Browsing: March

A Brief History On March 22, 2024, the Princess of Wales, Catherine Middleton Windsor, the wife of the future King of the UK, William, Prince of Wales, announced that she is being treated for an unspecified cancer discovered during her recent abdominal surgery. Digging Deeper Princess Kate, as she is usually known as, is a beautiful and popular addition to the Royal Family and has borne Prince William a pair of sons and a daughter.  The future Queen of the UK, Kate has campaigned for mental health awareness and has earned the respect of her country and the world. We…

A Brief History On March 25, 1996, the European Union banned the import of beef and beef byproducts from Britain due to an outbreak of Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, better known as “Mad Cow Disease.” Digging Deeper Incurable and always fatal, Mad Cow Disease in humans is called Variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease, caused by a “misfolded” protein called a prion that attacks the brain.  Most victims die in 13 months after suffering psychiatric and psychomotor problems and pain.  Incubation of the disease may take 20 years or more! Another horrible brain rotting disease is caused by Brain Eating Amoebas, which infects people…

A Brief History On March 24, 1999, an unlikely cargo became deadly when a truck carrying margarine and flour caught fire in the Mont Blanc tunnel on its way from France to Italy. Digging Deeper While fires in tunnels can be a terrifying prospect, the Mont Blanc tunnel was no stranger to fire, having previously experienced 16 truck fires prior to this incident.  The driver of the Belgian truck became aware of a problem when oncoming traffic began flashing their headlights to alert him to smoke pouring out of his truck. Stopping his truck about half-way through the 7.2 mile…

A Brief History On March 23, 2018, the President of Peru, Pedro Kuczynski, resigned in disgrace due to corruption.  Although Kuczynski was born in Peru, you might tell from his name that his parents were not, and in fact were from Germany, of Polish Jewish descent. Kuczynski even lived in the USA for a while before becoming a politician. Digging Deeper Some other national leaders of ethnicities other than the host country that did not fare well include: Alberto Fujimori, another Peruvian President born in Peru, but this time of Japanese immigrants. After a decade as President, in 2000 Fujimori…

A Brief History On March 22, 1995, Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov made it back to Earth after spending a record 437 days and 18 hours in space.  A physician, Polyakov had previously spent 241 days in space on another space flight in 1988. Digging Deeper These two space flights were the only ones Polyakov made in his career.  After medical and psychological tests, Polyakov was found to have undergone mood swings, but otherwise remained healthy after his experiences.  He lived to the age of 80, dying in 2022. The current record for total time spent in space by anyone is…