York. The admiral exceeded his orders and took his entire fleet to the Chesapeake. The British believed that the focus was on New York, but Washington changed his objective to Cornwallis in Virginia. With the French fleet in place, an attack was launched. America defeated Cornwallis thanks to the courageous decision of the French admiral.

June 25, 2008 – A Life Redeemed

John Newton went to sea at the age of 11 and was forced to enlist on a British man-of-war seven years later. He was captured after deserting the intolerable conditions and exchanged to the crew of a slave ship. He began reading a book he found on board— Imitation of Christ—which began to sow the seeds of conversion. Newton eventually gave his life to Christ during a storm which threatened the ship. For the rest of his life he observed May 10, 1748, as the day of his conversion. He was promoted to captain of a slave ship traveling between North Africa and England. Slave ships left England empty and anchored off the African coast. Tribal chiefs would deliver men and women captured in raids and wars to the buyers, who would select the finest specimens. Then the captives would be loaded aboard ship, packed in like sardines below deck and chained to prevent suicides. Those that survived the voyage to the New World were traded for molasses and sugar to make rum, which the ships would take back to England. Then the ships were off to Africa to begin their miserable trade all over again. It took six years for the inhuman aspects of the business to force Newton to leave the sea for good.

Newton studied for the ministry and used the last 43 years of his life to preach the gospel. He wrote over 200 hymns, with “Amazing Grace,” “Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken,” and “How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds,” being several of his most loved and sung works.  At 82, Newton said, "My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things, that I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Savior.” Newton truly understood God’s amazing grace, for he had experienced it first hand.

June 24, 2008 – The Man and His Sack of Seeds

John Chapman introduced the apple to Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois as he did missionary work for the Church of New Jerusalem. We know him as the legendary Johnny Appleseed. Everywhere Chapman traveled, he planted nurseries with fences around them for protection from animals. He left the nurseries in the care of others and would return every two years to care for it himself. The seed came from cider mills happy to supply Chapman, because more apple trees were good for business. He dressed poorly and wore no shoes, not even in winter, since he gave away the best of what was offered to him to those less fortunate. With no home of his own, Chapman spent his time traveling from home to home on the frontier passing out church literature and starting apple nurseries. Chapman left an estate of over 1,200 acres of valuable nurseries to his sister, worth millions even in 1845.

June 23, 2008 – Hot Off The Press

In the book, "1,000 Years, 1,000 People: Ranking the Men and Women Who Shaped the Millennium," Johannes Gutenberg (1394?–1468), inventor of the printing press, is first on the list. The first book that came off his press was the Bible.The process of preparing a press for printing a book has not always been as easy as it is today. By the tenth century, the Chinese were printing books using carved wooden blocks. Medieval European printers followed a similar method. This was a long and tedious process. The Chinese tried to speed up the process by making ceramic characters. Since thousands of such characters were needed, the project was abandoned. Gutenberg’s printing press was revolutionary because it featured movable metal type that kept its shape after numerous impressions. Individual letters were cast from master molds and could be put together in any combination to form any word. The type was then inked and pressed down onto paper with a large wooden screw. Although still a slow process (by today's standards), Gutenberg's press paved the way for modern mass media, although almost no one today uses hard type to typeset books. Most if not all books are typeset electronically. Gutenberg captured the true significance of his invention with these words: “Religious truth is captive in a small number of little manuscripts, which guard the common treasures instead of expanding them. Let us break the seal which binds these holy things; let us give wings to truth that it may fly with the Word, no longer prepared at vast expense, but multiplied everlastingly by a machine which never wearies—to every soul which enters life.”

June 20, 2008 – Yale Graduate Makes Good

As a Yale graduate, Eli Whitney (1765–1825) was known for his “handiness” and is best remembered for his cotton gin invention (1793), which brought great wealth to many but gave Whitney a meager return on his investment. The cotton engine, “gin” for short, automated the separation of cottonseed from the short cotton fiber. It was such a simple machine that it was easily duplicated and reproduced.Whitney also introduced a technique that proved to be the most revolutionary invention in American history. In 1798, he built a firearms factory near New Haven, Connecticut. Unlike many American industries of his day, Whitney did not build from the top down. He first built all the machinery he would need for his method of production and devised a system of interchangeable parts for muskets. This new technique was adopted all over the country as a defense measure and soon was being applied to other inventions paving the way for mass production and the industrial revolution.

