Browsing: August

A Brief History  On August 13, 1521, Cuauhtémoc, ruler of the Aztecs, was captured while fleeing Tenochtitlán by crossing Lake Texcoco in disguise with his wife, family and friends. He and the surviving pipiltin  (nobles) surrendered to Hernán Cortés and, according to Spanish sources, he offered Cortés his knife and asked to be killed. His death was a critical moment in the decline and fall of the Aztec Civilization! Digging Deeper History is told from the perspective of the winners. One can assume that many great civilizations have been lost to history. What does it mean to be a great civilization? The examples that come to mind…

A Brief History On August 12th, 30 B.C., after the naval defeat of her and Mark Antony’s forces against those of Octavian, and in fear of the public humiliation of being dragged through Rome in chains, Cleopatra committed suicide by snake bite.  Cleopatra VII, last Ptolemaic Queen of Egypt, is one of the most written-about women in history, and she has been portrayed in numerous movies. Because she captivated and beguiled two of the most powerful men in the Roman world, it has long been assumed that she possessed beauty of epic proportions. Archaeological finds, however, indicate that this may…

A Brief History On August 12, 1944, German Nazi troops finished off a massacre of between 40,000 and 50,000 Poles, many of them Jewish.  The excuse for this massacre was to put down the Warsaw Uprising and to discourage any further resistance to the occupying forces. Digging Deeper After the Germans took over Poland in 1939 (with the Soviets coming in through Poland’s back door, stabbing their neighbor in the back), the conquered Poles were treated like subhuman slaves.  Finally in 1944, partisan forces rose up and fought back against the Nazi overlords in an attempt to kick the Germans…

A Brief History On August 11, 1984, President Reagan caused the Soviet Union to raise their security and defense levels by joking about bombing Russia.  Whether meant to go public or said in private conversation, politicians throughout history have been known to say incredibly stupid things.  Here we list 10 such misstatements made by politicians.  (Note: Due to the volume of stupid utterances, we do not claim these are the most stupid, but they are pretty stupid.)  Obviously, this list cries out for a sequel.   10.  “Read my lips, no new taxes.” George H.W. Bush, 1988. Campaign pledges are usually not considered…

A Brief History On August 11, 1934, the Federal Penitentiary located on the island of Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay opened for civilian prisoners.  Despite its exotic-sounding name, Alcatraz was a state-of-the-art maximum security prison designed to hold the toughest, most dangerous prisoners. Digging Deeper Some of the desperadoes held there included: Al “Scarface” Capone; “Doc” Barker; Robert Stroud (aka “The Bird Man of Alcatraz”); “Bumpy“ Johnson (aka “The Godfather of Harlem“); “Whitey” Bulger; Alvin “Creepy” Karpis; and “Machine Gun” Kelly.  Apparently having a nickname was a good way to end up on “The Rock!” Considered to be escape-proof, the…