Browsing: January 9

A Brief History On January 9, 2018, we once again celebrate National Play God Day, celebrated each January 9th as a day in which those that recognize the “holiday” make it a point to perform one or more good deeds for a person or the general welfare of mankind.  Unfortunately, we were unable to determine the origins of this day, so instead of boring you with mere facts, we will discuss some of the things we might do if we were God!  Please do us the favor of telling us what things you would do. First of all, you do…

A Brief History On January 9, 2015, a southern African funeral in the country of Mozambique was the horror scene of a mass (believed intentional) poisoning in which 75 people died and another nearly 200 were hospitalized.  Reports said the mourners were poisoned when they drank beer that had been spiked with crocodile bile (There is such a thing?). Digging Deeper People from the villages of Chitima and Songo were at the funeral drinking the traditional beer brewed for the occasion, a concoction of sorghum, corn, sugar and bran with a type of yeast unlike that used in European brewing. …

A Brief History On January 9, 1873, Napoleon III, Emperor of the French, died after ruling France for a longer reign than any other leader since the French Revolution.  Napoleon III, nephew of the more famous Napoleon I, had been President of France from 1848-1852, and following in his family’s footsteps, became Emperor of the French in 1852, reigning for the next 18 years as the last monarch to rule France. Digging Deeper Born in 1808 as the son of Louis Bonaparte, the brother of Emperor Napoleon I, his given name was Charles-Louis Napoleon Bonaparte (later to drop the “Charles”…

A Brief History On January 9, 1941, the premier British bomber of World War II, the Avro Lancaster, made its maiden flight.  “The Lanc,” as it was known, was the main British bomber that carried the war to Germany. Digging Deeper With its enormous bomb bay, the Lancaster was capable of carrying the biggest bomb load and the largest single bomb.  It was the only airplane of the war that could haul “blockbuster” giant bombs of 8,000, 12,000, and 22,000 pounds, while also carrying all the conventional bombs as well as anti-ship mines, incendiaries (fire bombs), and the “dam buster” specialty…

A Brief History On January 9, 1839, the first practical photographic process (Daguerreotype) was revealed by the French Academy of Sciences. Digging Deeper Digging deeper, we find many people had been working on the development of practical photography, but Daguerre, a French chemist, was the first to produce a process that was portable, not the size of an entire room, and that resulted in images of reasonable quality. One of the great discoveries by Daguerre was the ability to use paper coated with concoctions containing silver and other chemicals instead of the image being produced on a metal plate.  That…