A Brief History On October 8, 1871, the shores of Lake Michigan were the scene of four major fires, including the Great Chicago Fire, perhaps the most famous fire in American History. (Other fires took place in Manistee, Michigan and Holland, Michigan.) Unfortunately, on that same day, the Peshtigo Fire in the woods around Peshtigo, Wisconsin also occurred, killing between 1500 and 2500 people! This death total, even the lower estimate, makes this the deadliest wildfire in history, and the deadliest fire of any type in American history. In addition to these 4 fires, there was other unrelated fires the…
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A Brief History On October 7, 1940, the Director of the Far East Section of the Office of Naval Intelligence, Lt. Cmdr. Arthur McCollum, sent an infamous memo up his chain of command that seems to recommend the United States provoke Japan into attacking US forces, thus allowing the US an excuse to enter World War II (WWII) in spite of President Franklin Roosevelt’s promise to stay out of the war. Digging Deeper McCollum was responsible for reading and interpreting the decoded intercepts of Japanese secret radio traffic and for monitoring the political and military situation in the Far East.…
A Brief History On October 5, 1795, the man that would be the subject of more books than any other human being in history (except Jesus Christ), Napoleon Bonaparte, made his entrance on the French political stage and into prominence when he put down a rebellion against the National Convention in Paris with what he called “a whiff of grapeshot.” Digging Deeper Napoleon, a general in the French Army without a command, had been recruited by Paul Barras, one of the leaders of the Revolutionary government (Executive leader of the Directory from 1795-`799). The rebels numbered about 20,000 and posed…
A Brief History On October 5, 1793, Christian Europe was rocked by the Revolutionary Government of France declaring the disestablishment (or dechristianization) of France, a move specifically intended to remove the influence of the Catholic Church upon France and the French people. The Catholic Church had made the French (and other) monarchies “legitimate” by giving the monarchy the mantle of having the will of God behind who the king or queen was. Additionally, the ability of the Church to demand tithes (a sort of 10% tax on gross income if you are not familiar with this) and the power of…
A Brief History On October 3 and 4 of 1993, US Army Special Forces known as Task Force Ranger fought Somali militia men in a frantic battle memorialized in the book (1999) and movie (2001) titled Black Hawk Down. Also known as the First Battle of Mogadishu (obviously more battles were fought there), this action resulted in 18 American soldiers killed and 73 wounded, as well as the death of a Malaysian and a Pakistani soldier allied with the US forces, and 9 of those allied soldiers wounded. This clash was the bloodiest battle US troops participated in since the…