Browsing: January

A Brief History On January 31, 1846, the result of the Milwaukee Bridge War was the formation of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  Fought over a bridge being built over the Milwaukee River, two of the three settlements in the area, Juneautown and Kilbourntown, were highly competitive with each other and along with Walker’s Point were incorporated as the Village of Milwaukee in 1839. Digging Deeper The intense rivalry between the leading citizens of each area boiled over in 1845 when one of the several bridges in the village was struck by a schooner sparking rumors of an intentional ramming.  The Kilbourntown people…

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A Brief History On January 30, 1968, the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong guerillas launched surprise attacks all over South Vietnam during a supposed “cease fire” period to celebrate the Asian Lunar New Year, known as Tet. Digging Deeper At this point in the Vietnam War, Americans were getting a bit war weary and were repeatedly told by their leaders that the US and South Vietnam were winning the war.  The uncharacteristically massive scale of the enemy attack destroyed American public belief that the war was going well or perhaps was even winnable. The North and VC involved in…

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A Brief History On January 29, 2009, Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich was successfully impeached by the state legislature and booted from office for the crime of soliciting appointment as the replacement as US senator for President-elect Obama.  Blagojevich was convicted and served eight years in prison for his crime.  About 18 governors have suffered sexual scandals or criminal charges resulting in being forced from office. Digging Deeper Spiro Agnew of Maryland, while serving as Vice President was charged with taking bribes and kick backs while Governor of Maryland and became the second US VP to resign in 1973. Virginia…

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A Brief History On January 28, 1960, the NFL expanded from 12 to 13 teams with the addition of the Dallas Cowboys.  Those same Cowboys that would later be dubbed “America’s Team” would finish a dismal 0-11-1, narrowly avoiding all losses. Digging Deeper The other teams in the league included the Eagles, Browns, Giants, Cardinals, Steelers, Redskins, Packers, Lions, 49ers, Colts, Bears, and Rams.  The Eagles beat the Packers in the title game, and believe it or not, a game was played between the Browns and the Lions for third place, called “The Playoff Bowl,” won by the Lions. Games…

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A Brief History On January 27, 1961, the Soviet Navy proved how dangerous the lives of submariners can be, when the Whiskey class submarine S-80 managed to sink with all hands without any outside help, what we call an “Oops moment.” Digging Deeper The S-80 was in a prolific class of submarines with 236 built between 1950 and 1960.  About 249 feet long with a normal crew of 52, the subs were powered by the familiar diesel-electric combination motors. On the fateful day, S-80 was patrolling the Barents Sea using its snorkel to allow the use of the diesel engines…

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