Time for a sofa upgrade? Introducing Anibay sofas, where designer style meets budget-friendly prices.
Anibay brings you the ultimate in furniture innovation with a modular design that allows you to rearrange your space effortlessly. Perfect for both small and large spaces, Anibay is the only machine washable sofa inside and out. Say goodbye to stains and messes with liquid and stain resistant fabrics that make cleaning easy.
Liquid simply slide right off. Designed for custom comfort, our high-resilience foam lets you choose between a sink and feel or a supportive memory foam blend. Plus, our pet-friendly stain-resistant fabrics ensure your sofa stays beautiful for years. Don't compromise quality for price. Visit washablesophas.com to upgrade your living space today. Sofas start at just $699 with no risk returns and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Get up to 60% off plus free shipping and free returns. Shop now at washablesophas.com.
Authors are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply. The Black Effect Podcast Festival is back. We're partnering with Nissan, so pull up to their exclusive lounge to get a special look at the all-new 2025 Nissan Kicks and Nissan Rogue. The Nissan Rogue S is more affordable than CR-V and RAV4 and features available 12.3-inch touchscreen display, while the all-new Nissan Kicks holds it down with a totally redesigned interior cabin with features like available wireless Apple CarPlay and available panoramic moonroof. Relax and see how Nissan is leveling up the game. Come kick it. April 26th at Pullman Yards in Atlanta. Get ready for culture, community, and good conversation.
This is Matt Rogers from Lost Culturesis with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang. Have you ever felt that uneasy anxiety when the 4 p.m. hour strikes, the creeping meal-related distress that happens when you don't quite feel prepared? You know, dinner dread? Let's get rid of that unpleasant feeling forever with one word, Stouffer's. No matter what happens, you'll have a dinner plan that everyone loves with Stouffer's. Some chicken enchiladas or a cheesy chicken and broccoli pasta bake is always welcome, whether it is plan A or plan D. Delicious. Not gonna lie, I eat the lasagna once a week, and that's a fact. When the clock strikes dinner, think Stouffer's.
Shop now for family favorites. Clean water access helps kids soak up childhood. Girls can be in class instead of walking hours for water. Kids can be climbing trees and skinning knees instead of being sick with waterborne diseases.
Sponsor a child at worldvision.org slash water for kids and help ensure access to life-changing essentials like clean water. Avoiding your unfinished home projects because you're not sure where to start? Thumbtack knows homes, so you don't have to. Don't know the difference between matte paint finish or satin? Or what that clunking sound from your dryer is? With Thumbtack, you don't have to be a home pro, you just have to hire one. You can hire top-rated pros, see price estimates, and read reviews all in the app.
Download today. And we continue with our American stories. Canada is an independent nation and not a part of the United States, most likely because of smallpox. During the Revolutionary War, the most dangerous place for a Continental Army soldier was not on the battlefield, but rather within an encampment. In fact, fever and infections from smallpox killed more soldiers than any wounds suffered in battle. And because smallpox was common in England, most British soldiers had already been exposed and were immune. But the disease was less common in America, and the average Continental soldier was not. Here to tell the story is William Federer. He is a nationally known speaker, bestselling author, and president of Amerisearch Inc., a publishing company dedicated to researching America's heritage.
Take it away. Smallpox is 10 times more terrible. The quote from John Adams is, disease has destroyed 10 men for us, where the sword of the enemy has killed one.
This was in a letter John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail, April 13th, 1777. During the Revolution, soldiers were plagued with typhoid, yellow fever, and smallpox, which an estimated 30% of the soldiers became infected with. So the soldiers were living in tight quarters, and so the diseases could spread easily, and they didn't always have proper sanitation. So this largely began when the British evacuated Boston. The British had occupied Boston for nine months, and when they finally left Boston, they left their infected soldiers behind.
So spreading across the continent, smallpox epidemic killed an estimated 145,000 settlers and Indians. Fortunately for General George Washington, he was immune to smallpox, and by this time he's 19. He accompanied his older half-brother, Lawrence Washington, to the island of Barbados, and he gets smallpox. The year is 1751. Washington recovered, and he came back to America.
His older brother died, and George inherited Lawrence's estate, and the rest is history. But now he's immune to smallpox, and so when the army gets the disease, he can go amongst the army and not be affected. On July 4th, 1775, Washington cautioned against travel around Boston. He said, as there may be danger of introducing smallpox into the army. Now they didn't know about diseases. It wasn't until the middle 1800s that you had Louis Pasteur and the microscope and discovering viruses and so forth, so they weren't sure how this spread. Even John Adams, when he would write letters to his wife Abigail, she would insist that he smoke the letters.
What's that? Well, they would write the letter and put it in a box and light a little fire underneath of it, and they thought maybe the smoke will kill the virus. On December 15th of 1775, George Washington explained to Joseph Reed, smallpox is in every part of Boston. A surety against any attempt of ours to attack. If we escape the smallpox in this camp, it will be miraculous.
