A Brief History On July 22, 1587, a detachment of English settlers landed at Roanoke Island, in what is now North Carolina, with the intention of establishing a colony. This group of colonists became famous as the mysterious “Lost Colony” of Roanoke, but prior to this infamous colonial failure, Sir Walter Raleigh and the English had made a previous unsuccessful attempt at establishing a colony at Roanoke, one that also resulted in the disappearance of the last English detachment at the colony. Digging Deeper After the voyages of Christopher Columbus, the Spanish had made numerous voyages of exploration and conquest…
Browsing: July 22
A Brief History On July 22, 1932, Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. died in Hollywood, California, ending a wonderful career in entertainment, known especially for being the creator of The Ziegfeld Follies. Flo, as he was called, was a German-American (father’s side) though his mother was Belgian. Ziegfeld is one of many great German-American entertainers, and here we list 10 notable examples of Great German-American Entertainers. (See our July 22, 2014 article, German-Speaking Actresses in English-Speaking Roles, Part 1.) Digging Deeper 1. Flo Ziegfeld, Impressario and Producer. A Broadway legend, Ziegfeld is famous for his Follies and also for producing Show Boat. A member of The American Theater Hall of…
A Brief History On July 22, 1992, Drug Lord Pablo Escobar of Columbia escaped from his (luxury) prison. Escobar, probably the richest criminal of all time, had a net wealth of around a staggering $30 billion. Digging Deeper This kind of money can certainly buy a criminal his own special brand of justice, and it was after negotiations with the government in 1991 that Escobar agreed to surrender in return for a light sentence and special prison accommodations. While living in luxury in “prison” Escobar continued to run his criminal drug empire, which caused authorities to make the decision to…
A Brief History On July 22, 2011, a deranged Norwegian right-wing Islamophobic paranoid schizophrenic conducted a bombing and a mass shooting, Norway’s worst attacks since World War II. A total of 77 people were killed, and over 300 wounded. Digging Deeper Anders Breivik, a 32 year old extremist had been plotting a terrorist event for years, and was a regular visitor on right wing extreme websites, notably some emanating from the US. He had gone to Prague to buy guns, even though he already owned a shot gun and a rifle, but failed to purchase any there. He returned to…
A Brief History On July 22, 2014, Franka Potente celebrated her 40th birthday. This German actress, probably unknown to most American movie viewers, has appeared in a few relatively significant English-speaking roles. Digging Deeper The following article will also name other relative unknowns as well as great movie stars in a concise reference list. The glue that binds them together is the fact that they were all born German-speaking in either Germany, Austria or Switzerland and later starred in English or American movies. For the purposes of this article, neither American actresses born to German parents, such as Kirsten Dunst…
