Browsing: August 27

A Brief History On August 27, 1915, a member of the clergy tried to assassinate another member of the clergy, a most un-Christian act indeed.  Bishop Patrick Heffron was shot twice by a priest in his own diocese, Father Laurence M. Lesches. Digging Deeper It seems the priest was unhappy that the bishop did not see fit to grant a parish to Fr. Lesches, allegedly due to the instability of Lesches.  Apparently, Bishop Heffron was right!  Luckily, the good bishop did not die until 1927, of natural causes.  The would-be assassin was committed to a mental institution for the rest…

A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on August 27th.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On August 27, 1859, Colonel Edwin Drake of the Seneca Oil Company drilled a successful oil well just outside Titusville, Pennsylvania, the discovery of the first commercially viable oil well. On August 27, 1859, oil was discovered in Pennsylvania, an event we used to list “10 Momentous Discoveries.” On August 27, 1915, a member of the clergy tried to assassinate another member…

A Brief History On August 27, 1982, far away from Anatolia, Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide killed Turkish diplomat Atilla Altıkat in Ottawa, Ontario, as vengeance for the Armenian Genocide of 1915.  Time and distance do not always stop those bent on revenge, and we list a few of those incidents. Digging Deeper In 1943, the US conducted Operation Vengeance, sending P-38 fighters 435 miles to shoot down and kill Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the architect of the Pearl Harbor raid. From 1972 to 1973, Israel’s Mossad conducted Operation Wrath of God, revenge for the murders of Israeli athletes…

A Brief History On August 27, 2006, Comair Flight 5191, a connecting flight from Lexington, Kentucky to Atlanta, Georgia, crashed, killing all aboard the aircraft except a single survivor.  Not only is the “sole survivor” fact amazing, but it was the man that was piloting the plane during the crash! (See some of our many articles about aviation and aircraft by clicking this link.) Digging Deeper The Bombardier CRJ-100 twin jet airliner that can carry 50 passengers plus an aircrew, crashed when it was attempting take off from the wrong runway, flying from runway #26 when the tower had assigned…

A Brief History On August 27, 1859, oil was discovered in Pennsylvania, an event we used to list “10 Momentous Discoveries.”  In honor of that previous list, we take this opportunity today to list 10 things that people have not yet discovered (or rediscovered as the case may be), but things that would rate as “momentous” discoveries when and if we find them.  No significance is attached to the order listed, nor do we imply these are the most important things left to discover, just ones of particular interest or notoriety. Digging Deeper 1. Atlantis Even Donovan sang a popular…