Truman Was Right

When he was being interviewed by Merle Miller for Miller's book, "Plain Speaking: An Oral Biography of Harry S Truman," President Truman told Miller, "The only thing new in the world is the history you don't know."

It seems that, on a daily basis, I am reminded of the truth of that observation.

Today's reminder comes to me courtesy of CNN.com. Actually, it's an item that was written by Eric Johnson for mental floss — and then reposted on CNN.com.

It is called "Seven Civil War stories your teacher never told you." I'm sure many of them will come as surprises to people who thought they already knew everything they needed to know about the Civil War.

You can read the details on each item for yourself, but, in a nutshell, they are

1. Lincoln's first solution to slavery was a fiasco.


2. Hungry ladies effectively mugged Jefferson Davis.


3. The Union used hot air balloons and submarines.


4. "Dixie" was only a northern song.


5. Paul Revere was at Gettysburg.


6. Mark Twain fired one shot and then left.


7. The armies weren't all–male.