A Brief History On November 7, 1775, in an announcement known as “Dunmore’s Proclamation,” the first movement to free African-Americans from slavery (also known as “emancipation”) took place when the Royal Governor of Virginia offered freedom to any slave willing to fight for the British against the Colonies in the American Revolution. Between 800 and 2,000 black slaves accepted the offer, inciting rage and fear among Virginia’s slave holders. Over the course of the Revolution, an estimated 100,000 slaves tried to take advantage of similar British offers, and at least 3,000 of them were sent to Nova Scotia as freemen.…
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A Brief History On November 6, 1935, the Hawker Hurricane, the first modern British fighter plane, made its first flight. Although destined to live hidden in the glow of the Supermarine Spitfire, almost 15,000 Hurricanes were built from 1937 to 1944, and this rugged warrior was the primary British fighter during the Battle of Britain, accounting for 60% of the air-to-air kills. Digging Deeper The Spitfire, utilizing the same famous Rolls-Royce Merlin V-12 engine and armed with the same 8 x .303 caliber machine guns as the Hurricane, made its first flight only a few months after the Hurricane’s maiden…
A Brief History On November 5, 2009, Fort Hood, Texas became the scene of the worst slaughter of U.S. military personnel at an American installation when Major Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist of all people, went on a murderous shooting spree that left 13 dead and 32 wounded. Digging Deeper On the morning of the fateful day, Hasan gave away his furniture and handed out copies of the Koran. He then armed himself with a 5.7 mm FN pistol, went to the Soldier Readiness Center, shouted “Allahu Akbar!” (Arabic for “God is Great”) and spent the next ten minutes shooting his comrades. Hasan…
A Brief History Today, November 4, 2014, voters in Cleveland, Ohio have the opportunity to vote against one of the more Orwellian aspects of modern society: red-light cameras. Digging Deeper As the son of a former police captain who is adamantly opposed to these eye sores, I am briefly presenting some of the many reasons to vote “Yes” on Issue 35 in today’s election in Cleveland, Ohio and “Yes” on Issue 99 in today’s election in Maple Heights, Ohio. The question on the Cleveland ballot asks, “Shall the Charter of the City of Cleveland be amended to add new Chapter…
A Brief History On November 4, 1924, the citizens of Wyoming took the historic step of electing the first woman governor of any state in the United States. This event should not have been too much of a surprise, as Wyoming was also the first state to allow women to vote on December 10, 1869, a date that is celebrated in Wyoming as “Wyoming Day.” Furthermore, in 1889, Wyoming passed a state constitution that specifically stated that women had the right to vote, the first such clause in any constitution in world history. Digging Deeper So, who exactly was the…