Browsing: January

A Brief History 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.  Dreyfus was eventually pardoned and exonerated.  Although closed since 1953, Devil’s Island prison remains the epitome of notoriously miserable prisons and is virtually synonymous with the term “hellhole.”  Here we list 10 infamous prisons, places with cruel reputations that strike fear in the hearts of convicts and disgust in the hearts of reformers.  Presumably any…

A Brief History Shortly before 1 AM Eastern Time on January 4, 2015, the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s (UFC) light heavyweight champion Jon Jones defeated formerly undefeated Olympian Daniel Cormier in a grueling five-round battle in Las Vegas.  With this victory, Jones cements his position as the all-time greatest light heavyweight mixed martial artist.  The youngest fighter to win a UFC championship, his accomplishments include having the most successful consecutive title defenses in the division and the longest win streak in UFC light heavyweight history. Digging Deeper Yet, probably one of his finest moments actually occurred outside of the cage.  On…

A Brief History On January 4, 1972, the famous Old Bailey court in London England witnessed the first appointment of a female judge when Rose Heilbron was allowed to sit on the bench.  This event raised the questions: Are women emotionally or hormonally fit to judge other people?  Should they have life-altering decisions placed in their hands?  These questions may seem silly now, but 40 years ago women still faced much discrimination for being the “weaker” sex.  Digging Deeper If you are a regular reader History and Headlines, you are familiar with our frequent articles acknowledging and lauding the accomplishments of women.  From their achievement of political…

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…

A Brief History On January 2, 2009, Maria de Jesus of Portugal died in her home at age 115.  At the time of her death, she was the oldest living person in the world and the 20th oldest recorded person ever to live.  Maria ate fish, but not meat, and never drank alcohol or smoked.  Digging Deeper Every so often, you hear of a centenarian who drank and smoked every day of his or her life right up to the end, which was not the case with Maria.  So what does the trick?  Did Maria live so long due to her healthy diet and habits? …