A Brief History On July 18, 1969, Senator Edward “Ted” Kennedy of Massachusetts, possibly the next Democratic presidential nominee, drove his Oldsmobile off a bridge over Chappaquiddick Creek, killing his passenger, a young woman not his wife. This scandal mixing a woman and booze may well have cost Kennedy a chance to ever earn the Democratic presidential nomination that he felt was his. Many times over the years famous politicians have tainted their legacies by sexual scandal, and here we list 10 of the most egregious and most famous indiscretions. Today, when surveillance video and cell phone recording capability are…
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A Brief History On July 18, 1984, hungry customers of the San Ysidro, California McDonald’s got more than they expected when a gunman began shooting people. (San Ysidro neighborhood of San Diego.) Digging Deeper In yet another case of the mental health system failing the patient and the public, 41 year old James Huberty was feeling as if he needed mental help, and his wife suspected he may have been mentally ill. Huberty called a local mental health facility and was promised a prompt call back, but when he had waited for hours beside the phone and no return call…
A Brief History On July 18, 1942, the Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe (Swallow in English) made its first test flight using its jet engines. Initial test flights had been conducted using a conventional piston powered engine and a propeller. Roughly three years after the 1942 test flight, German fighter pilot Hans Guido Mutke (1921–2004) made the controversial claim that he broke the sound barrier in 1945 in an Me 262, although mainstream opinion continues to regard Chuck Yeager as the first person to achieve this milestone in 1947 in a Bell X-1. Digging Deeper German jet engine development had lagged…
A Brief History On July 17, 2016, national news outlets blared the all too familiar news that policemen had been gunned down while merely doing their jobs. Reports of at least 3 Baton Rouge, Louisiana cops shot dead and another 3 or 4 wounded while responding to a report of a suspicious man walking down the street with what appeared to be an “assault weapon.” Initial reports are that at least 1 suspect has been killed by police, but another 1 or 2 suspects are believed to be at large. Digging Deeper This horrific incident is believed to be misguided…
A Brief History On July 17, 1791, hero of the American Revolution, the Marquis de Lafayette, Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier (you can see why he is usually just called “Lafayette”) led the French National Guard against a riotous mob of around 10,000 angry French revolutionaries, gunning down about 50 of the rebels in the action. (The mob had started throwing stones and then shooting at the soldiers.) Digging Deeper Lafayette returned to France a hero after aiding George Washington and the Americans in defeating the British during the American Revolution, only to find France torn between loyal…