A Brief History On December 22, 2001, Richard Colvin Reid, age 28, of London, England, attempted to destroy an airliner in flight on its way to Miami, Florida by the use of explosives hidden in his shoe. The comically inept terrorist failed to ignite his bomb when he was interrupted while attempting to light the fuse with a match during the flight. Ever since, this career petty criminal turned radical Islamist has been known as “The Shoe Bomber.” Digging Deeper Reid was born in London in 1973 to a White English mother and a father of mixed heritage (Jamaican/African/White). He…
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A Brief History On December 21, 2017, the American public awaits another hard to define movie when Downsizing opens across the country tomorrow. Called a science fiction-comedy-drama, to properly describe the film you would have to include the term “romance,” even if the plot takes a while to get there. This Paramount Pictures release starring Matt Damon has already been named by the National Board of Review as one of the Top 10 Films of 2017. Digging Deeper Along with the star power of Matt Damon, Downsizing also features actors you know such as Christoph Waltz and Kristen Wiig, as…
A Brief History On December 20, 2009, actress and lovely young woman Brittany Murphy died from pneumonia. Although she had various prescription medicines in her system, it was definitely not the drugs that killed her. Could the cause of death have been the growth of mold in an improperly built home? Could death have been caused by murder? Today, we discuss 5 young women that died well before their time, and how such tragedies can happen. Digging Deeper 1. Brittany Murphy, actress, 2009. At the time of her death (at age 32), rumors circulated that Murphy had died from complications of…
A Brief History On December 19, 1907, the Darr Mine disaster in Van Meter, Pennsylvania (Westmoreland County) killed a total of 239 miners, both men and boys. Incredibly, this tragedy was not even the worst mine disaster in the US that month! Today we list the 10 Worst Mine Disasters in US History, ranked by number of fatalities. Lucky for US miners, none of the worst US fatal mine accidents rank in the top 10 deadliest mine disasters in the world (the worst of all time being in Benxi, China, in 1942 when 1549 miners died in a coal dust…
A Brief History On December 18, 1981, the Soviet Union put into flight the largest combat airplane ever made, the Tupolev Tu-160 Blackjack heavy bomber. The Blackjack (which the NATO name, Russians call it White Swan) is also the largest Mach 2 supersonic airplane to ever fly, and is the largest variable swept wing airplane to fly. It remains the longest and heaviest bomber ever built, with a length 18 feet more than a B-52. Although built only in small numbers, the development of this giant, fast bomber stoked panic in Western democracies during the Cold War and provided fuel…