This Day in History on January - History and Headlines

Early Attempts to Invent Vaping: A Retrospective

By Abdul Alhazred on October 13, 2019 Health/Medicine, Inventions, January 11

A Brief History On January 11, 1964, U.S. Surgeon General Luther L. Terry released a landmark report finally confirming what millions of people had suspected all along: that cigarette smoking causes lung cancer, heart disease and a host of other deadly health problems. Although Dr. Terry’s report was hardly the first anti-smoking publication – King James I wrote about the negative effects of smoking as early as 1604 – it was the first publication that had a major impact around the world and a lasting effect on smoking reduction. Once people are addicted to nicotine, though, quitting is not easy. Some…

How to Buy and Sell Bitcoins

By Abdul Alhazred on September 26, 2019 Business and Economics, January 3

A Brief History Bitcoin will be approaching its 11th year in January 2020. When the idea of a “peer-to-peer electronic cash system” was introduced by the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto on the 3rd of January 2009, there was much speculation (or debate) as to how much a bitcoin would actually be worth. For more than a full year (a year and 9 days to be exact), there were a lot of back-and-forths. It was then that a Bitcointalk forum user named “dwdollar” expressed the idea of opening the first-ever (and much-needed) bitcoin exchange saying: “I am trying to create a market…

Mass Shootings Are NOT an American Phenomenon!

By Major Dan on September 23, 2019 Crime, January 23, September 23

A Brief History On September 23, 2008, a Finnish murderer proved that mass shootings do occur in other “civilized” countries outside the United States, and you do NOT need a military looking or high powered weapon to commit such a heinous act. The perpetrator, only 22 years old, was ironically a “Hospitality Management” student at the Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences in Kauhajoki, Finland. (Note: Finland has much more restrictive gun laws than the US. Click the Finland link for more information.) The shootings took place at a university, meaning the mass shooting was also in fact a “school shooting,”…

10 Things You May Not Know About Roman Women

By Vandana S on July 9, 2019 January 16

A Brief History On January 16, 27 BC, Livia Drusilla (58 BC–AD 29) became in effect the first Roman empress when her husband received the honorary title of Augustus (“honorable” or “revered one”) from the Roman Senate. Roman civilization is not a new one. There have been many developments in this civilization. Family life in Roman times along with the lives of women in ancient Rome need special mention in this regard. It is fascinating to note that the lives of Roman women of the yesteryears are similar to those of modern women of this era. Women of those times…

The Origins of Games of Chance

By Abdul Alhazred on June 25, 2019 Arts & Entertainment, January 13

A Brief History On January 13, 2016, Powerball produced the largest lottery jackpot in history; the $1.586 billion jackpot was split by three tickets sold in Chino Hills, California, in Munford, Tennessee, and in Melbourne Beach, Florida. Nevertheless, the multi-billion dollar industry around gambling certainly is not a recent phenomenon. The origins of the word come from the Middle English word, gammlen, meaning “to play, jest, be merry,”, and if you look even further back, you will find it actually started in prehistoric times. Digging Deeper Prehistory and the ancient dynasties From the earliest cavemen calculating the odds of…