They burned Washington, so we don't study Trafalgar

It was broad daylight at 10 p.m. when we sat down to dinner on a shady terrace with our old British neighbors last night. I love the month of June for its long, long days, so strange for someone from the southern U.S..

Once I read a warning in a German guidebook to the U.S.: "Don't forget that after 7:30 p.m. you will be driving in the dark, even in the summer!"

We somehow got onto the topic of the British burning Washington and the White House  in 1814 (something we did not hear about in class).

"Funnily enough, that was one of my ancestors," said Freddie.

Comments

[Ronica]

We learned about it in our classes, in North Dakota. I remember it, because it's one of the only things I remember about the war of 1812. I know that part of the White House was burned.

My ancestors were still in Norway, but my husband had ancestors in the Continental Congress, as governor of Georgia and in the Green Mountain Boys! Pretty cool, if you ask me.

[cara]

this is a pretty big deal to canadians, who although not yet offically canadian, were the blokes that did the burning. today canadians brag about this event as one of teh only times they have bested the US. pretty sad if you ask me.