Browsing: May 9

A Brief History On May 9, 1941, German submarine U-110 was forced to the surface by a British corvette and a destroyer that were escorting a convoy attacked by the sub.  U-110 had been a successful attack submarine, but on this day, depth charges forced the boat to the surface. Digging Deeper Damaged and in danger of sinking, the captain ordered the sub abandoned and scuttled, but in their haste to get off the sub that was also under fire from the British, the crew failed to scuttle the sub. U-110 was not sinking, so the British kept German sailors…

A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on May 9th.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On May 9, 1671, Anglo-Irish Thomas Blood dressed up as a parson and attempted to steal the Crown Jewels of England. On May 9, 1865, the American Civil War ended, or did it? On May 9, 1926, Richard E. Byrd claimed to have made a flight over the North Pole, making him (the navigator) and his pilot the first men to have…

A Brief History On May 9, 2020, the unemployment rate in the United States hit the staggering number of 14.9%, the worst employment number since the Great Depression in 1939. Digging Deeper Incredibly, the unemployment rate in the UK was less than 5% and in Germany it was “only” 5.9%, while Europe as a whole suffered just over 7% unemployment in the Year of COVID. Sadly, lower income working class people in the US were hurt the worst by the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, with persistent unemployment leading to loss of health insurance and inability to pay normal bills. …

A Brief History On May 9, 1960, the Searle manufactured drug, Enovid, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration of the United States as a birth control measure, making Enovid the first oral contraceptive pill approved for use by any nation.  While most American women rejoiced at the sexual freedom afforded by this “miracle” drug, not everyone was happy about the approval and to this day, such birth control drugs remain controversial. Digging Deeper A major boon to the Women’s Liberation Movement, American women largely celebrated the advent of this empowering drug that permitted women to avoid the “tyranny”…

A Brief History Napoleon once said, “My success and everything good that I have done, I owe to my mother.”  Today, I wish my and all of the other great mothers out there a Happy Mother’s Day, and I also want to give you a brief update about this site’s YouTube channel. Digging Deeper First, I have on my site a “Schedule of Video Adaptations of Our Articles.”  You should notice that I am going to be shifting slightly from my current upload pattern.  I plan to continue having my usual new video for the first Tuesdays of each month…