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Terry Gardner: A healthy dose of American history

Paul Revere was captured on April 18, 1775, before he could warn the residents of Concord, Mass., that the British were coming. (He did make it to Lexington, Mass.)

No Revolutionary War battle was ever fought at Valley Forge, Pa., even though Gen. George Washington and his troops were there for nine months, including during a horrific winter.

Gustave Eiffel — he of tower fame — gave our Statue of Liberty her backbone.

In Boston, Philadelphia and New York last spring, I exercised my way through decades of U.S. history that I never seemed to have learned in school. Maybe all the movement activated my brain and made me more receptive as I walked, biked and kayaked my way through these lessons. As my knowledge increased, my weight decreased by about 3 pounds. Does it get any better than that?

Read entire article at LA Times