A Brief History On December 12, 884, the King of West Francia, Carloman II, son of Louis the Stammerer (Louis II), died in a hunting accident. Carloman was only 18 years old at the time, which goes to show you being King is no guarantee of a long happy life. Digging Deeper In the convoluted manner of the time (no convenient DNA tests back then) the succession to the throne was contested in 879 when the Stammering old King died. Carloman and his brother, Louis III, ended up both being elected King despite disputed paternity, and split the throne of…
Browsing: December
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A Brief History On December 11, 629, the Prophet of Allah and founder of the Muslim religion, Muhammad, led an army of 10,000 converts to Islam into Mecca and conquered the city with minimal casualties. Digging Deeper As often takes place today when adherents to one religion take over an area previously shared by other faiths, critics of Islam allege that the Muslims destroyed all traces of Arabian, Jewish, and Christian statuary, paintings, and other objects of non-Islamic religious significance, although some accounts claim Muhammad spared depictions of Jesus and Mary. Many modern Muslims dispute these claims altogether, arguing that…
A Brief History On December 10, 1941, Colin Purdie Kelly, Jr. became the first in a long line of American heroes that flew the great Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, a pairing of the greatest bomber of World War II and the greatest bomber pilots. Digging Deeper Only 3 days after the catastrophic raid on Pearl Harbor thrust the US into the War, the Philippines were next on the Japanese list of American targets, and Kelly with his bomber and crew were there to face the threat. On a mission to attack Japanese naval forces, Kelly bombed the Japanese cruiser Natori,…
A Brief History On December 9, 1935, the Downtown Athletic Club of New York City (now known simply as The Downtown Club) made their choice for the most outstanding college football player, naming Jay Berwanger, halfback for the University of Chicago as the winner of the Downtown Athletic Club Award, the prize later renamed The Heisman Trophy. Digging Deeper Probably the most prestigious award in college football, the Heisman got its name from the Athletic Director of the DAC who died in 1936 and the award was renamed to honor him. Unlike most of the players so honored, Berwanger never…
A Brief History On December 8, 395, Later Yan was defeated by Earlier Yan. No, we are indeed kidding this time! Actually, Later Yan, a Murong-Xianbei state (during the period of 16 Kingdoms in China), was defeated by one of its previously vassal states, Northern Wei, at the Battle of Canhe Slope. We just wanted to have fun at the expense of the odd sounding Chinese kingdom. Digging Deeper Also on December 8, this time in a guy named Du Fu (sounds like a joke in an Austin Powers movie) returned to Chang’an to serve in the court of Emperor…