Browsing: August 21

A Brief History On August 21, 2025, Australian science fiction action horror film Primitive War was released in theaters in the United States by Fathom Entertainment. The film features fearsome dinosaurs in the 20th Century, but definitely not part of the Jurassic Park film franchise Digging Deeper The film finds our heroes, US Army long range recon soldiers, in the jungles of Viet Nam during the war, fighting not only the communist enemy, but murderous reptiles from millions of years ago that have unexpectedly appeared.  In the interest of not providing a spoiler, we will let you find out why the…

A Brief History On August 21, 1888, American inventor William Seward Burroughs of New York patented the first successful American adding machine, a device that remained in service until superseded by electronic calculators in the 1970s.  While mechanical adding machines date back long before that of Burroughs’s, his machine was definitely an improvement and was made to even print results. Digging Deeper Other old fashioned tech that also worked rather well is the slide rule, a computing device that could perform all sorts of mathematical operations almost as quickly as an electronic calculator.  Invented in the 1600s by William Oughtred,…

A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on August 21st.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On August 21, 1791, a voodoo, or alternately “vodou,” ceremony at Bois Caïman, Haiti, was the scene of the first major assembly of African slaves in Haiti, an event that led to the slave rebellion known as the Haitian Revolution. On August 21, 1888, American inventor William Seward Burroughs of New York patented the first successful American adding machine, a device that remained in service…

A Brief History On August 21, 1791, a voodoo, or alternately “vodou,” ceremony at Bois Caïman, Haiti was the scene of the first major assembly of African slaves in Haiti, an event that led to the slave rebellion known as the Haitian Revolution. Digging Deeper White European colonial slave owners viewed the voodoo ceremonies as harmless exercise of the slave religion, making such rituals the only opportunity for large numbers of slaves to meet. Dutty Boukman, a voodoo priest and slave looked up to by other slaves, was named by a mysterious woman who appeared during the ceremony as the…

A Brief History On August 21, 1897, Ransom Eli Olds founded the car company that bore his name, Oldsmobile.  Oldsmobile was in business for 107 years, making powerful, comfortable and smooth riding cars, but alas they have gone extinct, like many other car companies.  Today we ask you, “What car company do you miss the most?” Digging Deeper We list a few for you to choose from, or name your own nominee: American Motors, Checker, DeLorean, Geo, Mercury, Oldsmobile, Packard, Plymouth, Pontiac, Rambler, Saturn, Studebaker, Triumph Motor Company, and Yugo. Question for students (and subscribers) to ponder: Which of these…