Browsing: October 19

A Brief History On October 19, 1950, the worst fears of President Truman came true, when despite General Douglas MacArthur’s confident assessment that the Chinese would not cross the Yalu River and interfere with the Korean War, 200,000 Chinese soldiers streamed across the river and attacked UN/South Korean forces.  MacArthur had told Truman only about 100,000 Chinese soldiers were near the Yalu, a gross underestimate.  Even after initial fighting with Chinese, MacArthur did not grasp the scope of the disaster. Digging Deeper North Korea had invaded South Korea earlier that year, surprising the US and its South Korean ally.  Korea…

A Brief History On October 19, 2011, Zanesville in Muskingum County, Ohio became hunting grounds for lions, tigers, bears, leopards, mountain lions, and even monkeys when the owner of an exotic animal farm released his private zoo into the open and then shot himself. Digging Deeper Muskingum County was the home of Terry Thompson, a Viet Nam War vet who had maintained a private farm of dangerous and exotic animals.  Among his successes were handling animals on the Rachel Ray Show and providing a lion cub for a photo shoot which featured Heidi Klum (click on her name for a link to the video).  Despite these moments in the sun,…

A Brief History October 19 marks the feast of Saint Frithuswith, also spelled Frideswide, who passed away on that date in 727 A.D., and for whom a king had died as he tried to force her into marriage! Digging Deeper Frithuswith was born as a princess in England, but became the first abbess of an Oxford double monastery.  As such, she is now the patron saint of Oxford. Before her canonization as a saint, young Princess Frithuswith founded St. Frideswide’s Priory.  As such, she became bound to celibacy.  Nevertheless, an English king named Algar wanted to marry her and despite her refusal,…