Browsing: March 7

A Brief History Last night’s Democratic Presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders touched upon an inflammatory topic when the assertion was made by Clinton that we are experiencing “an epidemic” of mass shootings.  Apparently, Presidential candidates and other politicians consistently ignore the trend of the past decade or so that murders and shootings are actually declining in the United States.  The remarkable thing is that this decrease in violent crime is in the face of a massive increase in gun sales that began during the Bill Clinton administration when gun enthusiasts began stockpiling guns of all types, especially…

A Brief History Earlier today, we covered a notable incident during World War II that later inspired a major motion picture.  Here we present another of our popular companion lists for this entry… Digging Deeper 10. Das Boot (1981) Perhaps the best submarine movie ever made, the perspective of a U-Boat crew is captured with realism not found in prior war movies prior.  The miserable conditions on the boat and the prospect of drowning are ever-present.  In German with English subtitles gives the best feel for what the crew is saying, but the film is also available in dubbed English…

A Brief History On March 7, 1945, the fortunes of war cost a German Field Marshall his job, and five German officers a sentence of death!  Meanwhile, the same events earned two American soldiers the Distinguished Service Cross and another a Silver Star. Digging Deeper Digging deeper, we find German forces being shoved back into Germany on the Western front by General George Patton’s veteran army. The last obstacle to invading Germany was the Rhine River, historically an extreme obstacle.  The Germans had destroyed the bridges across the Rhine to prevent allied troops from crossing, but had left the “Ludendorff…

A Brief History On March 7, 1994, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that song parodies are “fair use” and that the original artist or writer of the song cannot prevent the parody from being recorded and aired. This settled any disputes, and the likes of “Weird Al” Yankovic were given a green light to continue amusing the public.  Earlier this year, we featured lists of great novelty songs (including parodies), and today we feature 10 more such great hits that amuse and entertain us.  Thank you, Supreme Court! Digging Deeper 10. “Pretty Woman,” 2 Live Crew, 1992. A parody…

A Brief History On March 7, 1274, Saint Thomas Aquinas died having not completed his masterpiece, the Summa Theologiæ, in which he defines evil as the absence or privation of good.  Tragically, numerous men and women have walked our Earth demonstrating few if any “good” qualities.  This article lists these most evil examples of humans in chronological order by their dates of birth. A few quick things to keep in mind before reading this list:  First, this article is a work in progress in that it only links to people featured in greater detail in existing articles on History and…