Browsing: June

A Brief History On June 29, 1974, we mark the first time in World History that a woman became President of any country in the world. Sure, there have been Queens and Prime Ministers, but Isabel Peron, the third wife of former President of Argentina Juan Peron, is the first lady to have the title “President” of any country, in this case, Argentina. On top of the distinction of achieving a “first” for women, Isabel was only 33 years old when she was sworn in as president, too young to even run for president in the United States. Digging Deeper…

A Brief History On June 28, 2018, we review the second Sicario movie starring Josh Brolin and Benicio del Toro, Sicario: Day of the Soldado, which premiers across the United States on June 29, 2018. The first thing we want to say is that it is not necessary to see the first film, Sicario (2015) with the same stars (plus Emily Blunt) to completely enjoy Soldado. The new movie easily stands on its own, although we did love the first one and recommend it highly. The films cover the violent and depressing situation of brutal Mexican drug cartels and the…

A Brief History On June 27, 1985, US Route 66, known as “The Main Street of America,” was officially taken off the list of US highways. Established in 1926, it was the main road from Chicago to Los Angeles (Santa Monica). Spawning a hit song (by Nat “King” Cole) and a hit television series, this route was the American highway, at least until superseded by the Interstate Highway System. It survives (barely) today in pieces as “State Route 66” in some states and as stretches of a “National Scenic Byway.” We previously discussed “10 Iconic American Things You Do Not…

A Brief History On June 26, 1936, the Focke-Wulf Fw 61 made its first flight as the world’s first practical helicopter. Introduced into service with the Luftwaffe soon afterwards, the Fw 61 only had 2 copies built, but was a harbinger of things to come. Attempts to invent practical helicopters had been going on for decades, and in various countries, including contemporaneous with the Fw 61. Company namesake Professor Henrich Focke had invented various flying machines, including auto gyros prior to his collaboration with Gerd Achgelis, but the two engineers decided auto gyros were not quite the end result they…

A Brief History On June 25, 1947, boxer Jimmy Doyle of Los Angeles, California had the opportunity of his life by getting to fight the legendary Sugar Ray Robinson for the welterweight boxing world championship in Cleveland, Ohio. Unfortunately for Jimmy, the fight did not go as planned, and proved to be the last time he would ever box or for that matter do anything else, as he was knocked out in the 9th round and never regained consciousness in the St. Vincent Charity Hospital, declared dead hours later. Digging Deeper While it is not rare for a boxer to…