A Brief History On June 7, 1962, a right wing French Nationalist terror group, the Organisation Armée Secrète, usually referred to as the OAS, set fire to and burned the library at the University of Algiers in Algeria, destroying half a million books. Calling themselves “counter-terrorists”, “self-defense groups” or simply “the resistance,” the aim of these French nationalists was to prevent the independence of Algeria, forcing the country to remain part of France. Usually we think of terrorist groups as rebels or an independence movement, but in this case the group was trying to keep “France” as they saw it…
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A Brief History On June 5, 2019, we are supposed to celebrate National Positive Attitude Day, another one of those made up “holidays” so that every day of the year has some reason to exist. So, we will attempt to honor the day by listing some of the things this author is “positive” about, though not necessarily in the sense envisioned by whomever dreamed up this festive day. Digging Deeper For starters, I am positive the other so called “National Days” listed for today are a waste of my time! National Apple II Day, for example. I have never owned…
A Brief History On June 4, 1784, Élisabeth Thible became the first woman to fly in an untethered hot air balloon, soaring for a 4 kilometer trip that took 45 minutes and reached perhaps 5,000 feet above the ground, making her the world’s first female aviatrix. Today, we discus 10 brave women who dared death or severe injury in the quest of a thrill or an accomplishment that other women could be proud of. (Note: 10 is not enough to give dare devil flying women justice, so an additional list of 10 Military Women Aviators will be forthcoming!) Digging Deeper…
A Brief History On June 3, 2017, radical Islamist terrorists once again struck London, England, with an attack that killed 8 people and injured another 48, as well as costing all 3 terrorists their lives. The weapons used in the attack were a delivery van and knives. The unarmed public and the 4 unarmed police officers on the scene were helpless to stop the attackers, though armed police that finally responded shot the 3 terrorists dead. It took armed police 8 minutes to arrive, which undoubtedly seemed much longer to the victims. All 3 terrorists were also found to be…
A Brief History On June 2, 1886, President of the United States, Grover Cleveland, aged 49, married 21 year old Frances Folsom in the White House, a wedding that today may well draw negative comments, but received no particular censure at the time. Cleveland is not alone as a world leader that married someone much older or younger than himself, and today we discuss 5 such pairings of chronologically distant people, one of which in each relationship was an important leader. Digging Deeper 1. US President Grover Cleveland (49), Frances Folsom (21). Cleveland was the second US president to married…