A Brief History On September 20, 1946, the French Riviera city of Cannes hosted the first of its iconic film festivals, seven years later than planned due to the interruption of World War II. Digging Deeper Called simply “The International Film Festival” before 2003, the festival features new films of all types, including short and documentary films from all over the world, holding the event in their convention center complex, the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès. The most coveted award at Cannes is the Palme d’Or, awarded to the director of the winning feature film, and the other top…
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A Brief History On September 18, 1928, Spanish engineer and pilot Juan de la Cierva made a bit of obscure aviation history by becoming the first person to fly an autogyro successfully across the English Channel. Digging Deeper The humble autogyro is one of the oddest flying machines still being used, with an unpowered rotating rotor on top making it look deceptively like a helicopter and a pusher propeller located in the back to provide forward thrust. As the autogiro moves forward, the top rotor turns and supplies lift. Not surprisingly, de la Cierva was the inventor of this wild…
A Brief History On September 14, 1999, three tiny countries were admitted to the United Nations, Kiribati, Nauru, and Tonga. The UN currently has 193 members. Digging Deeper Of these Pacific Island countries, Kiribati has 121,000 residents, most of whom live on the atoll of Tarawa, an island infamous from its World War II battle. With an area of only 313 square miles, Kiribati ranks 172nd in area of world countries and 192nd in population Nauru is the baby of the trio, with an area of only 8.1 square miles and a population of under 11,000, ranking 193rd and 227th…
A Brief History On September 8, 1952, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, having been broadcasting radio since 1936, made its first TV broadcast on a subject seldom associated with The Great White North, the second escape from jail by the notorious Boyd Gang of criminals operating out of Toronto. Digging Deeper Canada has a reputation for being a country of nice folks, many of whom have gone on to great success in the United States, but there is more to Canada than poutine and snow, including some nasty criminals. Named for Edwin Boyd who cut his criminal teeth in Saskatchewan and…
A Brief History On September 4, 1781, what is now the City of Los Angeles, California, was founded by four Spanish soldiers and 44 settlers, who called their new settlement El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora La Reina de los Ángeles or perhaps El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Angeles. Digging Deeper The founders of one of the great cities not only of the United States, but of the world, hailed from “New Spain,” what Mexico was called at the time. The province in which Los Angeles was founded was Las Californias, which today would be the State of California…