Browsing: July

A Brief History On July 9, 1962, the United States Defense Atomic Support Agency and Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) launched a rocket from a remote Pacific Ocean island called Johnston Island (or Johnston Atoll), a rocket carrying a thermonuclear bomb (aka, Hydrogen Bomb) into space.  The Thor rocket carried a W49 thermonuclear warhead, a 1.4 megaton yield device, that was detonated 250 miles above the Earth, about 900 miles West-Southwest of the Hawaiian Islands.  The blast took place about 11 pm local time in Hawaii. Digging Deeper This particular nuclear test in space was called Starfish Prime, an operation within…

A Brief History On July 8, 1775, the Continental Congress, forerunner of what would become the government of the United States, signed the so called “Olive Branch Petition,” a last ditch effort to prevent a war of independence against Britain by the American Colonies.   Adopted by the Continental Congress on July 5th, the signing made this last effort at peace official.  The acceptance of this American overture to the British government had little chance of success, especially since the Continental Congress had already authorized the invasion of Canada and on July 6, 1775, had issued a “Declaration of the Causes…

A Brief History On July 7, 1980, the Islamic government of Iran imposed the idea of Islamic supremacy on the people of Iran, with the enacting of Sharia Law on the country, effectively making the country an Islamic State governed by the precepts of their religion.  Using the Muslim holy texts, the Quran and the Hadith, the concept of Sharia Law is based on the Divine Will of God in the form of His Divine Law, as interpreted by Islamic scholars (Islamic jurisprudence in the form of human understanding of the teachings of the Prophet Mohammad).  (Note: the “authentic” narration…

A Brief History On July 20, 2012, Aurora, Colorado was the site of the third largest mass shooting in terms of number of casualties in United States history at the time, now the eighteenth largest, and the second-deadliest shooting in Colorado after the 1999 Columbine High School massacre.  The shooting occurred just after midnight, when James Eagan Holmes opened fire during the midnight premiere of The Dark Knight Rises in a Century movie theater, killing 12 people and injuring 70 others.  Although widely known for this tragedy, Aurora, Colorado also counts among the 60 largest cities in the United States, with a population greater than such cities as Pittsburgh, Buffalo or Salt Lake City, but lacks…

A Brief History On July 4, 1987, justice came late, but better than never, when Nazi German war criminal, Klaus Barbie, known as the “Butcher of Lyon” was sentenced to life in prison for his crimes.  A member of the SS and officer of the dreaded secret police, the Gestapo, Barbie was known to personally torture prisoners while in charge of the Lyon, France, Gestapo station during World War II.  Despite fierce French animosity toward this monster, the United States intelligence apparatus helped Barbie escape Europe for Bolivia, South America, where the US used him as an anti-Marxist agent.  Barbie…