A Brief History On October 30, 1866, Fyodor Dostoevsky, one of the greatest writers in Russian literature, completed his novel The Gambler with help from his future wife, the then twenty-year-old Anna Grigoryevna Snitkina. A writers’ work can come from various sources of inspiration, whether they are sharing their knowledge on certain topics, reflecting on specific occurrences, connecting with deep emotions or letting their imagination run wild. Perhaps the most powerful messages are those influenced by real events paired with a strong need to spread what we have to say out in the world. Such is true for Dostoevsky, who undoubtedly put…
Browsing: October 30
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A Brief History On October 30, 1942, the heroic efforts of three British sailors resulted in the capture of codebooks and key setting sheets for the top secret Enigma code machine used by the German military during World War II. The sailors had boarded a sinking German submarine, U-559 in the Mediterranean Sea, costing 2 of the men their lives but reaping incredibly valuable coding material. The 2000 French-American World War II movie, U-571, shows a fictionalized account of American Navy forces capturing an intact German U-boat, a coup reminiscent of the U-559 incident and certain other U-boat related incidents…
A Brief History On October 30, 1974, the unlikely venue of Kinshasa, Zaire (Zaire is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) was the scene of one of the most memorable fights of all time. Muhammad Ali squared off against Big George Foreman in a fight billed as “The Rumble in the Jungle.” Today we honor those fighters brave enough to face the best and give as well as take with the hardest punchers in the world. Digging Deeper 1. Ali-Foreman, October 30, 1974. Known as “The Rumble in the Jungle,” the match pitted 25 year old reigning Heavyweight Champion “Big…
A Brief History On October 30, 1806, 5,300 Prussian soldiers defending the city of Stettin surrendered to only 800 French soldiers commanded by General Lassalle, falling for the ruse that the French force was much larger. Lieutenant General Friedrich von Romberg must have been awful embarrassed when he found out the blunder he had made! Stettin, now known as Szczecin, Poland, was a fortified city, making the surrender all the more ridiculous. Apparently during campaigns at this time Prussian soldiers were not the Spartans of their day that Prussians are often portrayed as, since other surrenders to inferior forces had…
A Brief History On October 30, 1995, the people of the Canadian province of Quebec voted by the narrow margin of 50.58% to 49.42% to remain a Canadian province. Quebec, the largest province of Canada by size, was the heart of New France until the British won the Seven Years War in 1763, and with it sovereignty over Quebec. Digging Deeper The Quebecois as the people call themselves maintain their French heritage, and the French language is spoken by the majority of people in the province. A reminder of this French heritage can be found on their automobile license plates,…