Browsing: Places

A Brief History On September 14, 1999, three tiny countries were admitted to the United Nations, Kiribati, Nauru, and Tonga.  The UN currently has 193 members. Digging Deeper Of these Pacific Island countries, Kiribati has 121,000 residents, most of whom live on the atoll of Tarawa, an island infamous from its World War II battle.  With an area of only 313 square miles, Kiribati ranks 172nd in area of world countries and 192nd in population Nauru is the baby of the trio, with an area of only 8.1 square miles and a population of under 11,000, ranking 193rd and 227th…

A Brief History On September 9, 337, almost four months after the death of Emperor Constantine the Great, his three sons inherited the throne as co-emperors, a situation that seems unworkable. Digging Deeper Constantine II, Constantius II, and Constans inherited a Roman Empire in which Constantine had ended the persecution of Christians and made Christianity a lawful Roman religion. Constantine also unified the Church and State as a single entity and disestablished the old pagan religion. Constantine made the city of Byzantium the “New Rome,” and renamed it Constantinople after himself. Despite his intent to divide the Empire among his…

A Brief History On September 8, 1952, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, having been broadcasting radio since 1936, made its first TV broadcast on a subject seldom associated with The Great White North, the second escape from jail by the notorious Boyd Gang of criminals operating out of Toronto. Digging Deeper Canada has a reputation for being a country of nice folks, many of whom have gone on to great success in the United States, but there is more to Canada than poutine and snow, including some nasty criminals. Named for Edwin Boyd who cut his criminal teeth in Saskatchewan and…

A Brief History On September 4, 1781, what is now the City of Los Angeles, California, was founded by four Spanish soldiers and 44 settlers, who called their new settlement El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora La Reina de los Ángeles or perhaps El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Angeles. Digging Deeper The founders of one of the great cities not only of the United States, but of the world, hailed from “New Spain,” what Mexico was called at the time.  The province in which Los Angeles was founded was Las Californias, which today would be the State of California…

A Brief History On August 16, 1933, antisemitism reared its ugly head in Toronto, Canada, famous for being a nice city.  Known as the “Christie Pits riot” after the playground in which it occurred; the incident was not unique in Toronto. Digging Deeper Toronto was a mostly White, British derived city with Jewish people making up the largest minority.  Previous riots had taken place in 1875 against Catholics and in 1918 against Greek immigrants. Not just anti-Jewish, the Anglo rioters also railed against Italians.  The setting had been a baseball game with a team of Jews and Italians against a…