Browsing: February 2

A Brief History From February 2nd through the 15th of 1945, various Latin American countries including Ecuador, Paraguay, Venezuela, and Uruguay joined the Allied Powers by declaring war on Germany and Japan.  They were neither the first nor last Latin American countries to do so but represented the most substantial cluster of Latin American declarations of war against the remaining major Axis Powers during World War II.  These declarations occurred late in the war when the situation was essentially already hopeless for Germany and Japan.  One may wonder why did these Latin American countries wait so long to choose sides…

A Brief History On February 2, 2020, we celebrate yet another Groundhog Day, a day in which Winter weary people find out if we are in for 6 more weeks of Winter or if we are facing the joy of an early Spring.  As implied by the name of the day, an actual Groundhog is “consulted” for his (or her) “prediction.”  But…. This year the animal rights organization, PETA, is recommending we immediately end this act of animal cruelty (?) and replace our beloved Marmots with (gasp!) animatronic replicas of Groundhogs!  A discussion of why this plan is “stupid” is…

A Brief History On February 2, 2004, Swiss tennis champion Roger Federer ascended to the #1 ranking in the World, a position he would hold for 237 consecutive weeks, an all-time record.  He would go on to be the #1 male tennis pro for a total of 310 weeks, again, a number unmatched by any other male tennis star.  The ranking of tennis professional players by the Association of Tennis Professionals’ (ATP) is but one measure of the greatness of Roger Federer.  Perhaps his record number of 20 Grand Slam titles is an even better indication of his dominance over…

A Brief History On February 2, 1935, Leonarde “Nard” Keeler testified about polygraph evidence in a Wisconsin courtroom at a trial of 2 men for assault, the first use of the polygraph, often simply called “the lie detector,” in court. Then, as now, debate about the efficacy of the polygraph was fiercely defended on both sides. Digging Deeper Keeler was the co-inventor of the polygraph, a machine that measures bodily functions in response to questions being asked the subject of the test, the reaction of those functions supposedly indicating whether the subject is telling the truth or a lie. Bodily…

A Brief History On February 2, 1876, the National League of Professional Baseball Clubs was founded, replacing the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players, which had been founded in 1871 as a replacement itself for the National Association of Base Ball Players (note no mention of “professional”) which operated from 1869 to 1871. Digging Deeper Known today as Major League Baseball’s “Senior Circuit” as simply the National League, the original league had 8 teams, including Chicago White Stockings (which actually became the Cubs, not the White Sox!), the Louisville Grays, the Philadelphia Athletics (not the ones that became the…