April 12, 2010
After crushing Texan resistance at the Alamo and at Goliad, Mexican Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna was confident that Sam Houston’s ragtag army of 800 volunteers posed no threat to his superior force. But because of his overconfidence at San Jacinto, Santa Anna ended up, in 18 minutes, ceding some 260,000 square miles of territory, which Mexico never would regain.
December 11, 2009
Everyone knows that Ben Franklin was an inventor and a statesman. Not everyone knows that he was an innovative farmer. When Franklin tried to persuade his neighbors one spring to spread plaster among their seeds to yield a better crop, the neighbors scoffed. Then, he sent them a message …