Browsing: January 13

A Brief History On January 13, 1964, a 14-year-old Pamela Mason was murdered in New Hampshire, her alleged murderer later having his conviction overturned on the basis of 4th Amendment rights regarding police searches in a Supreme Court case called Coolidge v. New Hampshire in 1971. Digging Deeper The murder conviction was overturned over the concept of when and when not the police are allowed to search a person’s car, truck, or other vehicle.  The times it is perfectly legal for the cops to search your car starts with a properly issued search warrant, signed by an unbiased authority.  Thus,…

A Brief History On January 13, 1998, Alfredo Ormando committed self-immolation in front of St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City for the purpose of protesting homophobia.  While many protestors have used setting themselves on fire to make a point, we contend that there are good as well as bad ways to protest. Digging Deeper While self-immolation grabs brief public attention, the reaction of the public is rarely sympathy with the cause, but more an impression that the protestor is mentally ill.  Some good ways of protesting include: Boycotts, which can bring pressure on business or government to change without violence,…

A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on January 13th.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On January 13, 1842, the lone survivor of a British army in Afghanistan staggered into Jalalabad! On January 13, 1942, German test pilot Helmut Schenk successfully used an ejection seat in a Heinkel He 280 jet fighter that was being developed for the German Luftwaffe, becoming the first pilot in history to eject from a plane in such a manner. On January 13, 1942, automobile…

A Brief History On January 13, 2022, the National Shooting Sports Foundation warned American firearms enthusiasts of an online scam targeting those looking to buy a new firearm.  Firearms are big business in the United States, with nearly 400 million guns owned by private citizens. Digging Deeper In a set of statistics that might just surprise you, the most popular single type of rifle in the US is the M-16/AR-15 family of weapons, with a total civilian ownership of between 20 million and 44 million, depending on the source.  When other military looking types of guns are included in the…

A Brief History On January 13, 2020, the Northern tier of states such as Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota (among others) are normally mired in the dreary winter, complete with the blahs and SAD (seasonal affective disorder) due to the lack of sunlight and outside time.  Scraping ice off car windows and shoveling snow is no fun at all.  This year (2020), even the normal winter sports such as ice fishing, snowmobiling and ice skating have been problematic due to a warm winter so far.  So what can you do for recreation? Digging Deeper One way you can keep busy…