Every precaution that can be taken to guard against this evil. On December 4th of 1775, Washington informed Congress that the British were sending civilians infected with smallpox out of the city. So Washington said, by recent information, General Howe is going to send out a number of inhabitants. A sailor says that a number of these coming out have been inoculated with the design of spreading smallpox through the camp. So the British, back when they did have Boston for those nine months, the word was that they were intentionally infecting people with the smallpox and intentionally sending them out to George Washington's troops. On January 1st of 1777, British ships sailing under a flag of truce released 400 American prisoners who were suffering from smallpox.
They released them at Connecticut's Milford Harbor. So you think, oh great, here's the British like one of those prison ships and they're going to let some Americans go. Well, the ones that they let go are infected with smallpox.
Within a month, 45 had died along with one of their caregivers, Captain Stephen Stowe. The British officer Duncan had suggested, as cited in a book published in 1777, dip arrows in matter of smallpox and twang them at the American rebels. This would disband these stubborn, ignorant, enthusiastic savages. Now Quebec, Canada may have been captured by Americans in December of 1775 and Canada then could have become part of the United States had it not been for smallpox. American Captain Hector McNeil told of a congressional committee investigating the failure of the army's expedition to Canada. He said smallpox was sent out of Quebec by British Governor Guy Carleton, inoculating the poor people at government expense for the purpose of giving it to our army. So the situation was General Benedict Arnold. He had been a hero up to this point before he flipped and became a traitor, but Benedict Arnold was leading an American army up to Canada and they could have captured Montreal, they could have captured Quebec, but he reported that nearly 1,200 American troops at Montreal where they were camped were suffering from smallpox. So out of his 1,200 men, he only had 500 that could fight.
So here you have a General Sullivan, he's got militia, they're supposed to go up and join this army and they're like, oh, we don't know if we want to join it. You have all these people sick and dying of smallpox. General Gates conceded, as fine an army as has ever marched into Canada has this year been entirely ruined with smallpox. The line of retreat extended nearly 13 miles distance and a great part of them sick with smallpox. John Adams wrote from Philadelphia, June of 1776, our misfortune in Canada are enough to melt a heart of stone. The smallpox is 10 times more terrible than Britons, Canadians and Indians together.
This was the cause of our precipitate retreat from Quebec. They did develop a method of inoculating where the pox would scab over and they would scrape the scab and get powder from it and then they would blow it up somebody's nose. The threat of smallpox did not lessen until widespread inoculations were called for by Dr. Benjamin Rush. Rush was a member of the Continental Congress where he signed the Declaration of Independence. He is considered the father of American medicine.
Dr. Rush personally inoculated Virginia Governor Patrick Henry against smallpox as well as Pennsylvania's troops resulting in their low rate of illness. So he was doing a little section of the troops here, another section of the troops there, and they would get sick for a little while and recover. So Dr. Benjamin Rush began to make this important contribution against this deadly enemy of smallpox.
And a great job as always by Greg Hengler on that piece and a special thanks to William Federer. He is a nationally known speaker, best-selling author, and president of Amerisearch, Inc., a publishing company dedicated to researching America's heritage. And so we learn why Canada isn't a part of the United States.
The story of smallpox and the Revolutionary War here on Our American Stories. Made with liquid and stain-resistant fabrics, they're kid-proof, pet-friendly, and built for everyday life. Plus, changeable fabric covers let you refresh your sofa whenever you want.
Need flexibility? Our modular design lets you rearrange your sofa any time to fit your space, whether it's a growing family room or a cozy apartment. Plus, they're earth-friendly and trusted by over 200,000 happy customers. Starting at just $699, it's time to upgrade to a stress-free, mess-proof sofa. Visit washablesophas.com today and save.
That's washablesophas.com. Offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply. This message comes from Greenlight. Ready to start talking to your kids about financial literacy? Meet Greenlight, the debit card and money app that teaches kids and teens how to earn, save, spend wisely, and invest with your guardrails in place. With Greenlight, you can send money to kids quickly, set up chores, automate allowance, and keep an eye on what your kids are spending with real-time notifications. Join millions of parents and kids building healthy financial habits together on Greenlight. Get started risk-free at greenlight.com.
This is Jana Kramer from Windown with Jana Kramer. Have you ever felt that uneasy anxiety when the 4 p.m. hour strikes, the creeping meal-related distress that happens when you don't quite feel prepared? You know, dinner dread. Let's get rid of that unpleasant feeling forever with one word, Stouffer's. No matter what happens, you'll have a dinner plan that everyone loves with Stouffer's. Some chicken enchiladas or a cheesy chicken and broccoli pasta bake is always welcome, whether it is Plan A or Plan D-licious. When the clock strikes dinner, think Stouffer's.
Shop now for family favorites. There's an efficient way to get caught up on a lot of news. It's called The 7 from The Washington Post. It's a newsletter and podcast. Whether you're reading or hit play, you get seven stories you need to know and you can consume it all in just a few minutes. The 7 is out every weekday morning by 7 a.m. Eastern. I'm Hannah Jewell. I'm one of the writers and I host the show. Find The 7 podcast wherever you're listening. The newsletter link is waiting for you in the show notes.
