Browsing: October 16

A Brief History On October 16, 2010, a graduate student at Auburn University named a new species of fish Lepidocephalichthys zeppelini, because he thought a marking on the fish looked like a double necked guitar used by Led Zeppelin member Jimmy Page. Digging Deeper Obviously, it would be fun to be able to give a new species the name of your choice, and here are a few goofy sounding ones already taken: Gorilla gorilla gorilla, the Western Lowland Gorilla. If only they could all be so easy! Mini mum, Mini scule and Mini ature, three of the tiniest species of…

A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on October 16th.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On October 16, 1384, Jadwiga, a woman, was crowned KING of Poland. On October 16, 1916, Margaret Sanger (nee Higgins), nurse, writer, and sexual educator opened the first family planning (birth control) clinic in the United States. On October 16, 1968, two U.S. Olympic athletes on the medal podium raised a black-gloved fist during the playing of the American national anthem to…

A Brief History On October 16, 2008, Ohio handyman Samuel “Joe” Wurzelbacher was all the rage among supporters of Senator John McCain’s bid for the presidency.  McCain mentioned this “average Joe” several times in the previous night’s debate, and “Joe the Plumber” became an instant national celebrity. Digging Deeper As it turned out, Wurzelbacher’s first name was not Joe, and he was not even a licensed plumber in Ohio.  Wurzelbacher had told candidate Barack Obama that he was a plumber thinking about starting his own business, a patently false scenario.  Joe the Plumber was not even employed at the time! …

A Brief History On October 16, 1968, the island country of Jamaica, a majority Black African heritage nation (92%+ African heritage population) experienced riots because a Black Guyanese professor, Dr. Walter Anthony Rodney, was banned from returning to Jamaica to teach at the University of the West Indies.  An African history scholar, Rodney was a leading proponent of the Black Power movement that had taken hold in the United States and other countries.  The Jamaican government that banned Dr. Rodney was led by Prime Minister Hugh Shearer, himself of African descent.  Riots in the capital city of Kingston ensued! Digging…

A Brief History On October 16, 2019, we take a critical look back at last night’s Democratic Presidential Debate among the 12 major candidates still remaining in the race for the Democratic nomination for President.  (Click link for full transcript.)  No earthshaking news this time, and no candidate was either blown out of contention or latched onto a rocket of success in the next poll, but we believe there were some definite winners and losers. Digging Deeper Loser, Senator Elizabeth Warren. As the co-front runner this time around, she was not immune to attacks from the other candidates, though the…