A Brief History On August 14, 1851, John Henry Holliday was born in Griffin, Georgia. He would grow up to become a legend of the Wild West as “Doc” Holliday, a dentist turned gambler, gunman, and friend of Wyatt Earp. Digging Deeper A participant in the most famous Western gunfight, Holliday was the son of a veteran of the Mexican American War and the US Civil War. His mother and brother both died of tuberculosis, a disease that would eventually take his life. Doc got his nickname when he graduated from the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery and became a…
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A Brief History On August 11, 1492, Rodrigo de Borgia was elected Pope of the Catholic Church, taking the name Alexander VI. Serving until his death in 1503, Alexander’s reign was one of corruption and depravity, so much so that a Showtime cable TV show was produced about him and his family from 2011 to 2013, called The Borgias. Digging Deeper Although fictional, the show is based on many of the allegations against the Borgia family, including the Pope himself fathering several children via his many mistresses, reaping massive wealth while in office as a Cardinal and then as Pope,…
A Brief History On August 9, 2012, Shannon Eastin became the first woman to referee an NFL football game. Like many professional football officials, she started out as a referee in high school and then college football games. Digging Deeper Eastin got her big break when the NFL and the referee union had contract troubles and the regular refs were locked out in 2012. Some sports writers and the NFL Referees Association objected to her employment by the NFL, especially since she had participated in the World Series of Poker, and pro sports are highly sensitive to anyone with ties…
A Brief History On August 8, 2004, Chicago’s Little Lady, a tour boat carrying 120 passengers, was bombed by a tour bus belonging to the Dave Matthews Band. About 2/3 of the passengers were soaked with human waste dumped from the bus as it crossed the Kinzie Street bridge over the Chicago River in Chicago, Illinois. Digging Deeper Only the driver was aboard the bus and he decided to dump the waste from the toilets into the Chicago River as he crossed the bridge, the bridge made of open metal grates, and the driver claims he had no idea the…
A Brief History On August 5, 1957, the iconic pop music show American Bandstand made its debut, starting a 37-season run of 3002 episodes and making host Dick Clark a national icon. Despite its impressive record, Bandstand is far from the longest running TV show, and here we list some of the shows that beat Bandstand. Which is your favorite? Digging Deeper Meet The Press, a Sunday morning talk show since November of 1947, over 3600 episodes. CBS Evening News, daily newscast since May of 1948, well over 16,000 episodes. Music & the Spoken Word, a religious LDS show since…