A Brief History On November 11, 1918, a full century ago, an armistice took effect ending the fighting of World War I. Later, a peace treaty would be signed officially ending the war, but neither the Armistice nor the Treaty of Versailles could end the suffering generated by World War I nor could they prevent the even bigger World War (II) that would follow. Today we take a look at the costs of The Great War 100 years after the fighting (supposedly) ended. Digging Deeper The first line on the account of the cost of World War I is one…
Browsing: November 11
A Brief History On November 11, 1993, a sculpture honoring the women that served in the Vietnam War was dedicated at the site of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.. The 2 acre site of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was established in 1982, and consists of “The Wall,” “The Three Soldiers,” and since 1993, the “Vietnam Women’s Memorial.” Digging Deeper The Vietnam Women’s Memorial is a sculpture by Glenna Goodacre (nee Maxey), of Lubbock, Texas. She is a graduate of Colorado and has lived in New Mexico since 1983. (She is now 78 years old.) The sculpture consists of…
A Brief History On November 11, 1620, while anchored in Provincetown Harbor (off Cape Cod), the male passengers of the Mayflower wrote and signed a document known as The Mayflower Compact. Of the 101 people aboard the ship, 41 men signed the famous pact. Known today as “Pilgrims,” the settlers aboard were actually in 2 main groups, the first group calling themselves “Saints” that were religious separatist Congregationalists and a group of tradesmen, adventurers and the like called “Strangers” by the separatists. Digging Deeper The religious crowd on the Mayflower was fleeing religious persecution in England because of their extreme…
A Brief History On November 11, 1673, General Jan Sobieski of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth successfully used military rockets designed by Kazimierz Siemienowicz in the Second Battle of Khotyn in the Ukraine, helping to defeat Ottoman forces. Siemienowicz was the greatest artillery officer of his day, perhaps in history, and yet much about him is unknown. Digging Deeper Historians argue over whether Siemienowicz was of Lithuanian, Polish, or Belarusian ethnicity, as the borders and identities of countries and alliances in those days was murky and changing all the time. Ambiguity in the personal accounts of Siemienowicz does not clarify the issue,…
A Brief History On November 11, 1911, the Midwest region of the United States experienced one of the weirdest weather days in American history when it was hit by the cold wave “The Great Blue Norther.” Digging Deeper Many cities went through the process of recording their record high temperature for the date only to record their record low for the date later that same day! Some of those cities and towns even suffered tornadoes and blizzards. Examples of this bizarre temperature fluctuations include: Kansas City, Missouri which had its record high of 76° Fahrenheit (F) in the late morning and a low…
