Browsing: August 11

A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on August 11th.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On August 10th or 11th, 991, a Viking invasion of England resulted in The Battle of Maldon, fought in Essex near the River Blackwater. On August 11, 1492, Rodrigo de Borgia was elected Pope of the Catholic Church, taking the name Alexander VI. On August 11, 1929, George Herman “Babe” Ruth hit his 500th home run at Cleveland’s League Park, the first…

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A Brief History On August 11, 1492, Rodrigo de Borgia was elected Pope of the Catholic Church, taking the name Alexander VI.  Serving until his death in 1503, Alexander’s reign was one of corruption and depravity, so much so that a Showtime cable TV show was produced about him and his family from 2011 to 2013, called The Borgias. Digging Deeper Although fictional, the show is based on many of the allegations against the Borgia family, including the Pope himself fathering several children via his many mistresses, reaping massive wealth while in office as a Cardinal and then as Pope,…

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A Brief History On August 10th or 11th, 991, a Viking invasion of England resulted in The Battle of Maldon, fought in Essex near the River Blackwater. Digging Deeper English King Aethelred, called Aethelred the Unready, was represented in the battle by Earl Byrhtnoth leading the English fighters against between 2000 and 4000 Vikings led by a man named Olaf, perhaps Olaf Tryggvason. English reaction to incursions of Vikings varied at the time from submitting to the invaders and paying tribute to military resistance.  In this case, fighting the Vikings did not go well for the English and victory was…

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A Brief History On August 11, 2019, the world of the rich and famous are still reeling from the allegations revealed in the release of court records on August 9, 2019, in the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case.  Epstein, a wealthy playboy that associated with rich and famous people, including Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, had been charged with a variety of sex related crimes, including crimes concerning minors.  On August 10, 2019, he was found hanging in his cell in Federal custody, the victim of an “apparent” suicide.  But was it? Digging Deeper In an infamous 2007 case, Epstein…

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A Brief History On August 11, 1929, George Herman “Babe” Ruth hit his 500th home run at Cleveland’s League Park, the first major league baseball player to achieve that lofty status.  Obviously, Ruth was the greatest long ball slugger of his day, and his career total of 714 home runs was not eclipsed until Hammerin’ Hank Aaron beat it in 1974.  Since then, the much reviled Barry Bonds of steroid induced mega-muscles has surpassed Ruth and Aaron both, ending his career in 2007 with an all time best 762 career homers.  Today we are going to compare the top 10…

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