A Brief History On August 19, 1953, United States and British covert spy agencies CIA and MI-6 overthrew the government of Iran led by democratically elected Mohammad Mossaddegh and reinstated the Shah (King), Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Digging Deeper Pahlavi had first taken power when his father abdicated during World War II. The impetus for overthrowing the elected government by the US and Britain was not only to gain an important ally on the borders of the Soviet Union during the Cold War, but also because Iran was attempting to nationalize their oil industry to the detriment of American and British…
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A Brief History On August 18, 1945, Indonesia, now the world’s 4th most populous country (and the largest island nation) inaugurated Sukarno as the nation’s first president. Indonesia had just received their independence the day before this historic event. Digging Deeper Indonesia had been a colony of the Netherlands since 1800, after a two hundred year period of gradual hegemony. A source of natural resources such as oil, nutmeg, cloves, tin, copper and gold, Indonesia was a prize highly valued by industrialized nations, a fact that led the Japanese to invade and conquer the islands during World War II. The…
A Brief History On August 17, 1498, Cesare Borgia, the son of reigning Pope Alexander VI, resigned his office as Cardinal of the Catholic Church, becoming the first cardinal to do so. Digging Deeper The incredible intrigues, corruption and machinations of the Holy Father and his family were portrayed in graphic detail in the Showtime premium cable television series The Borgias which ran from 2011 to 2013. The patriarch of the family, the power-hungry Pope Alexander VI, born Rodrigo Borgia, was anything but saintly and engaged in murder, war, political maneuvering and adultery. With a former wife whom he ditched in order…
A Brief History On August 16, 1945, the last Emperor in China, Puyi of Manchuria, was captured by the Soviet Army. Puyi, also known as Henry Puyi, was the last Qing Emperor of China from 1908 to 1912, deposed while still a child (born 1906) by the Xinhai Revolution of 1912. The former Xuantong Emperor lived quietly until the Japanese occupation of Manchuria (Manchukuo) in 1932. Digging Deeper The Japanese made Puyi their puppet ruler of Manchukuo, and in 1934 declared him Emperor Datong, the Kangde Emperor of Manchukuo. This regime lasted only until the end of Japanese occupation in…
A Brief History On August 16, 1942, while on routine anti-submarine patrol, the 2 man crew of US Navy Blimp L-8 disappeared without a trace. The unmanned blimp drifted about aimlessly until crash landing in Daly City, California. No trace of the crew or reason for their disappearance has ever been found. Digging Deeper (Note: An unrelated disaster, the 1964 Republican National Convention was held in the modern city limits of Daly City, although History usually refers to the convention as being held in San Francisco. Barry Goldwater was nominated for President, and went on to lose by a record…