Browsing: July 18

A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on July 18th.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On July 18, 64 AD, the center of Western Civilization, the city of Rome, the capital of the Roman Empire, suffered an enormous fire that devastated the city and burned for six days. On July 18, 1290, King Edward I of England, also known as “Edward Longshanks” or alternatively “The Hammer of the Scots,” issued the Edict of Expulsion, a royal decree…

A Brief History On July 18, 1967, little Mark Sinclair was born in Alameda County, California, a baby that would become one of the highest grossing film actors, Vin Diesel. Digging Deeper Of “ambiguous” ethnicity, Diesel has a mother of English, Scots, and German heritage, while he never met his biological father.  He himself claims not to know his exact ethnicity, although his mother described him as “multi-cultural.” At the time of Diesel’s birth, several states had “anti-miscegenation” laws against mixed race marriages, and Diesel has speculated that this fact may have contributed to his hidden background. Diesel took to…

A Brief History On July 18, 1806, a powder magazine exploded accidentally at Birgu, Malta, creating massive damage to the military and civilian infrastructure nearby and killing at least 200 people.  Such accidental explosions have often taken place throughout the history of gunpowder and other explosives, and today we take a look at 10 of those memorable events.  (“Gunpowder” includes black powder, the original explosive and propellant, as well as modern “smokeless” nitro based powders and modern explosives.) Digging Deeper USS Maine, 1898 We list this disaster first, because of the battle cry, “Remember the Maine!”  How could we forget? …

A Brief History On July 18, 1290, King Edward I of England, also known as “Edward Longshanks” or alternatively “The Hammer of the Scots,” issued the Edict of Expulsion, a royal decree ordering all Jews out of England.  At the time, about 16,000 Jews resided in not so Merry Old England.  Along with so many other pogroms, massacres, and forcible expulsions, Jewish people have had such a history of discrimination and exclusion that they have their own day of fasting and remembrance of various calamities and disasters, called Tisha B’Av, known as the “saddest day on the Jewish calendar.” Digging…

A Brief History On July 18, 64 AD, the center of Western Civilization, the city of Rome, the capital of the Roman Empire, suffered an enormous fire that devastated the city and burned for 6 days.  Contrary to popular myth, Emperor Nero could not have been fiddling during this event as the violin was not invented until the 1500’s! Digging Deeper Actually, Nero’s enemies accused him of sending out teams of agents pretending to be drunk to start fires around the city, and then as the story goes, Nero calmly played the Lyre (an old time stringed instrument) while the…