Browsing: February

A Brief History On February 16, 2005, the National Hockey League cancelled its entire 2004-2005 regular season and playoffs after locking out the players due to labor problems.  This event was the third of four times the NHL suffered lost games, the earliest incident taking place in 1992, and the most recent in 2012. Digging Deeper The NBA has had four lockouts and a strike in 2020.  The lockout of 1998-1999 lasted six months and resulted in lowered salaries for players.  Other lockouts occurred in 1995, 1996, and 2011. So that you do not become too upset, think of Stephen…

A Brief History On February 15, 1972, in what is surely one of the most frustrating political events in history, the President of Ecuador, José María Velasco Ibarra, was ousted by a military coup, incredibly, the fourth time such a coup took place out of the five times Ibarra was president! Digging Deeper A lawyer born in 1893, Ibarra became involved in politics in the 1930s, eventually rising to the presidency of Ecuador in 1934, a post he regained in 1944, 1952, 1960, and 1968.  His unceremonious oustings occurred in 1935, 1947, 1961, and 1972.  In 1956, Ibarra left power…

A Brief History On February 9, 1996, the synthetic element, Copernicium, was discovered by a research team at the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research in Germany, named after the famous Polish astronomer and polymath, Nicolaus Copernicus (Mikołaj Kopernik in Polish), 10 days after the discovery, on the 537th anniversary of Copernicus’s birth. Digging Deeper Some of the other elements named after people include Curium, Fermium, Mendelevium, Nobelium, Einsteinium, Bohrium, Roentgenium, Lawrencium, and others.  Perhaps you recognize some or most of these names as major historical scientists. You might not appreciate a disease or disorder being named after you,…

A Brief History On February 8, 1983, a successful Irish racehorse, Shergar, was kidnapped for ransom, a crime that resulted in the killing of the swift steed that had been enjoying life as a stud. Digging Deeper Born, or foaled as they say in the horse world, in 1978, Shergar had a successful racing career that made him a prime candidate to become a stud horse, which he became in October of 1981, serving his time as a stud in Ireland rather than accepting a large contract to move to the US. Three armed gunmen invaded the home of Shergar’s…

A Brief History On February 3, 1972, Iran suffered what the Guinness Book of World Records called “the deadliest blizzard in history,” an event known as “The Iran blizzard of February 1972.”  Sadly, an estimated 4,000 or more people died in the extreme weather event. Digging Deeper We have almost all experienced the struggles of dealing with extreme snowfall, getting our cars stuck in the snow or sliding all over the road.  Trying to drive in a blinding snowstorm is terrifying and dangerous, and people have died just trying to shovel snow from their drives and walks. Some areas of…