A Brief History On August 30, 1967, the United States Senate confirmed Thurgood Marshall as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States by a vote of 69-11, the first African-American so confirmed. Digging Deeper Marshall, formerly the Chief Counsel for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and appointed a Federal Appeals Court judge by President Kennedy in 1961, had been working as United States Solicitor General (appointed by President Johnson in 1965), the first African-American to hold that position. It was as counsel for the NAACP that Marshall earned his reputation, successfully…
Browsing: August
Read More
A Brief History On August 29, 1831, Michael Faraday of England discovered electromagnetic induction, the interaction of electricity and magnetism that allows the creation of the electric induction motor and the generator, among other things. The application of this knowledge ushered in the Electrical Age of Man, as modern appliances became possible utilizing this basic knowledge. Digging Deeper In conjunction with other scientists of the time, notably James Clerk Maxwell of Scotland, Faraday’s work also led to the development of all sorts of meters, welding machines, electric induction ovens, wireless energy transfer, electric clamping, electric seals and others. Linear magnetic…
A Brief History On August 28, 1988, an Italian precision flight team proved that aerial acts that look extremely dangerous to an audience appear that way for a reason, Because They Are! The Italian Air Force acrobatic team known as Frecce Tricolori was flying 10 Aermacchi MB-339 (a subsonic trainer/light attack jet) at the Ramstein Air Show when 3 of the planes collided and crashed, killing all 3 pilots. Digging Deeper Unfortunately, the crashing planes crashed on the spectators, killing 67 of the hapless audience and injuring another 1000 people (346 seriously) as the flaming debris careened into the crowd. …
A Brief History On August 26, 2014, we ran a list of 10 Extremely Effective Weapons That Don’t Require Gunpowder or Explosives. This year, we will propose another 10 such weapons that have proven themselves on the battlefield or in self defense against people and animals. (Note: The order listed has no significance.) Digging Deeper 10. Ram, 1st Use Unknown. Useful against enemy fortifications, this can be a simple log carried by 1 or more people and used to batter down doors, walls, vehicles, ships and anything else in the way. For centuries, ships were equipped with rams on the…
A Brief History On August 25, 1914, during the opening stages of World War I German soldiers burned the Library of the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium, destroying a treasure of ancient, Medieval, and Renaissance works. Over 300,000 books were burned, many of them irreplaceable volumes now lost forever. Thousands of manuscripts of various types were burned, along with 1000 Incunabula (printed works made before 1501, the earliest works printed by machine). A specific work that was lost was the Easter Island Rongorongo Text E, a wooden tablet etched with glyphs made by Easter Island natives before invasion by…