Browsing: January 23

A Brief History On January 23, 1556, China was rocked by a devastating earthquake that resulted in more human death than any other earthquake in recorded history.  Known as The Shaanxi Earthquake of 1556, the event is estimated to have caused the deaths of 830,000 people.  An area stretching an incredible 520 miles in diameter was largely destroyed, with minor damage extending much further.  By comparison, the second deadliest earthquake in human history was the 1976 Tangshan Earthquake, also in China, that killed somewhere between 250,000 and 700,000 people.  No other earthquakes are reported to have killed as many as…

A Brief History On January 23, 1795, one of the most unusual battles in history took place when a force of French cavalry galloped across the frozen Zuiderzee to capture 14 Dutch ships and seize 850 guns (cannon). Known as The Battle of Texel, or otherwise known as The Capture of the Dutch Fleet at Den Helder, the action took place during The War of the First Coalition, one of a series of wars that started with the French Revolution and ended with The War of the Seventh Coalition when Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated at Waterloo in 1915. Digging Deeper…

A Brief History On January 23, 1879, the British Army in South Africa ended its second major battle in as many days against Zulu warriors known as Impis in the British  war to seize Zululand.  The Battle of Rorke’s Drift followed the Battle of Isandlwana by only a matter of hours, but fortunately for the British had a different conclusion. Digging Deeper Yesterday we discussed the Battle of Isandlwana, memorialized in the 1979 movie Zulu Dawn, and today we address the Battle of Rorke’s Drift, memorialized in the 1964 movie Zulu. In 1879 the British under Sir Henry Bartle Frere,…

A Brief History On January 23, 971, troops of the Chinese Song Dynasty managed to defeat the War Elephant Corps of the Southern Han Kingdom by the use of deadly crossbows.  In those days, elephants were the equivalent of today’s tanks and were a fearsome and seemingly unstoppable force on the battlefield.  There was nothing else like warrior pachyderms until tanks were introduced in World War I. Digging Deeper The crossbow, consisting of a horizontal bow crossed by a straight stock held by the bowman, had been invented in China perhaps as early as the 4th century B.C. or even earlier.  The string would be held back…

A Brief History On January 23, 1986, the first musicians were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame! Digging Deeper Digging deeper, we find these inductees are largely responsible for the widespread acceptance of “rock and roll” as a mainstream musical genre. The first class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was a great one indeed and included: Elvis Presley; Buddy Holly; Jerry Lee Lewis; James Brown; Chuck Berry; The Everly Brothers; Sam Cooke; Ray Charles; Little Richard; and Fats Domino. Other inductees voted in for their early influences on rock and roll were: Jimmy Rodgers; Jimmy Yancey; and…