A Brief History On May 9, 1671, Anglo-Irish Thomas Blood dressed up as a parson and attempted to steal the Crown Jewels of England. A scoundrel in multiple ways, Blood convinced King Charles II to grant him a pardon! The nerve required to try such a bold heist is incredible, especially since death would have been the expected punishment. Today, we list 10 of the most ridiculously daring heists in history, some successful, and some not so successful. Digging Deeper 1. Theft of Crown Jewels, Tower of London, 1671. As introduced above, Mr. Blood had the audacity to try the…
Author: Major Dan
Major Dan
Major Daniel Zar is a retired veteran of the United States Marine Corps. He served during the Cold War and has traveled to many countries around the world. Prior to his military service, he graduated from Cleveland State University, having majored in sociology. Following his military service, he worked as a police officer eventually earning the rank of captain prior to his retirement.
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A Brief History On May 8, 1794, Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier, the man generally regarded as the Father of Modern Chemistry, was put to death on the guillotine during the Reign of Terror period of the French Revolution. It seems this man of noble birth who had such an enormous impact on the sciences of chemistry and biology was more than merely a scientist, but also a businessman and an agent of the Ancien Régime, the monarchy of France prior to the Revolution. Digging Deeper Born in Paris in 1743, Antoine was given a fine education (earning a degree in law…
A Brief History On May 7, 2018, while the latest movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Avengers: Infinity War, is breaking box office records, we stop to ask about the main premise of the film, the arch villain Thanos and his plan to reduce life in the Universe by half in order to prevent an overpopulation catastrophe. Our question is, “Has anyone tried this plan in real life?” In 1968, Paul and Anne Ehrlich published a book titled, The Population Bomb, a dire warning about the catastrophic consequences of overpopulation of people on Earth. So far, those predictions have not…
A Brief History On May 6, 2018, we ponder the premise of the incredibly popular movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Avengers: Infinity War. Specifically, the plan that super villain Thanos has for life in the Universe, which is to randomly eliminate half of all living beings as a solution to overpopulation. We turn to our creative and intelligent readers to help us make sense of such an apocalyptic scenario. (Note: See our article on May 7, 2018 for a discussion of real life attempts to limit human population.) Digging Deeper In the case of half of all the…
A Brief History On May 5, 1862, the Mexican Army defeated the French Army at the Battle of the Puebla (Puebla City) during the Second French Intervention in Mexico, a marvelous victory for the Mexicans over a superior French force, a victory celebrated each year on May 5th, or in Español, Cinco de Mayo. Oddly enough, the Mexican celebration has been appropriated by Americans in the United States where it has become a bigger holiday for us Gringos than for Mexicans! Digging Deeper Mexico had been torn by one of their seemingly eternal civil wars which impoverished the country and…