June 19, 2008 – That's Crackerjack

“Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack, I don’t care if I never get back.” So the line goes in Jack Norworth’s 1908 “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” It’s not often that a snack food is immortalized in song. According to legend, a unique popcorn, peanuts, and molasses confection that was the forerunner to Cracker Jack’s caramel coated popcorn and peanuts was introduced by F. W. Rueckheim and his brother to a snack-craving public in 1893 at the World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago’s first World’s Fair. The trick was keeping the stuff from sticking together. Louis Rueckheim, F.W.’s brother and partner solved the problem with a secret process. When Louis gave the treat to a salesman, he exclaimed, “That’s crackerjack!,” slang for “awesome” or “really great.” The name stuck and was trademarked. “A Prize in Every Box” became an advertising slogan when toys and baseball cards were inserted into every package. More than 23 billion toys have been given out since they were first introduced in 1912. Some old Cracker Jack prizes are valued at more than $7,000. Some of the earliest toys were made of metal. A complete series of the 1915 baseball cards, original and in near mint condition, has been valued as high as $60,000. There are no longer any toys in Cracker Jacks. A choking scare forced the company to replace the toys with a “Surprise inside.” It sure is a surprise—it’s made of paper! Well, Sailor Jack and his dog Bingo are still on the box, I mean, bag. Is nothing sacred?

June 18, 2008 – The Accidental Entertainers

If you’re looking for a sweet, peaceful tale to help you drift off to slumberland, don’t choose one of the stories from Grimm’s Fairy Tales. The stories collected by Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm in the 1800s often paint a cruel life as many generations of central Europeans knew it. In collecting and writing down the Germanic folktales, the brothers were attempting to preserve a part of German history. They had no idea that their stories would entertain so many future generations. Grimm’s Fairy Tales contains over 209 stories including “Cinderella,” “Sleeping Beauty,” “Hansel and Gretel,” and “Rapunzel.”  

When the brothers saw the delight their tales gave young readers, they along with editors began tweaking their stories. The tales became sweeter and moral, but the heart of the stories was never removed. Jakob and Wilhelm studied the law and held university positions. But they will always be remembered for the tales that have produced a few goose bumps in all of us.

June 17, 2008 – Riddle of Mystery Hill

You've heard of Stonehenge in England. But did you know that there are similar configurations outside England, including throughout the northeast United States? In New Hampshire there is a place called Mystery Hill covering about twenty acres where large stones have been arranged in a strange pattern. Some of the stones are built up to make odd rooms and passages. It is speculated that Mystery Hill, and other sites like it, were once places of pagan worship and astronomical ceremony. Ancient words have been found inscribed on its stones. One translation of the inscription reads, "To Baal of the Canaanites, this in dedication."

The pyramid-shaped temples of some Native American tribes were not unique to their times. Ancient Babylon and even more ancient Sumeria are just two cultures who built these tiered ziggurats to worship their pagan gods. These massive buildings were constructed of mud bricks forming multiple stories, with a great, steep staircase leading to the top. In fact, ziggurat is the Assyrian world for "mountain top." You are probably already familiar with one famous (or infamous) ziggurat-type building: the Tower of Babel.

June 16, 2008 – The Black Regiment

The clergy helped lead the resistance and independence movement in America. They were often described as the “black regiment” because of the black robes they wore while preaching. Before marching off to join Washington’s army, Lutheran pastor John Muhlenberg delivered a powerful sermon from Ecclesiastes 3:1–8 that concluded with these words:

The Bible tells us there is a time for all things and there is a time to preach and a time to pray but the time for me to preach has passed away, and there is a time to fight, and that time has come now. Now is the time to fight! Call for recruits! Sound the drums!

Then Muhlenberg took off his clerical robe to reveal the uniform of a Virginia colonel. Grabbing his musket from behind the pulpit, he donned his colonel’s hat and marched off to war. There is a war going on in America today. It has not come to the force of arms, but it is a war nonetheless. Pastors should thunder from the pulpits where the battles are waging, and what we can do to engage in the fight.

