A Brief History On September 18, 1990, the tiny European Principality of Liechtenstein was admitted to the United Nations. Incredibly, Liechtenstein is only the 4th smallest country in Europe, behind Vatican City, Monaco and San Marino. Digging Deeper A monarchy, Liechtenstein is ruled by the Prince of Liechtenstein, though under a national constitution. With barely over 38,000 residents, this German speaking country lies between Switzerland and Austria and occupies a miniscule 62 square miles. While the national wealth of Liechtenstein as measured by GDP ranks a mere 149th in the world, the individual wealth of the population is a staggering…
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A Brief History On September 17, 1983, Syracuse University student Vanessa Williams was crowned Miss America, the first African American woman to win the coveted title. In a bizarre nod to the future, her birth announcement included the line, “Here she is: Miss America”! Digging Deeper Sadly, less than a year later, a scandal involving Penthouse Magazine announcing they were going to publish nude photos of Vanessa led to her resigning her “office.” In another twist of fate, her successor, the “First Runner Up” in the 1983 contest to name “Miss America 1984” was Suzette Charles, also of African descent.…
A Brief History On September 12, 2013, the American space agency, NASA, reported that its spacecraft, Voyager 1, had become the first ever man-made object to leave our solar system. Digging Deeper Known as “interstellar space,” the space beyond our own solar system is also described as the “Heliopause,” a region beyond the reach of the “solar wind” effects of our sun. Interstellar space is also roughly described as space beyond any of the orbiting planets, planetoids, and other space objects that go around our sun. In numbers you may be able to relate to, interstellar space begins about 11…
A Brief History On September 5, 1698, Czar Peter I of Russia (Peter the Great) enacted a tax on beards. This tax targeted the nobility in an effort to “westernize” Russia and proved highly unpopular. Many laws in the US have also been unpopular, and today we ask you to tell us which law you think is the worst law in US history, giving you some samples to choose from. Digging Deeper “Blue Laws” against Sunday business practices Income Tax in 1861 and again in 1909 with the 16th Amendment Insanity defense Mandatory use of automotive seat belts, first in…
A Brief History NASA’s planned launch of a new gigantic rocket called Artemis scheduled for August 29, 2022 has been scrubbed due to a problem with an engine, with a new launch date scheduled for September 2, 2022. The launch vehicle is intended to take Americans to the Moon once again, perhaps in 2025 or 2026. (See our other space based articles.) Note: The rescheduled launch for September 2 was changed to September 3, but on September 3 NASA once again rescheduled the launch for September 5. We’ll See! Now they say September 27! Digging Deeper So why call this…