A Brief History On January 21, 2009, Israel pulled its military forces out of the Gaza strip after a three-week war with Palestinian Islamic extremist group Hamas. While fighting in and around Gaza continued in the following weeks, the scale of the fighting was a mere shadow of the Israeli-Hamas fighting that began in October of 2023. Digging Deeper In what was called The Gaza War of 2008-2009, 13 Israelis and between 1,100 and 1,400 Palestinians were killed. Lasting from December 27, 2008 until January 18, 2009, the war was just one of many Arab-Israeli wars and other armed and…
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A Brief History On December 16, 1863, after bungling the defense of Chattanooga, Confederate Army General Braxton Bragg was replaced as Commander of the Army of Tennessee by General Johnston. Nevertheless, a major US Army base was named after Bragg. Digging Deeper Many other American places have been named after people infamous for their failures, including: Fort Polk, Louisiana, named after Confederate General Leonidas Polk, a political appointee with no significant military experience and poor performance during the Civil War. Fort Polk is now Fort Johnson. Custer, South Dakota and Custer City, Oklahoma, named after US Army Lt. Col. George…
A Brief History On December 15, 2001, the Leaning Tower of Pisa was finished with an 11 year project that cost $27 million to make sure it kept leaning, a fix that did not fix the original problem! Digging Deeper Of course, the Pisans were in no hurry to correct the lean of their eponymous tower, as the Leaning Tower is an enormous tourist draw, pulling in five million visitors each year. The 185 foot high tower made of marble and stone took 199 years to build, and was intended as the bell tower for the Pisa Cathedral. The famous…
A Brief History On December 8, 1991, Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus signed a treaty called the Belovezha Accords, an agreement that dissolved the USSR and put in its place the Commonwealth of Independent States. A key part of this treaty was each newly independent state guaranteeing the integrity of the territory of the other signatory states. Digging Deeper As if this sacred agreement was not enough, in 1994, Russia, along with the US and other countries as part of the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons further guaranteed the respect of the territory of Ukraine and other involved nations…
A Brief History On November 30, 1936, the Crystal Palace in London, England was destroyed by a fire. The huge iron, wood, and mostly glass building had been built for the Great Exposition of 1,851 and stretched 1851 feet long with an interior height of 128 feet. Erected in Hyde Park, after the Exposition the entire structure was dismantled and rebuilt in South London. Digging Deeper Some other significant structures destroyed by fire include: The Great Library at Alexandria, burned in 48 BC when Julius Caesar burned a fleet in the harbor that spread to the iconic library. The White…