June 13, 2008 – The Gentle Revolutionaries

Women were not recognized by the government as Revolutionaries or spies during the War for Independence, and they certainly were not admitted to the armed forces as soldiers. The only way for them to join the service was to disguise themselves as men. Deborah Sampson of Massachusetts had been an indentured servant for ten years, helping with housework and working in the fields. During the winter, when her work slowed down, she was able to attend school. When her servitude ended, she was hired as a teacher. In 1782 at the age of 21, Sampson enlisted in the Continental Army as a man. She was tall for a woman and performed her duties well, so she raised no suspicions. Rumors circulated back home about Sampson’s military activities, and she was excommunicated from the Baptist church because of a strong suspicion that she was “dressing in man’s clothes and enlisting as a soldier in the army.”

When Sampson was wounded in the leg in a battle near Tarrytown, she tended her own wounds so that her gender would not be discovered. As a result, her leg never healed properly. However, when she was later hospitalized for fever in Philadelphia, the physician attending her discovered that she was a woman and made discreet arrangements that ended her military career. After being honorably discharged from the army, Sampson gave lecture tours in which she wore her uniform and told of her experiences. When Sampson died, her husband was granted a military pension for her services.

June 12, 2008 – I Owe, I Owe, Off to Work I Go

The majority of laborers throughout the seventeenth century were white indentured servants. “Indentured servitude” means working off a debt a person cannot repay. The person worked without wages, usually for a period of five to seven years, in exchange for payment of the person’s passage to the American colonies. The contract, called an “indenture,” entitled the servant to food, clothing, shelter, and medical attention. Devised by the Virginia Company in the late 1610s, the system provided much needed cheap labor. It is estimated that one-half to two-thirds of all European immigrants to the colonies participated in the system, some voluntarily, some as victims of penal servitude. More often than not, the indentured servants were shocked by their new conditions. Rather than finding venues in which they could practice their profession, like gardens and orchards, overseers marched servants out to the fields. Many died, attempted to return to England, or ran away. In addition to mistreatment, many servants also encountered contract extension, a popular punishment of planters for rowdy indentures. Even the worst human abuses did not take the mortal tolls that the climate of Virginia claimed. The temperate springs and falls, and sweltering summers in the New World, created a market for fresh servants.

June 11, 2008 – An Infidel Experiment

…was the title of an article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch of May 2, 1885, written about the city Liberal, Missouri. Creating “a town without a church, where unbelievers could bring up their children without religious training,” and where Christians were not allowed was the objective for founding Liberal in 1880. A “good, godless” city founded on “trustworthy” atheistic ideals reaped only corruption. The reporter of the article had witnessed drunkenness, common use of swearing by young and old, lack of respect for parents, infidelity, and immorality. Abortion was so widespread that doctors spent much of their practice trying to save women from its consequences. In only 5 years, the majority of Liberal’s citizens had become disenchanted with doing business with the devil.

June 10, 2008 – Nothing Changes

America had a thriving, mature economy when the war for independence began and could have easily produced the goods needed by its army. But nothing was done to adequately prepare for war due to the poor policies of the Continental Congress. The Congress tried unsuccessfully to manage all aspects of the war, and the troops suffered for it. Congress’s solution for every problem that arose was to give it to a committee and the result was that nothing got done. George Washington reported that his men were naked and shoeless, but Congress only offered excuses. One man summed up the major flaw, “ As long as [Congress] persist[s] in the attempt to execute as well as deliberate on their business, it will never be done as it ought…this has been urged many a time…but some of them do not like to part with power…” Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

June 9, 2008 – Ancient Inventors

Evolutionists try to parlay the belief that ancient man was intellectually inferior to modern-man. The theory does not fit the facts. While there are numerous theories on how structures like the pyramids were built, no one has been able to duplicate the results using what is known of ancient technology. Some have been so perplexed by this historical enigma that they have postulated that alien technology or even fallen angels—the Nephilim—had made these advancements possible. But there is a better and more reasonable explanation. The intellectual capacity of ancient man is no different from modern man because God created us in His image. We should expect to find evidence of that creative capacity soon after creation. And we do.

Consider the work of Heron (or Hero) of Alexandria who lived in the first-century A.D., probably from A.D. 10 to 75. He was a mathematician and practical inventor. He invented a sacrificial vessel where water flows only when money is dropped in a slot. Heron also constructed a small temple so that when a fire was lit, the doors opened spontaneously and shut again when the fire was extinguished. These devices were designed, most probably at the behest of the king, to make people believe that the gods were real and near. Heron also developed elaborate entertainment devices that set wooden actors and props in motion without any of the pulleys and weights visible to the audience. He is most famous for inventing the aeolipile, the precursor to the steam engine.

