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On May 15, 1864, the Battle of New Market, Virginia, was
fought. This battle occurred as part of the Valley Campaigns of 1864, during
the Civil War. The battle began when union troops under the command of Major
General Franz Sigel opened fire on Confederates, under the command of Major General
John C. Breckenridge, prompting the Confederates to launch a frontal attack on
the Union troops. Soon, however,
the rebel attack began to falter and a gap opened in their line. This caused
Sigel to launch a counterattack. Seeing that he had no choice, Breckenridge
sent his reserves, 257 young cadets from the Virginia Military Institute, to
plug the hole. Breckenridge was very resistant to using the cadets, and when he
finally realized he had no other options he said, “Put the boys in and may God forgive
me for that order.” The cadets turned back the union charge, and the
Confederate troops, with the cadets at the head, soon swept the Union troops
from the field.
Also, on May 15, 1940, the very first McDonald’s restaurant
was opened in San Bernardino, California. It started out as barbecue
restaurant, but by 1948 they reorganized the restaurant as a hamburger stand,
using production line principles. Today, McDonald’s restaurants are found in
119 countries and serve 58 million customers per day.
Another event that occurred on May 15 was the attempted
assassination of presidential candidate George Wallace by Arthur Bremer. On May
15, 1972, while campaigning for president in Laurel, Maryland, politician
George Wallace was shot five times in the abdomen and chest by Bremer, who also
hit three bystanders. This assassination attempt left Wallace paralyzed from
the waist down for the rest of his life. Bremer was sentenced to 63 years in
prison, but served only 35 years, being released in 2007.
Be sure to visit learnourhistory.com to see all of our latest history dvds for kids. We have a great selection of videos that make learning U.S. history fun for kids of all ages.
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