Black Moshannon State Park

Black Moshannon State Park.
Black Moshannon State Park is a 3,480-acre (1,410 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Rush Township, Centre County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is just west of the Allegheny Front, 9 miles (14 km) east of Philipsburg on Pennsylvania Route 504, and is largely surrounded by Moshannon State Forest. The park surrounds a lake formed by a dam on Black Moshannon Creek. A bog in the park provides a habitat for diverse wildlife not common in other areas of the state, such as carnivorous plants, orchids, and species normally found farther north. The Seneca tribe used the Black Moshannon area as hunting and fishing grounds. European settlers clear-cut the vast stands of old-growth forest during the late 19th century. The forests were rehabilitated by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Great Depression in the 1930s. Many of the buildings built by the Corps stand in the park today and are protected on the National Register of Historic Places in three historic districts.

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The Thrill Book

The Thrill Book.
The Thrill Book was an American pulp magazine published by Street & Smith in 1919. The first eight issues, edited by Harold Hersey, were a mixture of adventure and weird stories. Contributors included Greye La Spina, Charles Fulton Oursler, J. H. Coryell, and Seabury Quinn. Ronald Oliphant, Hersey's replacement, printed more science fiction and fantasy, though this included two stories Hersey had purchased from Murray Leinster. The best-known story from The Thrill Book is The Heads of Cerberus, a very early example of a novel about alternate time tracks, by Francis Stevens. Oliphant's larger budget attracted popular writers such as H. Bedford-Jones, but the magazine ran for only eight more issues, the last dated October 15, 1919. Historians regard The Thrill Book as a forerunner of Weird Tales and Amazing Stories, the first true specialized magazines in the fields of weird fiction and science fiction, respectively.

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Battle of Sluys

Battle of Sluys.
The Battle of Sluys was a naval battle fought on 24 June 1340 between England and France, in the roadstead of the since silted-up port of Sluys. The English fleet of 120–150 ships was led by Edward III of England and the 230-strong French fleet by Hugues Quiéret, Admiral of France, and Nicolas Béhuchet, Constable of France. It was one of the opening engagements of the Hundred Years' War. Edward sailed on 22 June and encountered the French the next day; they had bound their ships into three lines, forming large floating fighting platforms. The English were able to manoeuvre against the French and defeat them in detail. Most of the French ships were captured, and they lost 16,000–20,000 men killed, against 400–600 for the English. The English were unable to take strategic advantage, barely interrupting French raids on English territories and shipping. Operationally the battle allowed the English army to land and to then besiege the French town of Tournai, albeit unsuccessfully.

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John FitzWalter, 2nd Baron FitzWalter

John FitzWalter, 2nd Baron FitzWalter.
John FitzWalter, 2nd Baron FitzWalter (c. 1315 – 1361), was a prominent Essex landowner who waged an armed campaign against the neighbouring town of Colchester. With connections to the powerful de Clare family, who had arrived in England at the time of the Norman conquest, the FitzWalter family was of a noble and ancient lineage. They held estates across Essex, as well as properties in London and Norfolk. John FitzWalter played a prominent role during the early years of King Edward III's wars in France. FitzWalter's dispute with Colchester was exacerbated when townsmen illegally entered his park in Lexden; in return, he banned them from one of their own watermills. In 1342, he ransacked Colchester, destroyed its market, and besieged the town, preventing anyone from entering or leaving. In 1351, he was arrested and imprisoned in the Marshalsea. He languished in the Tower of London for over a year until the king agreed to pardon him.