Browsing: March 15

A Brief History On March 15, 1986, the Hotel New World in Singapore arguably became the worst hotel in the world in moments when the six story building suddenly collapsed, burying 50 people under the rubble.  Fortunately, 17 of those people were saved, but the other 33 died. Digging Deeper Hotel New World, originally called the New Serangoon Hotel, was built in 1971 and had a name change in 1984.  The ground floor was a bank, the second floor was a nightclub, and the top four floors were the hotel.  A parking garage was in the basement. Perhaps an omen…

A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on March 15th.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On March 15, 44 BC, the Dictator of the Roman Republic (contrary to popular belief, he was not the Emperor, as that post did not exist at this time), Gaius Julius Caesar, was assassinated by Roman senators and political rivals (as many as 60 of them!), brutally stabbed to death. On March 15, 493, Ravenna, Italy was a scene right out of…

A Brief History On March 15, 1991, The Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany became effective, effectively reuniting a German nation that had been divided since the end of World War II into an “East Germany” and a “West Germany,” a product of the suspicion and distrust between the Soviet Union and the Western Allies after the defeat of Germany (and their allies) in 1945. Digging Deeper Under the Soviet/Communist domination, East Germany, or the German Democratic Republic, floundered economically and suffered from the oppression of being an occupied country.  East Germans tried to flee to the…

A Brief History On March 15, 493, Ravenna, Italy was a scene right out of the HBO cable television series Game of Thrones when King Theodoric the Great of the Ostrogoths invited his defeated enemy, King Odoacer of Italy to a great banquet marking the “end” of hostilities.  Odoacer, the first barbarian King of Italy, whose reign marked the end of the Western Roman Empire, was walking into a trap! Digging Deeper Theodoric used the banquet as a lure to draw in Odoacer so that the erstwhile King of Italy could be killed.  In the manner typical of both fictional…

A Brief History On March 15, 2019, the early afternoon in Christchurch, New Zealand was shattered by scores of bullets being fired by an anti-immigrant domestic terrorist with an arsenal of guns.  The suspect in the first shooting used a body or helmet camera to live stream his murderous rampage, an explicit video that made its way onto YouTube, although administrators soon removed the video from the public viewing.  The first attack took place on Friday, March 15, 2019 at around 1 pm at the Al Noor Mosque. Digging Deeper The 17 minute long chilling video clearly showed the arsenal…