Browsing: February 15

A Brief History On February 15, 1961, the sporting world was rocked by one of the worst disasters in sports history, the crash of Sabena Flight 548 in Belgium, killing all 72 people on board, including the entire US Figure Skating team, both competitors and coaches and even some family members.  Luckily, only 1 person on the ground was also killed.  Other sports teams have suffered from the catastrophic crash of airliners and buses, or even the terrorist massacre at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, but the US Figure Skating team loss was one of the first really big disasters…

A Brief History On February 15, 1113, the reigning Pope of the Catholic Church, Pope Paschal II, issued a Papal Bull titled “Pie Postulatio Voluntatis,” recognizing the Order of Hospitallers, a military order of Catholic knights that had existed in the Holy Land since about 1099.  The order had begun in Jerusalem during the 11th Century in service of an Amalfitan (established by people from the Italian city-state of Amalfi) hospital that was founded in Jerusalem to see to the medical needs of Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land, part of the Christian Crusades.  Known more formally as The Order…

A Brief History On February 15, 2018, the nation mourns as the United States is rocked by another mass shooting at a school, this time a public high school in Florida. A former student, 19-year-old Nicholas Cruz, is charged with the murder of 17 people and wounding another 14 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. His apparent weapon, an AR-15 style semi-automatic rifle. Digging Deeper Gun grabbers reflexively blamed the gun, calling the AR-15 pattern rifle an “assault weapon.” Despite its appearance, the AR-15 is NOT an assault weapon, the definition of an assault weapon including an…

A Brief History On February 15, 1879, President Rutherford B. Hayes signed a Bill allowing women attorneys to argue cases before the Supreme Court of the United States. Although this bill represented a major advancement towards the political equality of women in the US, women still could not even vote in every state and were under many other serious legal limitations. Digging Deeper (A quick word about President Hayes: Hayes, born and raised in Ohio, fought bravely during the American Civil War and was wounded a total of 5 times! Compared to our recent bunch of draft dodging Presidents and…

A Brief History On February 15, 1898, at 9:40 p.m., the US Navy had one of its darkest and yet most memorable days when the armored cruiser USS Maine ACR-1 blew up and sank while docked in Havana Harbor, Cuba. Digging Deeper Sent to Cuba to protect American interests during the Cuban revolt against Spain, the Maine blew up and sank quickly, having experienced over 5 tons of gunpowder exploding in the forward part of the ship.  The giant explosion and quick sinking cost 266 of the 374 man crew their lives.  The Navy and the US in general was…