Browsing: January 5

A Brief History On January 5, 1943, African American agricultural scientist George Washington Carver died at the age of 79 after a fall.  Carver was a professor at Tuskegee Institute and developed methods of increased crop production through soil management and crop choices, while also advocating for the environment. Digging Deeper Although Carver was a keen advocate of foods such as sweet potatoes and the peanut, he did not  “invent” peanut butter as is often believed.  Other people have also been given credit for inventions they did not really invent, including but not limited to: Thomas Edison, did not invent…

A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on January 5th.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On January 5, 1066, Edward the Confessor of England died, setting the stage for what became the Norman Conquest. On January 5, 1895, French Army officer Alfred Dreyfus was falsely convicted of treason for allegedly having passed along secret information to the Germans in what famously became known as the Dreyfus Affair and was sentenced to live at the dreaded Devil’s Island prison in French Guiana. On…

A Brief History On January 5, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon announced the Space Shuttle program, an American space exploration system that would go on to make 135 trips to space over 3 decades, carrying astronauts from 16 different countries.  Today, we list a few of Nixon’s accomplishments often overlooked by his Watergate complicity. Digging Deeper He was president during the first Moon Landing in 1969. He decreased Cold War tension with the USSR, known as “Détente” in 1969. He worked to racially desegregate the US from 1969 to 1974. He established the EPA and other environmental initiatives in 1970.…

A Brief History Today, the United States, notably the most powerful country in the world with a military budget nearly matching the military spending of the next 100 or so countries in the world, is on the precipice of war with the Islamic Republic of Iran, a Middle Eastern country rich in oil and officially at odds with the US.  How did we get to this point?  Today, we take a look at the history of Iran vis a vis the United States.  Some background history of Iran follows. Digging Deeper The peoples of ancient Iran were united under King…

A Brief History On January 5, 2005, American astronomer Michael E. Brown (of CalTech, Princeton, and Berkeley) with fellow astronomers David L. Rabinowitz (Yale University and University of Arizona) and Chad Trujillo (University of Hawaii, Gemini Observatory and Northern Arizona University) were given credit for their discovery of a planetoid they called Eris, at the time, the largest dwarf planet known in the Solar System.  The astronomical team actually discovered Eris in 2003, but its (relatively) small size and distance from Earth required rigid documentation for the discovery to be accepted.  Eris is larger than Pluto, the dwarf planet that…