A Brief History On December 26, 2004, former NFL defensive end and perennial All Pro Reggie White was rushed to the hospital where he died from cardiac arrhythmia. He was only 43 years old. Digging Deeper White played college football at the University of Tennessee (All-American there) and then 2 years in the USFL before being selected by the Eagles of the NFL. White also played for the Packers and the Panthers before retiring after 15 years in the NFL. After 17 years of professional football, an extremely long stretch for a defensive lineman, the celebrated player finally retired in…
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A Brief History On December 25, 2009, one of the most bizarre terrorist plots to destroy an airliner and its passengers failed when Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was unable to get his bomb hidden in his underwear to explode. Digging Deeper The 23 year old Nigerian man was educated at the University College in London, England and had earned a degree in mechanical engineering in 2008. He attempted to further his education with classes toward a Master’s degree at Wollongong University in Dubai. Unfortunately, this son of one of the richest men in Nigeria squandered his education by becoming a radicalized…
A Brief History On December 24, 1942, French Patriots got their Christmas wish when Nazi collaborator and opportunist Admiral Francois Darlan was murdered by 20 year old French Monarchist, Fernand de la Chapelle. Digging Deeper A career military man from a naval family, Darlan graduated from the French naval academy and served in the artillery during World War I. A successful naval career followed culminating with Darlan being promoted to Amiral de la Flotte, a special rank just for him, in 1939. When war with Germany broke out in 1939 and the Germans invaded France in 1940, Darlan was overly…
A Brief History On December 23, 962, Christian forces under Byzantine commander Nikephoros II Phokas stormed into the city of Aleppo in the Levant, earning the future Byzantine Emperor the title “Pale Death of the Saracens.” Digging Deeper The Byzantine Empire, headquartered in Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey) was basically the Eastern half of the Roman Empire and lasted until it was replaced by the Muslim Ottoman Empire in 1453. Nikephoros sacked Aleppo (currently the largest city in Syria and now wracked by a horrible civil war resulting in mass destruction and death in the city). Nikephoros took for himself 1400…
A Brief History On December 22, 1880, English writer George Eliot, author of such novels as Adam Bede and Silas Marner, died at the age of 61 of a throat infection and chronic kidney problems. Eliot was actually a woman, born Mary Ann Evans in Warwickshire, England, and was sent by her family to receive a quality education, a relatively rare thing for a girl in those days. Digging Deeper Despite her obvious intelligence, the reason for her referral to the academic world was because she was not expected to land a husband with her decidedly mediocre physical appearance! Her…