Your Maryland

In August, 1776, 400 Marylander s of the “Dandy 5th” Regiment fought bravely to hold the American line in Brooklyn Heights, New York, while George Washington and his troops beat a hasty retreat after a disastrous encounter with the British. 

During the War of Independence, in the spring of 1778, the 28 gun British frigate “Mermaid” chose to surrender to a “nest of pirates” on the Eastern Shore rather than be taken a prize by the notorious French vice admiral Charles Hector D’Estaing.

On July 24, 1868, a great flood swept through the Patapsco River valley, causing great damage and loss of life.

Before he became a major league phenom, "Little George" Ruth learned about baseball, and life, with the help of Brother Mathias at St. Mary's Industrial School, a Catholic institution for "incorrigible" boys in Baltimore.

On July 3, 1863, Confederate officer Henry Kyd Douglas was wounded just south of Gettysburg and became first a patient and then a prisoner of Union troops and their allies.

Between the 1880s and the 1920s, Dr. William S. Halsted revolutionized the practice of hygiene and medicine at Johns Hopkins hospital, all the while nursing a secret drug habit.

Between the 1880s and the 1920s, Dr. William S. Halsted revolutionized the practice of hygiene and medicine at Johns Hopkins hospital, all the while nursing a secret drug habit.

In the summer of 1776, soldiers from Maryland volunteer to fight for independence, but are still denied the right to vote. 

On July 4th, 1863, residents of Baltimore went about marking Independence Day in the usual manner, whilst local Union and Confederate soldiers dealt with the terrible carnage of the previous day's battle just 58 miles away in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

In 1816, a global series of volcanic eruptions sent a cloud of ash and volcanic dust across the Northern hemisphere with catastrophic results.

Early in the morning of May 3rd, 1813, Sir George Cockburn and his men launched a surprise attack on Havre de Grace.

In the Allegheny County mining town of Lonaconing, Maryland, Robert Moses “Lefty” Grove perfected his fast ball and went on to a storied career with the Baltimore Orioles throughout the 1920’s and 30’s.

On June 6, 1944, the 29th Division of the United States Army, made up of soldiers from Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, landed on Omaha Beach in Normandy to begin the liberation of France and Northern Europe from the Nazis.

During the 1960's, Rachel Carson raised the alarm about pesticides and their harmful effects on the environment and human beings.

In 1861, as the Civil War began, Roger B. Taney fights to free John Merryman from a cell in Fort McHenry, where he was being held after the suspension of Habeas Corpus.

In 1794, in the wake of the French Revolution, The Stier family fled Europe and settled near Annapolis, much to the chagrin of his youngest daughter, Rosalie.

Making his way home to Maryland after the surrender at Appomattox, Confederate officer Henry Kyd Douglas was arrested in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, and briefly detained in Washington during the trial of the Lincoln Conspirators.

In January, 1834, a young man named Frederick Bailey was sent from Baltimore to the Eastern shore of his birth, to “re-learn what it meant to be a slave.”

On the wintry afternoon of April 13, 1940, with an inch of snow covering the rolling fields, tow traditions collided in the heart of Maryland horse country,

Henry Kyd Douglas and his Light Brigade were the last to surrender their arms as the Civil War finally came to a close.

The 1894 Baltimore Orioles use legendary antics and creative methods in their battle for the pennant in a surprisingly successful season.

In 1638, a 14 year old girl named Mary Lawn arrived in the province of Maryland, looking for adventure. Her life became a tale of luck and circumstances, as she first worked off her transport fee as an indentured servant, and, later, served as a midwife to her neighbors.

In his early days as a young newspaper reporter, H. L. Mencken and his colleagues often embellished their stories, adding and perfecting details over beers at their favorite local pubs.

The young Englishmen (and few Englishwomen) who first settled around The Chesapeake Bay had very little time to think about "that crazy little thing called love." Money, and a strong work ethic were some of the first qualities they sought in a potential mate, but there were some exceptions, and sometimes, romance ruled the day.

In 1951, Joseph E. Holmes, once known as "The Dinnertime Burglar" for robbing homes whilst families were dining, got a new nickname after he tunneled his way out of the Maryland Peniteniary.

In April, 1860, Harriet Tubman fought to free Charles Nalle, an escaped slave from Maryland who had made his way to Troy, New York, which had a strong abolitionist community.

In 1778, John Kilby and other privateers from Maryland languished in Forton Prison near Portsmouth, England, before being released and serving with John Paul Jones aboard the Bonhomme Richard.

On a visit to England in 1816, Marianne (Caton) Patterson, the daughter of a prominent Baltimore merchant and granddaughter of Charles Carroll, captured the heart of The Duke of Wellington, a hero of the Battle of Waterloo and one of England’s most dashing and respected men.

There were a lot of acts of bravery during the fight to control The Great Baltimore Fire of 1904. On this edition of Your Maryland, Ric Cottom tells the story of Goliath, one of the lesser known heroes of that historic blaze.

Driven by his Catholic belief, a desire for wealth, and a sense of adventure, Cecil Calvert founded the Maryland colony in 1632. Things may have been different if an earlier attempt at a colony, Avalon, had been more successful.