Browsing: March

A Brief History On March 1, 1953, Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin suffered an alleged stroke that led to his death on March 5, 1953 at the age of 74.  Although the official reason the brutal dictator died was a common medical malady, high blood pressure leading to a cerebral hemorrhage complicated by a stomach hemorrhage as well, speculation that he may have been murdered persists to this day.  (You may note that there are various spellings of Stalin’s name, the one we have used is the Anglicized version.) Digging Deeper Born Ioseb Jughashvilli in Gori, Georgia of the Russian Empire…

A Brief History On March 23, 1775, Patrick Henry delivered a speech that may well have led to the successful formation of the United States.  Known as the “Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death” speech, Henry was addressing the Virginia Convention of the Virginia legislature known as the House of Burgesses.  Founding Fathers George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were there, and the mesmerizing effects of Henry’s stirring speech were enough to sway the delegates to vote for pledging the Virginia militia to the revolutionary army. Many times in history great speeches have tipped the balance and caused history to…

A Brief History On March 31, 1930, censorship came to Hollywood! Digging Deeper The United States roared through the 1920’s and left the prudish Victorian period behind. Until of course somebody decided they knew better than you what you should be watching!  The 1920’s saw risqué films that shocked conservative audiences and Hollywood scandals that led people to believe that Hollywood was full of sex and violence oriented miscreants!  The Motion Pictures Producers and Distributors of America hired the former Postmaster General, Will Hays, to be the public face of Hollywood to reassure the public and smooth over State and…

A Brief History On March 31, 1923, the first U.S. dance marathon ended in New York City but began a strange fad with sometimes fatal consequences! Digging Deeper Less than a decade later, in 1932, a young woman dropped dead after dancing non-stop for 48 hours in a dance marathon!  And when the police raided a ballroom during a Marathon World Championship, the promoters simply transferred the contestants, who were still dancing, into a van.  From there they were taken onto a sloop, a small sailing ship, which sailed out of territorial waters and so beyond the area of police…

A Brief History On March 30, 1939, the Heinkel 100 prototype fighter airplane flew at 463 mph in level flight, at the time the fastest airplane ever.  People have always been fascinated by fast things, whether they be people, animals or machines.  Here is a list of 10 famous fast things that at one time were the fastest of their type or currently reign as the modern speed champ. 10. The Swift. Monty Python posed the question in the movie, the Holy Grail, with the “correct” answer being another question, “European or North African?“  Actually, an entire family of birds…