Many people who read Revelation 13:15 assume that this verse must be describing a modern-day demonic miracle where an inanimate object comes to life. Given what we know about the ancients, especially the work of Heron, there is nothing implausible about believing, if we pursue a strict literal rendering, that an image could be made to “speak” during Nero’s day. All the technology was available, and since Heron lived during the generation preceding the destruction of the temple in A.D., the timing is also right.

June 6, 2008 – Fact or Myth?

After Marco Polo returned home from his extensive tour of the East, he enlisted in the Venetian army in Venice’s battle against Genoa in 1298. During a sea battle, he was captured and imprisoned in Genoa, Italy. While Marco was serving time, he did not waste time. Instead, he collaborated with another prisoner, a scribe named Rusticiano of Pisa, to write the story of his travels in the East. The book was an immediate hit, but it was also discredited by some who claimed that it was full of lies. Marco Polo had written a million tall tales, they said, and that is how the book became known in Italian as Il Milione (“The Million”). Despite the outlandish descriptions of his adventures, later travelers confirmed many of Polo's stories about a "salt-water lake" (the Caspian Sea), strange fat-tailed sheep, the Order of Assassins in Persia, the burning of "black stones" (coal), tattooing, the rhinoceros, and the crocodile. It is surprising that Marco Polo did not mention the Great Wall of China, but China's a large country.

June 5, 2008 – The Bee-Keeping Clergyman

Lorenzo Langstroth’s childhood curiosity of observing insects stayed with him as an adult. The Yale graduate, minister, and teacher took up beekeeping as a distraction from his bouts of depression. The beekeeping industry was revolutionized by Langstroth’s moveable frame beehive. Honeycombs could now be removed without enraging the bees. This new method also permitted the beekeeper to observe the health of his bees. Langstroth discovered that hives could be stacked one on top of the other, which turned beekeeping and honey production into a full-scale industry. His book on bee management, published in 1853, is still in use today. “The Father of American Beekeeping” is best remembered for improvements that resulted from keen observation skills of God’s intricate and fascinating creation.

June 4, 2008 – Washington's Spymaster

The role of espionage was crucial during the War for Independence. Spying was made even more irresistible with both sides speaking the same language. When spy Nathan Hale was captured and hung by the British, George Washington was highly motivated to centralize intelligence operations. An American commander, Benjamin Tallmadge, became Washington’s chief of intelligence. Tallmadge ran a network of spies using cipher codes, invisible ink, double agents, and disinformation. Major Tallmadge’s network included men who operated inside enemy-held New York. Ordinary men, farmers, merchants, a newspaper editor, a tailor, and even women were involved in spying. A Quaker mid-wife and undertaker, Lydia Darragh, was one of the most successful of the women spies. She placed paper scraps of information into large buttons and sewed them onto her son’s clothing. The fourteen-year-old met his brother, a lieutenant in the Continental Army, who snipped off the buttons. Soon the British war plans were in Washington’s hands. Many years later, Benjamin Tallmadge wrote that the war had been won through the intervention of divine providence.

In July of 1881, heavy rains in Iowa had caused creeks and rivers to rise. From the house, 15-year-old Kate Shelley heard the timbers of the bridge crack and then the horrible crash as the train engine fell into the creek. Kate had to get help for the survivors and stop the passenger train that would soon be arriving. Crossing the Des Moines River Bridge to reach the depot would be difficult, as there was no walkway. With a lantern in one hand, Kate, who could not swim, crawled across while the flood waters raged below. She reached the depot, and a telegram was sent to the oncoming train, and the two surviving men were rescued. Kate received a gold medal, two barrels of flour, a carload of coal, and a lifetime railway pass for her lifesaving effort.

June 2, 2008 - I Like People Who Can Do Things

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882), along with his son Edward, struggled with a defiant calf that would not return to the barn. Edward pulled on the calf’s ears while his father pushed from behind. Their efforts were in vain. The calf would not budge. Emerson had read the philosophy of Plato and the science of Newton, but none of these intellectual tools helped in getting a reluctant calf into the barn. A young girl, knowing little of philosophy and probably nothing of Newton, watched with amusement at the ineptitude of the father and son team. Without saying a word, she walked up to the calf and thrust a finger into its mouth. Lured by this maternal imitation, the calf dutifully followed her into the barn. Emerson watched with amazement at the ease of her accomplishment. Upon returning to the house, he opened his journal, and wrote these famous seven words: “I like people who can do things.”