Browsing: May 15

A Brief History On May 15, 1848, Serfdom was abolished in the Habsburg Austrian region of Galicia, ending the slavery of peasants in an area now occupied by Poland and the Ukraine.  The freedom of the Serfs came about as a result of the Revolutions of 1848, a widespread revolt across Feudal Europe, a so called “Bourgeois revolution” against the monarchies that controlled lands not native to the rulers.  The upheaval was part of what Karl Marx was referring to when he predicted the people would rise up to overthrow the elites.  Serfdom was a form of slavery practiced in…

A Brief History On May 15, 2018, we are finally allowed to tell you about the exciting and absolutely hilarious new blockbuster action hero movie, Deadpool 2, which premiers on Friday, May 18, 2018 in the United States. The sequel to Deadpool, the 2016 blockbuster that made over a quarter of a billion dollars at the box office (a dozen times its budget), Deadpool 2 again stars Ryan Reynolds in the title role of a disgraced Special Forces soldier that has turned mercenary. When the Reynolds character gets terminal cancer, an experimental treatment turns him into a disfigured superhuman that…

A Brief History On May 15, 1941, the Gloster E.28/39 jet powered fighter prototype made its first flight. This first of the Allied jet powered aircraft would be further developed into the first operational Allied jet fighter, the Gloster Meteor. The test aircraft could only make 338 mph, much slower than piston engine propeller driven fighters, but the Meteor was superb for its day when it was introduced in July of 1944, later variants capable of 600 mph. Although with limited combat experience, including no air to air combat (except against V-1 cruise missiles) the Meteor joined the War too…

A Brief History Last night on May 14, 2016 in Curitiba, Brazil, heavyweight mixed martial arts fighter Stipe Miocic stunned the Brazilian crowd by knocking out reigning UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) heavyweight champ Fabricio Werdum  early in the first round. Digging Deeper Werdum was defending his title for the first time and seemed over confident at the start of the fight, charging at Miocic and running into a short right that put the muscular Brazilian on the canvas, ending the fight when the referee quickly saw that Werdum was defenseless. The ecstatic 33 year old Miocic, hailing from a lifelong…

A Brief History On May 15, 1998, Barbara Ehrenreich’s Blood Rites: Origins and History of the Passions of War recounted one of the most frightening displays of masculine toughness perhaps ever practiced in human history! Digging Deeper Imagine having cuts and bruises all over your chin, arms and chest, a result of being continuously whipped.  If that is not bad enough, an open basketwork frame of stinging ants is pressed against your body, and you are itching like crazy! The worst part about all of this torture is that it is not a form of punishment!  So, why would an…