A Brief History On August 22, 1962, the French ultra-nationalist terror group known as the OAS (Organisation armée secrete, which means “Secret Army Organization”) made a famous attempt on the life of Charles de Gaulle, president of France. The OAS had tried and failed to kill de Gaulle before, but this particular attempt became all the more famous as the inspiration for the 1971 Frederick Forsyth novel, The Day of the Jackal. The book became enough of a best seller to in turn inspire the 1973 major motion picture by the same name, starring Edward Fox and Michel Lonsdale. The…
Browsing: August 22
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A Brief History On August 22, 1485, King Richard III of England died from wounds received in the Battle of Bosworth Field, the last English King to die in battle. Long ago, kings and other nobility would lead their men in battle, but for the past few hundred years the trend has been for the rich and powerful to send other people into battle. Perhaps if our leaders were forced to actually lead they would consider war a bit more carefully! Digging Deeper Richard III was the last of the Plantagenet dynasty kings, a clan originally from France that included…
A Brief History On August 22, 1639, the British East India Company founded a city they called Madras in Southern India on the Bay of Bengal on land they bought from local Nayak leaders, a mere 3 mile strip that would become one of the world’s great cities. Digging Deeper Known as “The Detroit of south Asia” because of its thriving automobile industry, the city today has a population of over 4,500,000 and a metro area population of over 8,500,000. Despite the present day giant size of the city, the 4th largest in India and 36th largest in the world,…
A Brief History On August 22, 1971, Cold War anti-communist zealots FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover and Attorney General of the US John Mitchell announced the arrest of “The Camden 28,” anti-Viet Nam War protesters that had broken into a Camden, New Jersey draft board to destroy documents necessary for the administration of the military draft for that area. Digging Deeper The 28 anti-war activists included priests and former seminarians, and quite a few people that had experienced Catholic high school or college education, and some were involved in the priesthood (2 priests and a minister, plus a Franciscan Brother)…
A Brief History On August 22, 1880, The London Telegraph published an allegedly true story claiming that, believe it or not, people can be buried alive and still survive! Digging Deeper To support the article’s claims, they provided an example concerning the fakir Haridas. A fakir is a holy man, usually a Muslim. In 1835, at the maharaja’s palace in Lahore, India, Haridas spent 40 days locked in a sealed chest. It is said that Haridas fasted for seven days before the big moment. He also swallowed and then reproduced a 27 meter long strip of linen to clean out his stomach.…