Dynamic Directory - December 15, 2018

Abraham Lincoln originated America's annual Thanksgiving Day when he issued a proclamation, in 1863, declaring the last Thursday of November as a national day of thanksgiving.

It's the 22nd of November, 1963, and JFK receives a warm Dallas welcome. Then shots ring out, and the President is raced to Parkland Hospital where he dies. Many still question whether a conspiracy was responsible for the murder.

Edgar Allan Poe published a poem entitled "Imitation," in 1827.

Gudea was a Prince of Lagash who lived during the troubled period following the end of the reign of Naram-Sin (who had led the Akkadian Empire to its zenith).

Susa, an important city in the ancient world (when it was the capital of Elam), is located in Iran. It is one of the oldest, continuously inhabited cities of the world.

On December 7, 1941, Americans at Pearl Harbor are unaware they are about to suffer a surprise Japanese attack. Shortly before 8 AM, on that Sunday morning, the devastating attack begins.

Mary Stewart, Queen of Scots, leads a troubled life that should have been wonderful.

Did you know that whale oil helped to fuel the Industrial Revolution - and - that oil from a Sperm Whale comes mostly from its very large head?

Virginia Clemm - a first-cousin to Edgar Allan Poe - became his wife in the spring of 1836.

A pillory was a place where individuals who were punished for various crimes could be at risk for more than public humiliation.

Thomas Hobbes, a British philosopher who was born in "the philosophy town" of Malmesbury, in 1588 (during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I), believed that if people live "in a state of nature," they would be fearful and prone to violence.

As Alan Turing and his Bletchly Park colleagues worked feverishly to break the Enigma code, they caught a break when the Royal Navy captured U-110 on May 9, 1941. Onboard was a working Enigma machine and secret codes for the following month. Initially towing the disabled U-boat to Iceland, the crew with the secret treasure was redirected to Scotland.

On January 6, 1838, Samuel Morse successfully tests an electrical telegraph. So why did it take years longer to send the first message?

Learn the story behind one of the most-famous photos of the U-boat War: The attack of U-569.

Ansel Adams, one of America's greatest photographers, started his professional life as a pianist. What made him decide to switch profressions?

Before he became a pope, Giuseppe Sarto had a great deal of experience living among his parishoners. As Pope Pius X, he strongly opposed the outbreak of WWI.

Before the Pearl Harbor bombing, Japanese-Americans lived and worked on Terminal Island. After the bombing, their homes were destroyed and their way of life was gone forever.

Oliver Wendell Holmes is known for some of his free-speech decisions which he wrote while serving as a Supreme Court Justice.