A Brief History Recent news programs were flush with news about the 2016 Presidential race, and Rafael Eduardo (“Ted”) Cruz was featured in a couple of these videos, much to his embarrassment. Digging Deeper Bad enough the National Enquirer ran a story about Cruz having 5 “secret mistresses,” something that is extremely difficult for Cruz to disprove other than to deny the story, but a video of Cruz at age 18 talking about his ultimate goal of “world domination” is impossible to deny. Video embarrassment for Cruz continued with a film clip showing the Senator attempting to give his young…
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A Brief History In Italy, France, Belgium, and French-speaking areas of Switzerland and Canada, a 1st April tradition dating back to at least 1508 is often known as “April fish” (poissons d’avril in French or pesce d’aprile in Italian). This tradition includes attempting to attach a paper fish to the victim’s back without being noticed. Such fish feature prominently on many late 19th- to early 20th-century French April Fish Day postcards. So, in honor of April Fish Day, we present a list of funny fish names! Digging Deeper Cichlisoma preposterosa- The Ridiculous Cichlid Pterophylum scarie- Also known as Melbie’s Angel…
A Brief History In a startling April Fools prank, the BBC program Panorama aired on April 1, 1957 and showed an astonished British audience farmers growing spaghetti on trees in Switzerland! Digging Deeper We all know people that just wait each year for April 1st to play their pranks on us, but a reputable and serious television show? Spaghetti was not in wide use in Britain in the 1950’s, so many British people were unaware of how spaghetti noodles are made, which of course is like all other noodles, with wheat flour, water and other ingredients. Seeing Swiss farmers seemingly…
A Brief History On April 26, 1859, Daniel Sickles, Congressman, Army general, and diplomat, became the first person to successfully use the “temporary insanity” defense to beat a murder rap. Digging Deeper While serving as a U.S. Representative from the state of New York, Sickles shot Phillip Barton Key II, District Attorney for Washington, D.C., who also happened to be the son of Francis Scott Key, the author of the lyrics in the American National Anthem. Sickles killed the man for having an affair with his wife. This provocation was considered sufficient by the jury to justify not punishing Sickles for his crime of passion, which of course…
A Brief History On April 8, 2013, the Dawlat al-ʻIraq al-Islāmīyah, “Islamic State of Iraq” (ISI) claimed territory in the Levant and thereby became “The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant”. Now known as just “The Islamic State”, this so-called “caliphate” is arguably one of the most evil entities in human history. This article lists some of the most horrendous crimes against humanity in chronological order. Digging Deeper 1. Beheading Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (October 30, 1966 – June 7, 2006), a militant Islamist from Jordan who ran a paramilitary training camp in Afghanistan, became known after going to Iraq and being responsible for a series of bombings, beheadings, and attacks…