A Brief History On August 2, 1343, Olivier Clisson, a French nobleman from Brittany, was convicted of treason in Paris and beheaded. He had been fighting the British in the Hundred Years War, and when his success tapered off, he was criticized and accused of treason, perhaps to deflect blame from French losses. Digging Deeper Olivier, miffed and sensing danger, then defected to the English for real and was later arrested. Taken to Paris for trial, he was beheaded, as was the fate of traitors in those days. His head was placed on display at Nantes, and his enraged wife (widow)…
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A Brief History On August 1, 1831, the new London bridge spanning the River Thames in central London, was completed. Replacing a medieval stone arch bridge, the new bridge was also of stone arch construction and is what we normally think of when “London Bridge” is referred to. Digging Deeper Prior to 1176 a series of wooden bridges had spanned the Thames, but the sturdy construction of the stone bridge completed in 1176 would last over 650 years. This “old” bridge was built with a chapel in the middle dedicated to Thomas Becket and had shops crowded along its way. …
A Brief History On Thursday, August 1st, 1991, actress Hedy Lamarr was arrested for shoplifting. Hedy’s life and accomplishments were presented in Part 1 of our series on German-speaking women in English-speaking roles. In this article, we present the next group of German actresses. Digging Deeper Part 2: The Post-War Years 1) Hildegard Knef (1925-2002) During World War II, Hildegard Knef, a young aspiring actress, had an affair with Ewald von Demandowsky who was the head of a film production company responsible for making many Nazi propaganda movies. In the final year of the war and to be able to stay…
A Brief History On August 1, 2007, the Interstate -35 westbound bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis came tumbling down during the evening rush hour, killing 13 and injuring 145. The incident brought the crumbling infrastructure of the US to the front of the news, but as usual, little if anything was done about it. Bridges have been falling as long as men have built them. The sorry state of repair and maintenance of American bridges means more deadly failures are likely to occur, sooner rather than later. Here we list 10 notable bridge failures, not necessarily the deadliest…