Browsing: August

A Brief History On August 15, 1769, little Napoleon Bonaparte was born on the island of Corsica, to ethnic Italian parents, although living on what was then a French island, having been transferred to France by Genoa only a year earlier.  Had that transfer not taken place, history may have been quite different indeed! Digging Deeper Napoleon Bonaparte is the most written about human mortal being of all time (Jesus Christ, arguably not a mortal human being is the only person with more written about him), which is an indication of why we consider him for classification as the “Greatest…

A Brief History On August 14, 2017, President Donald Trump of the United States and Dictator for Life Kim Jong Un of North Korea have been engaging in a war of words, threatening each other’s country with one sort of hyperbolic annihilation or another.  Both countries have large military forces and nuclear weapons, so these threats are frightening.  Should they be?  What is the likelihood of military confrontation, and what would that confrontation be? Digging Deeper On August 14, 2017, President Donald Trump of the United States and Dictator for Life Kim Jong Un of North Korea have been engaging…

A Brief History On August 13, 1779, a combined US Naval and ground expeditionary force was defeated after a 3 week campaign known as The Penobscot Expedition, the worst defeat in US Navy history until the surprise attack against Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Digging Deeper During the American Revolutionary War, the British had seized the mid-coastal region of Maine and declared it to be “New Ireland,” and the fledgling American government sought to reclaim this area from the British.  A large expedition was assembled, including 19 warships, 25 smaller auxiliary craft, and 1000 ground troops, consisting of Colonial…

A Brief History On August 12, 1883, the last known living specimen of the Quagga died, and the species became extinct.  This Zebra-like critter had only the  front half of its head and body striped, and unfortunately, only 1 photo of a live Quagga is known to exist.  Human encroachment on the habitat of the Quagga, including European colonization of Africa, farming and fencing, and hunting led to the extinction of this nifty looking beast.  We previously listed “10 Animals Extinct or Endangered Because of Humans,” and today we list “10 More.” Digging Deeper 1. Woolly Rhinoceros. Did you know that…

A Brief History On August 11, 1984, President Ronald Reagan said perhaps the stupidest lines of his Presidency, which we commemorated in our August 11 article, “10 Incredibly Stupid Things Said by Politicians”.  Today, we list another 10 dumb statements by the morons that are allegedly leading us through the wilderness.  As moronic as the statements by Michelle Bachman, Sarah Palin and George W. Bush were on a regular basis, our current President, Donald J. Trump, is in a class by himself, and thus dominates this year’s edition of idiotic statements by politicians. Please note that some of the quotations…