Category: History

Battle of Guilford Courthouse

Greensboro, History

(photograph copyright 2009 by Dan Routh)

This past weekend was the anniversary of the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. On March 15, 1781 American forces under Nathaniel Greene met a British army under Lord Cornwallis and after fierce fighting forced the British to move their forces to Yorktown, Virginia and final defeat in the American Revolution. The battlefield is on the north side of Greensboro. Annually, reenactment groups from around the country come together to reenact the battle. This year, unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate and the event was rained out. This photograph is from a past year’s event.

Wright Brothers Redone

Airplane, History

(image copyright 2009 by Dan Routh)

On December 17, 1903 the Wright Brothers made the first successful powered flight at Kitty Hawk on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We produced the image above at Jockey’s Ridge, a huge sand dune not far from the original flight site, for an outdoor apparel poster. We tried to produce it in the same vein as the famous photograph of that historic day. Like the Wright Brothers, we had our share of problems. After a couple of flights trying to fly into the wind the wrong way in order to get our angle, we crashed the hang glider and ended our day.

First Flight, December 17, 1903 (National Park Service Photograph)

Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States of America

History

(image copyright 2009 by Dan Routh)

Today in North Carolina it is snowing so I have decided to stay close to home and watch history happen. By the looks of the television news shows, Washington DC is inundated with people braving the cold to watch history first hand. I would love to be there, but I couldn’t make it work out so I will sit in front of the fire and watch everything on TV. Though I am excited by the new day in American politics, I feel sorry for President Obama. The hopes of a whole nation and much of the world will rest on his shoulders at 12 noon, and that is a mighty weight to bear. God bless America and God bless President Barack Obama.