Blog Heap of Links for the day 18 December 2017

Russian President Vladimir Putin called President Trump Sunday to thank the U.S. for intelligence that helped to avert an ISIS bombing of targets in St. Petersburg – Putin’s hometown – including the city’s landmark 19th century Kazan Cathedral.…

…On this day in 1865 Secretary of State William Seward proclaimed the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment, prohibiting slavery throughout the USA. However officially slavery did not end in MD until long after that. I have seen write-ups that said some blacks remained slaves in MD on into the early 1900s.