Browsing: January

A Brief History On January 24, 2023, Americans celebrate National Peanut Butter Day, a day when we can savor the flavor of our favorite bread spread that lends itself to making cookies, pies, candies, and other foodstuffs.  Who do we have to thank for this wonderful food? Digging Deeper It may surprise you that George Washington Carver did not invent peanut butter, since he was such an influential proponent of the “Goober Pea” and is often erroneously given credit for this particular advance in eating pleasure. The ancient Aztecs and Incas made a form of peanut butter about 1000 BC,…

A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on January 23rd.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper 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. On January 23, 1556, China was rocked by a devastating earthquake that resulted in more human death than any other earthquake in recorded history. On January 23, 1570, history of the infamous type was made when James…

A Brief History On January 23, 1570, history of the infamous type was made when James Stewart, the Earl of Moray, was murdered by an assassin using a firearm.  Stewart was acting as regent for the young King James VI of Scotland. Digging Deeper James VI became King of Scotland at the age of 1 year old when his mother, Mary, Queen of Scots, abdicated the throne.  James Stewart was himself the illegitimate son of King James V of Scotland.  Ongoing resentment of Mary’s supporters bode ill for her successors. At the town of Linlithgow, the Earl was passing in…

A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on January 22nd.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On January 22, 613, in the capital city of Constantinople, Emperor Heraclius of the Byzantine Empire declared his 8 month old son, Constantine, Co-Emperor, or in the vernacular of the day, “Caesar.” On January 22, 1879, the British Army got a taste of colonial medicine when it suffered its worst defeat in its history against a native force armed mostly with archaic…

A Brief History On January 22, 1992, NASA launched mission STS-42, the space shuttle Discovery, into space with a crew that included Ukrainian Canadian Dr. Roberta Bondar, a neurologist.  The first Canadian woman and the first neurologist to become an astronaut, Bondar is a woman of many accomplishments, and is yet another example of Canadians of Ukrainian descent (such as Alex Trebek and Wayne Gretzky) to achieve great things. Digging Deeper A highly accomplished scholar, Bondar was educated at the University of Guelph (BSc), the University of Western Ontario (MSc), the University of Toronto (PhD), and McMaster University (MD). Bondar’s…