This month many years ago

"This is hallowed ground. Across these fields in the early light of the third of January 1777, Washington's Continentals defeated British regulars for the first time in the long struggle for American independence." Portico and sign by the tomb of unknown American and British soldiers, Princeton Battlefield. Unplowed snow blocked my path to the battlefield, but I found these January 2013 snaps. (More battlefield here and here.)

I'm taking a break next week. Enjoy your weekend, see you soon!

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P.S. Below, Friday AM forecast is -20C/-8F (thanks to Jack for the Fahrenheit reminder) - far colder than Alaska's 2-3C. No wonder my camera's protesting.

War relic {+Churchill randoms}

Did you know Winston Churchill has a Princeton connection? Churchill's maternal grandpa, Leonard Jerome, attended Princeton University and led the 1838 effort to return this Revolutionary War cannon to Princeton. (The cannon was left in Princeton by Washington's army after a Revolutionary battle, but relocated to nearby New Brunswick during the War of 1812 to again ward off the British - more here).

The cannon now fronts a Princeton eating club (this one). Churchill was an iconic 'war relic' too - and the first honorary citizen of the U.S.!

Ivy at an Ivy League

Traditions: Each year, Princeton University's graduating class adds a sprig of ivy to the walls of Nassau Hall (the former US capitol...and Revolutionary War target!).

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P.S. The term Ivy League evokes prestigious universities, but originally referred to an athletic league.

A little cheat II: Roman ruins, London

Argh, the forecast said sun, but yesterday was mostly drenched. So here's another peek at London and Roman ruins under Guidhall Art Gallery. London's major Roman amphitheatre was lost for centuries, until these ruins were found in 1988. (After gladiatorial games, the dead were thrown in the Thames.)

Postcard from England: Baddesley Clinton estate, Warwickshire

Moving back in time, I alighted here briefly before Paris. During Elizabeth I's reign, this 1400s moated manor harbored Catholic priests (see priest hole in 2nd photo), when it was treason to do so. Enjoy your weekend!

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P.S. Fans of the Sherlock Holmes TV series starring Jeremy Brett (a Warwickshire lad) may recognize Baddesley Clinton as the locale for a gothic, entertaining episode, "The Musgrave Ritual." :)

Tracing history: After the battle

"By this route Washington with his army retired to Morristown after his victory at Princeton January 1777." The route, Nassau Street, is still our main thoroughfare (2nd photo, street stretching into background) and follows an old Lenape Indian path.

$100,000 Reward!

Just a nod to last night's Oscar (Academy Award) nominees. A current rare documents exhibit at Firestone Library includes this 1865 "Wanted" poster for John Wilkes Booth and conspirators in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln: "The Murderer of our late beloved President, Abraham Lincoln, is still at large."

A famous scholar

"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited whereas imagination embraces the entire world."
 -Albert Einstein, inscription on bust at Princeton Borough Hall

Einstein moved to Princeton in 1933 and resided on Mercer Street until his death in 1955. The first thing he apparently did in Princeton? Buy an ice cream cone. (I'd shown his house here.)

B for Battlefield Bride

Bright afternoon's bride at the Princeton Battlefield, near the tomb of unknown soldiers from the 1777 Battle of Princeton. (I showed a portion of the battlefield Monday.)

Linking to my first ABC Wednesday - thanks to LOLfromPasa at Today Around Coventry Daily Photo for suggesting I try it!

"Near here lie buried the American and British officers and soldiers who fell in the Battle of Princeton."

This month many years ago

{Princeton Battlefield} 

 "It may be doubted whether so small a number of men ever employed so short a space of time with greater and more lasting effects upon the history of the world." 

-British politician Sir George Trevelyan on the Battle of Princeton

The Battle of Princeton unfolded here on January 3, 1777, and was a turning point in the Revolutionary War.

Flight

Where I waved at the sky 
And waited your love through a February sleep, 
I see birds swinging in, watched them multiply... 
Like beauty spots marking a still perfect cheek. 
I see them bending the air, slipping away, for what birds seek. 
-From "The Balance Wheel" by Anne Sexton

Morning at the former Princeton Inn, a 1920s hotel (now student residence) overlooking a spot where the British made an almost-last stand in 1777. Enjoy your weekend!

Wobbly bridge

Crossing Stony Brook, Institute Woods: The perfect place for an unsteady photo:) Lenape tribes, 1690s Quaker settlers, Washington and Einstein all passed through these lands, once upon a time.

Remembering one of many

The Graduate College (tower visible in yesterday's mist) was home to "father of computer science," Alan Turing, while he earned his PhD at Princeton University. Turing had a crucial role Britain's WWII codebreaking activities.

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(More at Princeton's Turing Centennial site, Google's tribute and the Science Museum exhibit, London.)

Morven

It's been rainy since yesterday, so here's a sunny one from the archives. The 1750s Morven estate has been inhabited by a Princeton University founder and Declaration of Independence signer, British troops, and five state governors. Today, it enjoys a peaceful life as a museum.

Tracing history: Former US capital

{FitzRandolph Gate and Nassau Hall, Princeton University}

Nassau Hall, built 1754, is a quiet academic building today, but was once a Revolutionary War battle site. Behind the right of the gate...

A reminder that Nassau Hall was also the capitol building in 1783, when Princeton was capital of a new nation. (I guess things were less sleepy then!) 

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P.S. Campus lore: Students walking through FitzRandolph gate won't graduate, eek.

Tracing history: War route

On Quaker Road at high noon: "Route of Washington's march by night from Trenton to Princeton and victory January 3, 1777." The battlefield is beyond the trees. A Quaker site was also founded here in the 1690s. 

The 1830s canal

Canal, lock and locktender's house

The Delaware and Raritan Canal, built 1830-34, now offers a trail for walking and biking. Hand-dug by Irish immigrants working in difficult conditions, the 66-mile canal ran for 100 years, floating mule-towed barges and steamboats.

Lock #8 here is a pleasant 2.5 mile walk from Princeton. One of the first commercial uses of the telegraph ("the Victorian internet") was at this locktender's house and station - to wire canal traffic reports!

Standing on the canal lock.

The March of the Mill Children

While our town square is known for boutiques (and mass yoga), that bottom left sign marks another chapter...

...The 1903 anti-child labor "March of the Mill Children" made a stop here, led by activist Mary "Mother" Jones. "Mother Jones showed the crowd James Ashworth, who was 10 years old and stooped over like an old man from carrying bundles of yarn that weighed 75 pounds."

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The march drew much attention: New Jersey State passed its first child labor law in 1906, a decade before the U.S. passed its first such national law.

Albert Einstein's house

One of the most common questions I get is: "Where is Einstein's house?" So here it is. (Not the best photo, but I felt sheepish jostling with a group out front - already taking photos.) Einstein lived here from 1936 until his death in 1955. It's still a private residence. I hear the current owner dresses as Einstein for Halloween. :)