Browsing: December 29

A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on December 29th.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On December 29, 1860, the first British oceangoing ironclad warship, the HMS Warrior, was launched, but she was not the first such ship in World History. On December 29, 1890, the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army perpetrated a massacre against Native Americans of the Lakota People near Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota. On December 29, 1890, the United…

A Brief History On December 29, 2013, 44 year old champion auto racer Michael Schumacher suffered a major head injury from a skiing accident in the French Alps.  A seven-time Formula One champion, Schumacher would not take the wheel again, although he did survive. Digging Deeper Other celebrities have suffered death on the ski slopes which might serve as a warning to us not so famous folks.  Amateur skiers killed while skiing include: Hugh Lindsay, 1988, Equerry to Queen Elizabeth II. Alfonso, Duke of Anjou and Cádiz, 1989, grandson of King Alfonso XIII of Spain. Michael Kennedy, 1997, son of…

A Brief History On December 29, 1916, the Russian known as “Rasputin,” or “The Mad Monk,” was murdered by a group of Russian noblemen, finally dying the next day after surviving being poisoned with cyanide and shot three times, and ultimately having to be drowned.  Today, we look at some of history’s toughest characters that were hard to kill. Digging Deeper Blackbeard the Pirate: In 1718, the most notorious pirate of them all was finally killed in spectacular fashion, only after being shot five times and slashed by swords 20 times! Hugh Glass: A tough as nails Mountain Man and…

A Brief History On December 29, 1997, the frightening specter of Avian Influenza crossing over the species barrier to affect humans necessitated the killing of about 1.25 million chickens on the island of Hong Kong, accounting for every chicken on the island!  This Hong Kong Avian Flu epidemic had started in the Northern part of Hong Kong, known as the New Territories, and the possibility of spreading to create a medical catastrophe mandated the drastic action of slaughtering the entire population of fowl on the island. Digging Deeper The cross-over of disease from animals to humans creates a nightmare scenario…

A Brief History On December 29, 1890, the United States Army 7th Cavalry Regiment conducted a massacre of about 200 Native Americans at a place called Wounded Knee in South Dakota, (see our article “Wounded Knee Massacre”).  We contend that the name, Wounded Knee, is a bit on the odd side.  After all, should other places be named “Headache,” “Sore Butt,” or “Infected Toe Mountain?”  Geographical places or formations, whether of a national or local variety have often been named for one reason or another in a way that seems a little odd to us that speak English.  (Or is…