Browsing: May 19

A Brief History On May 19, 2017, the United States celebrates perhaps its most important holiday, National Pizza Party Day. Pizza has become such an integral part of American culture, that we choose to honor this day with interesting facts about our favorite food. Digging Deeper Pizza of course is of Italian origin, appearing first in records in the 10th Century.  But wait!  Tomatoes did not make it to Europe until after 1492 when Columbus first sailed to the New World, so whatever excuse for pizza Italy may have had, it was not what we would recognize as our favorite…

A Brief History On May 19, 1935, the famous British World War I hero known as “Lawrence of Arabia,” Thomas E. Lawrence, died six days after crashing his motorcycle while avoiding boys bicycling in the street. Digging Deeper Recipient of numerous military honors, British and including the French Legion of Honor, a bronze bust of him was placed alongside the tombs of other British war heroes, but it well could be that the famous warrior contributed most to society by getting killed in the motorcycle accident.  Upon his grievous injuries he was attended to by an Australian neurosurgeon, Dr. Hugh…

A Brief History On May 19, 1643, French Bourbon  forces beat Spanish forces allied with the Habsburgs at the battle of Rocroi during the 30 Years War. This French victory for practical purposes ended Spain’s time as a land power. As the name implies, the war went on for a long time, just as several other notable wars have. Some of them were actually a series of wars with brief lulls between major campaigns, and some of the longest “wars” were long lived only on paper, with no formal peace signed for many years after the fighting stopped. The Korean…

A Brief History On May 19, 1986, President Ronald Reagan signed into law an act of Congress known as the Firearm Owners Protection Act.  This law was passed in response to allegations of abusive enforcement by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. Digging Deeper Congress had investigated those claims and found that the allegations had merit, in that enforcement was being directed at convoluted interpretations of minor violations instead of aimed at hard corps criminals. The subcommittee conducting the investigation found that an incredible 75% of prosecutions pursued by the ATF were “constitutionally improper.” Obviously congress saw a need…

A Brief History On May 19, 1802, Napoleon Bonaparte founded the Legion of Honor, the highest award France can bestow upon their heroes. Many countries have a famous and prestigious award and even international organizations have created such symbols to recognize particularly noteworthy behavior. Here are a list of ten of the most prestigious of these awards. 10. Pour le Merite (Blue Max) Imperial Germany/Prussia. How does a country issue its highest award with a name in a foreign language? Germans receiving the award did not seem to mind, as The Blue Max was literally something to die for, as…