Browsing: January 3

A Brief History On January 3, 2009, the Genesis block, the first of the blockchains, of the crypto-currency known as Bitcoin was first established online by creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, an alias for an unknown person or persons.  The form of “currency” invented by Nakamoto (or whatever) does not entail any tangible coins or paper money and is purely theoretical online tradable currency.  A decentralized payment system, Bitcoin allows financial transactions of many types to be conducted without the oversight or vagaries of governments or a central bank. Digging Deeper A crypto-currency is a system that uses digital data as a…

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A Brief History On January 3, 2000, the final new comic strip of the Peanuts (Charlie Brown, et al) series was published in the nation’s newspapers, ending a 50 year run as an iconic funny papers staple.  Less than a month later, the strip’s creator, Charles M. Schulz, died of colon cancer at the age of 77.  We still see “reruns” of Peanuts comic strips, but the days of getting new strips are long gone, as are the days of many other bygone comic strips that were once something for Americans to look forward to in the comics section of…

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A Brief History On January 3, 1959, the United States of America added the largest state ever admitted to the Union when Alaska became the 49th state.  Purchased from Imperial Russia in 1867, Alaska is one of history’s greatest land bargains, at only about 2 cents per acre! Digging Deeper Alaska immediately comes to mind when you think of our Northernmost state, but in reality it is also the Easternmost and the Westernmost state as well!  (Baffle your friends with this bit of trivia!)  While Alaska was once the least populous state, the oil industry has changed things and Alaska…

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A Brief History On January 3, 1521, Roman Catholic (Augustinian) priest and reformer Martin Luther was ex-communicated from the church by Pope Leo X.   440 years later, on January 3, 1962, Pope John XXIII ex-communicated Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, an avowed communist and therefore an atheist. Digging Deeper The reasons for each of these men to be ex-communicated from the church are obvious, since Luther went against church dogma and policy and ignored numerous warnings to desist in his heretical teachings. Luther made the unforgivable sin of going against church policy of selling indulgences, a money making scheme by which…

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A Brief History On January 3, 1933, history was made in North Dakota when Minnie D. Craig became the Speaker of the State House of Representatives.  As such, Craig became the first female speaker of any House of Representatives in the United States, an entire 74 years before Nancy Pelosi was selected for that position at the national level! Digging Deeper As Speaker during the time of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl, she had a difficult 2 years.  An activist, she encouraged women to participate in the political process.  In all,  Craig served six consecutive sessions in the North Dakota state…

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