Browsing: April 11

A Brief History On April 11, 1079, Bishop Stanislaus of Kraków, Poland, later Saint Stanislaus, was executed either by the order of or perhaps by the direct hand of King Bolesław II of Poland.  After the execution, the body of the slain Bishop was chopped up into small pieces and scattered in the forest, presumably to be eaten by the forest critters.  Lo and Behold!  The pieces of the body of the future Catholic Saint reassembled themselves! Digging Deeper While no word of any coming back to life was noted, chroniclers did say that 4 eagles guarded the body of…

A Brief History On April 11, 1990, British customs officials seized what they believed was to be a barrel for an enormously large super cannon headed for Iraq, presumably to be used to shell Israel and Iran from an immense distance (up to 625 miles) away.  Iraq never did get its chance to field a combat ready version of their super cannon, called Project Babylon, but they did get as far as building prototypes for testing, serious cause for concern by  the neighbors of Iraq in the Middle East, including Iran and Israel. Digging Deeper Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was…

A Brief History On April 11, 1689, King James II of England, Scotland, and Ireland was deposed by his son-in-law and daughter, William III and Mary II who became joint sovereigns on this date. James II, the second son of King Charles I and younger brother of King Charles II, became King of England (and King James VII of Scotland) upon the death of Charles II. James II was a Roman Catholic, the last such monarch in England. Digging Deeper James II had generated suspicion and loathing among the mostly Protestant population of England and Great Britain, accused of being…

A Brief History On April 11, 1986, a tragic shootout between 8 FBI agents and 2 bank robbers in Miami, Florida, resulted in the deaths of 2 agents and both suspects, and the wounding of 5 other agents. The failure of the FBI tactics and firearms resulted in a revolution in police firepower. Digging Deeper The subjects had murdered another man and stolen his car, and then went on a robbery spree. Both suspects were US Army veterans (one had also served in the Marine Corps) and may have been responsible for the murders of their wives. Neither man had…

On April 11, 1951, President Harry Truman had had enough, and fired General of the Army (5 star general) Douglas MacArthur.  Firing the senior American general during a war, especially one that had been awarded the Medal of Honor (in World War II) and that was a national hero is not to be taken lightly; however, Truman had no choice and “Dugout Doug” was out. Sometimes during the emergencies of war even senior officers are found to be lacking in brains, skills, or character necessary to win the war.  When officers of exalted rank get fired, it is unusual enough…