Browsing: March

A Brief History March 14, 1757 was a sad, black day in the annals of the Royal Navy for on that day, Admiral Sir John Byng was executed by firing squad on the deck of HMS Monarch.  Byng had been convicted of  non-compliance with The Articles of War, a British naval regulation that had been recently revised. Digging Deeper In particular, the articles governing the conduct of British naval officers had been modified to read that all British naval officers were subject to the penalty of death by execution (with no lesser sentence possible) for failing to do their utmost in…

A Brief History On March 13, 1964, Catherine “Kitty” Genovese, a 28-year-old resident of Queens, New York City was stabbed to death near her neighborhood.  The media reported that at least 38 people in the vicinity witnessed the attack but had done nothing to help, even failing to call the police, which allowed the attacker to return to the scene and finish his killing. Digging Deeper These reports were repeated in nearly all major media outlets, creating an uproar and outrage about the “bystander effect” in which citizens witness a crime but offer no assistance.  Americans became disgusted with one another, and the country engaged in…

A Brief History On March 12, 1894, Coca-Cola, the preeminent soft drink on the planet, was first bottled and sold in Vicksburg, Mississippi by Joseph Beidenharn, a soda fountain operator who owned a candy store.  Previously sold by its creator the pharmacist John Pemberton who lived in Atlanta, Georgia and others under various formulas and names since 1886, it was Beidenharn who first bottled Coca-Cola.  A few years later, the first Coca-Cola bottling plant for mass production was founded in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Digging Deeper At first made with alcohol, the drink was marketed as an elixir or medicine that could cure…

A Brief History On March 11, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Lend-Lease Act that allowed him to let American factories become “The Arsenal of Democracy” and equip the country’s Allies with American-built war materials. Digging Deeper This could be done on an enormous scale since U.S. wartime production was unhindered by fighting within its own borders and because all raw materials could be easily obtained (unlike in Germany and Japan). Among the major weapon systems provided to the Allies, mainly the Soviet Union, was one of the most under-appreciated fighter aircraft of World War II, the Bell P-39 Airacobra.  Sleek and lethal looking, this plane certainly…

A Brief History On March 10, 1831, King Louis Phillipe of France established the world-famous Foreign Legion (Légion Étrangère) to help with the pacification of Algeria. Digging Deeper Commanded by French officers, the troops are made up chiefly of foreigners, although French citizens are also allowed to join.  (As of 2007, French citizens make up approximately 25% of new recruits.)  Current members come from around 140 different countries! Though women have been allowed to join the Legion since the year 2000, a woman has yet to do so.  An elite fighting corps feared and respected world wide, the Legion puts its men through a…