Browsing: June

A Brief History On June 4, 1411, King Charles VI of France granted a monopoly to the people of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon for the ripening of Roquefort cheese. Today, what we call “bleu cheese” is basically Roquefort cheese that is not from Roquefort, as only the cheese from that original location is allowed to bear that name. Many good things have come from France (uh-oh, do we need a sequel list?) and Roquefort/bleu cheese is just one of them. Here we list 10 of the absolute best things from France. There are so many people and things to consider any list is…

A Brief History On June 3, 1932, New York Yankee greats Lou (Henry Louis) Gehrig and Tony Lazzeri made history with their batting prowess. Gehrig became the first major league baseball player in the modern era (after 1900) to hit 4 home runs in one game, while Lazzeri became the first and only major leaguer to hit for the “natural cycle” and finish it off with a grand slam. Digging Deeper Gehrig, born in 1903 (and weighing almost 14 pounds!) was no stranger to records. Known as the Iron Horse, he played in 2130 consecutive games, a record that stood…

A Brief History On June 3, 1839, Chinese agents under Lin Zexu (various spellings) seized an incredible 1,210 ton cache of opium (2.66 million pounds, or 1.2 million kilos), later destroying the drug. Digging Deeper Incredibly, the opium was being forcibly imported into China by British drug merchants with the complicity of the British government.  China at the time had no need for Western goods, but was producing silk and other products bought in large amounts by the West, resulting in a gross trade imbalance.  (Sound familiar?)  British opium (poppy) farmers in India sent their drug to China where opium…

A Brief History On June 3, 1943, US Navy sailors and US Marines tangled with Latino young men in what is known as The Zoot Suit Riots. Earlier this web site discussed the Brown Dog Riot and the Egg Nog Riot, which just goes to show you that people will riot about almost anything. (We will ignore the typical riots, such as race based, all but one sporting event based, and starving peasants.) Here we list 10 of the goofiest named riots in history. Digging Deeper 10. Nika Hippodrome Riots (Constantinople), 532. Why is this incident the only sporting event…

A Brief History On June 2, 1692, the trial of Bridget Bishop began, starting a reign of terror in Salem, Massachusetts known as The Salem Witch Trials.  The hysterical idiots responsible (unless you believe in witches) executed (by hanging) 20 people from 1692 to 1693 before the madness ended.  Scores of others had been accused, many of whom confessed to avoid execution, and scores were imprisoned.  At least five of those imprisoned died while in jail. Cracked fact: No “witch” was burned at the stake in these trials. Execution was by hanging. Digging Deeper Despite the common name of this…