Browsing: July

A Brief History On July 17, 1917, King George V of the United Kingdom changed the British royal family’s name from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to the more English-sounding Windsor. Digging Deeper A blatantly political move, changing the German name was done under pressure from a war-weary nation that had been fighting  in what at the time had been the biggest and costliest war in human history.  England had even been bombed by German bomber aircraft named Gotha, causing that much more resentment. As a cousin of both Czar Nicholas II of Russia and Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany, King George knew the incestuous nature…

A Brief History On July 13, 2013, self-appointed community watchman George Zimmerman, an Hispanic-American, was found not guilty of having murdered 17-year-old African-American Trayvon Martin on February 26, 2012.  The case was closely watched across America and prompted strong racial tensions. Digging Deeper Because of Zimmerman’s outward appearance, the public assumed, with help from the media, that he was white.  He is white but also Hispanic and has some African background.  The media also falsely portrayed the video and audio recordings of the incident where Zimmerman observed and then shot to death the unarmed black teen.  The 911 call was altered…

A Brief History On July 7, 1947, a mysterious object fell from the sky near Roswell, New Mexico, and was reported the next day in the local newspaper as a “Flying Saucer” captured by RAAF (Roswell Army Airfield) personnel.  One could hardly blame the newspaper, because the official Air Force press release said authorities had recovered a “flying disc.” Digging Deeper Thus, the most celebrated UFO incident of them all began, supposedly because of a typical government lie.  The Air Force later claimed the object recovered had been a weather balloon, while in reality it was a balloon carrying instruments…

A Brief History On July 6, 1947, the aptly named AK-47 assault rifle went into production.  After undergoing military trials in the Soviet Union, it was accepted for general use by the Red Army in 1949.  Today, the AK-47 is still in production in many nations, and about 1 out of every 5 firearms in the world is an AK-47 or a closely related weapon.  Production is 75 million rifles and counting, with AK family of related weapons accounting for another 25 million rifles, carbines, pistols and machine guns, including semi-automatic civilian models. Digging Deeper To put the enormous impact…

A Brief History On July 4th, Americans celebrate their Independence Day, a holiday that signifies their freedom.  During the month of June 2015, Americans experienced a host of developments in the expansion of this freedom.  In any case, to paraphrase Bob Dylan, the times sure were a-changin’ in June 2015! Digging Deeper June 2015 included events, incidents and policy changes that the older generation among us probably did not expect to see take place in their lifetime. To begin, early in the month, Olympic medalist Bruce Jenner, a father of six, changed his name to “Caitlyn” and began referring to himself with feminine pronouns.  While he cross…