A Brief History On January 22, 1973, heavyweight boxing legend and purveyor of home grills, George Foreman, pummeled the reigning heavyweight boxing champion, Smokin’ Joe Frazier, into a quivering pile of jelly in their championship bout in Kingston, Jamaica. The fight was mercifully stopped by the referee in the second round, making George Foreman Heavyweight Boxing Champion and de facto “King of the World.” As stunning as Foreman’s victory was, as Frazier was the undefeated Champion at the time, this fight was only one of 3 truly momentous fights in Foreman’s boxing career. Most boxers are lucky if they are…
A Brief History On January 21, 2019, the citizens of the United States of America celebrate another national holiday, this one in remembrance of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., an icon of the Civil Rights Movement. Unfortunately, not everyone has honored Reverend King’s legacy in a commendable way this past month. Yet, those who have disrespected Reverend King are but some of our fellow citizens who have disappointed our society in various ways in January 2019. Although we have nearly a third of the month of January yet to go, we feel compelled to list “Jerks of the Month”…
A Brief History On January 17, 2010, Stephanie Peatling, writing for The Sydney Morning Herald, reported that there “is now one poker machine for every 110 people in Australia, putting the nation in the top 10 of international gambling meccas, alongside Monaco and Macau.” Anyone alive and using the internet today can attest to the fact that slot machines are advertised practically everywhere. Hugely popular across the web, they are played by people of all demographics and seem to enjoy a mass appeal. Given that we are so familiar with seeing them online, however, it can be easy to forget…
A Brief History On January 18, 1884, Welsh physician Dr. William Price attempted to cremate the remains of his infant son, Jesus Christ Price, who had died of natural causes at the age of 5 months. A believer and proponent of the ancient Druid religion, Price believed burying dead people would somehow “pollute” the earth, and therefore dead people should be cremated. In Britain at the time, there were strong mores against cremation and as such an angry mob developed when Price was conducting the open-air cremation on a hilltop. The mob swarmed the doctor and prevented the cremation, starting…
A Brief History On January 17, 1917, the United States added another real estate coup to its already impressive history of buying land at a bargain when the Virgin Islands were purchased from Denmark for only $25 million, joining other famous American real estate purchases such as the Louisiana Purchase (1803, $11.25 million), Alaska (1867, $7.2 million) and the Gadsden Purchase (1854, $10 million). If you throw in the Dutch buying Manhattan for “$24” worth of trinkets, and the island ending up as US property, there is one more terrific deal we benefited from. (Do not think the tribe that…
