Bob Ford

If you love history, we are seeking sponsors to run this column. To comment or join in supporting this non-profit, contact Bob at robertmford@aol.com. Missouri got smart. As the country argued where the national western terminus, or the jumping off point, of the proposed transcontinental railroad should be, the state made a move. In 1847,

If you love history, we are seeking sponsors to support the work. Contact Bob at robertmford@aol.com for details.  Everybody has a bad day at the office once in a while, but if your job involves decisions that determine thousands of lives and you falter, history will make you infamous.  Most bad decisions in war are

If you enjoy history and these articles, we are seeking sponsors and contributors to support the work. Contact Bob at robertmford@aol.com and/or donate via Venmo @bobfordshistory  Music has the power to start a revolution, or even calm a baby.  The drumbeat of native culture is as important to them as Bach and Beethoven is to

If you like history and these articles, we are seeking sponsors and contributors to support the work. Contact Bob at robertmford@aol.com and/or donate via Venmo @Bobfordshistory. As thousands of Union soldiers lay wounded, freezing or dead on Marye’s Heights, General Ambrose Burnside made his first wise decision of the battle. On Dec. 14, 1862, one

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — Generally speaking, Abraham Lincoln had a big problem during the Civil War … many of his top generals didn’t get along. Between some of them it was so contemptuous they sabotaged each other’s strategies and actions, costing soldiers lives.  Fact is, to become a general you had to be

This article is written for News-Press NOW, The St Joseph Convention and Visitor’s Bureau and Missouri’s Highway 36 Heritage Alliance. From path to trail to railroad and now the “Genius” Highway 36, this famed coast-to-coast route through Northern Missouri has the All-American story, not just about the towns and the nation it connected, but the

If you love history, we are seeking sponsors to run this column. To comment or join in supporting this non-profit, contact Bob at robertmford@aol.com. ‘Damn the Torpedoes, full speed ahead!’ Those were the words of America’s first U.S. Navy Admiral, David Farragut, as he forced his armada past Fort Morgan into Mobile Bay. On Aug.

By Bob Ford If you love history, we are seeking sponsors to run this column. To comment or join in supporting this non-profit, contact Bob at robertmford@aol.com. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton authorized Massachusetts Governor John Andrews to call for volunteers for an all-black infantry regiment. He received help from a number of Massachusetts men and

By Bob Ford Maj. Jimmie Doolittle, former champion speed pilot of the army, was in Chicago, superintending the completion of a mystery plane, he will fly in the national air races at Cleveland, Aug. 22, 1931. The ship according to E.M. Laird, the designer and builder will make 300 miles an hour. If you love

By Bob Ford If you love history, we are seeking sponsors to run this column. To comment or join in supporting this non-profit, contact Bob at robertmford@aol.com. Lt. Col. Doolittle with members of his flight crew and Chinese officials in China after the attack. From left to right: Staff Sgt. Fred A. Braemer, bombardier; Staff Sgt.

By Bob Ford If you love history, we are seeking sponsors to run this column. To comment or join in supporting this non-profit, contact Bob at robertmford@aol.com. The Dec. 7, 1941, surprise dawn attack by the Japanese Air Force on Pearl Harbor left the United States reeling. We weren’t ready for war. My mother remembered sitting

By Bob Ford Special to News-Press NOW If you love history, we are seeking sponsors to run this column. To comment or join in supporting this non-profit, contact Bob at robertmford@aol.com. In life, if your name is given to anything including a crime, you’ve left a mark on society, like Charles Ponzi. Charles Ponzi is pictured