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Kenneth C. Davis is the New York Times bestselling author of A Nation Rising; America's Hidden History; and Don't Know Much About^® History, which spent thirty-five consecutive weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, sold more than 1.7 million copies, and gave rise to his phenomenal Don't Know Much About^® series for adults and children. A resident of New York City and Dorset, Vermont, Davis frequently appears on national television and radio and has been a commentator on NPR's All Things Considered. He blogs regularly at www.dontknowmuch.com.

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Kenneth C. Davis, author of the phenomenal New York Times bestseller Don't Know Much About History, presents a collection of extraordinary stories, each detailing an overlooked episode that shaped the nation's destiny and character. Davis's dramatic narratives set the record straight, busting myths and bringing to light little-known but fascinating facts from a time when the nation's fate hung in the balance.

Spanning a period from the Spanish arrival in America to George Washington's inauguration in 1789, America's Hidden History is an iconoclastic look at America's past, connecting some of the dots between history and today's headlines, and proving why Davis is truly America's teacher.

Find out:

• Which Pilgrims arrived in Florida fifty years before the Mayflower sailed.
• What Supreme Court Justice went to prison.
• What traitor is honored with a statue for his bravery.
• Which fighting woman in colonial New England scalped her Indian captors.

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America's Hidden History

HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

Chapter One

Isabella's Pigs

1469
Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon are married.

1492
The Reconquest (la reconquista) forces the last Moors out of Spain.

As part of a revived Inquisition, all Jews are forced to convert or leave Spain.

Christopher Columbus arrives in the Caribbean; he names Hispaniola (modern-day Haiti and the Dominican Republic) and founds the settlement of La Navidad.

1497
John Cabot, an Italian sailing for England, sights North America, probably around Newfoundland, and claims the territory for England.

1501
Amerigo Vespucci, sailing for Portugal, reaches the South American coast. Upon his return, he writes to his patron, Lorenzo de' Medici, that he has voyaged to a "new world." A mapmaker attaches Amerigo's name to the New World.

1509
Henry VIII is crowned king of England and marries Catherine of Aragon, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella.

1516
King Ferdinand dies; Charles I, grandson of Ferdinand and Isabella, inherits the Spanish throne.

1528
Pánfilo de Narváez, accompanied by Cabeza de Vaca, leads a Spanish attempt to conquer Florida.

1531
King Henry VIII divorces Catherine of Aragon to marry Anne Boleyn. In 1534, the Act of Supremacy declares the king to be the head of the Church of England, completing the break with Rome.

1536
John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion is published, expanding the Protestant Reformation.

1539-1543
Hernando de Soto leads a Spanish army through the Southeast; de Soto dies on the banks of the Mississippi on May 21, 1542.

1553
Mary I, daughter of Henry VIII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, becomes queen of England. In 1554, she marries Philip II, the future king of Spain, but dies childless in 1558.

1556
Philip II becomes king of Spain.

1558
Queen Elizabeth I succeeds her half sister Queen Mary.

1564
French Huguenots establish Fort Caroline near the St. Johns River in Florida.

1565
St. Augustine, Florida, founded.

Fort Caroline massacre.

1588
The Spanish Armada is defeated by a smaller British fleet.

Excerpted from America's Hidden Historyby Kenneth Davis Copyright © 2009 by Kenneth Davis. Excerpted by permission.
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