A Brief History On May 30, 1883, panicked public people pushed, prodded, poked, and pummeled each other in a mad dash to get away from the Brooklyn Bridge when an unfounded rumor circulated that collapse was imminent. This ridiculous rumor was not true, and the incident provided the impetus for our previous article about Stupid Rumors. Today we take a look at more of these persistent beliefs that people have that get passed around to the point that vast numbers of people actually believe them to be fact, which of course they are not. Digging Deeper Covid vaccine has some…
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A Brief History On May 9, 1960, the Searle manufactured drug, Enovid, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration of the United States as a birth control measure, making Enovid the first oral contraceptive pill approved for use by any nation. While most American women rejoiced at the sexual freedom afforded by this “miracle” drug, not everyone was happy about the approval and to this day, such birth control drugs remain controversial. Digging Deeper A major boon to the Women’s Liberation Movement, American women largely celebrated the advent of this empowering drug that permitted women to avoid the “tyranny”…
A Brief History On April 20, 2022, marijuana users celebrate a day that is commonly acknowledged as “Marijuana Day,” an unofficial holiday in which marijuana aficionados rally around their herb of choice and advocate for the legalization of recreational marijuana use and the associated decriminalization of the growing, possession, and use of the leaves of Cannabis sativa and its closely related kin, Cannabis indica, the scientific name of the plant we usually refer to as marijuana, weed, pot, or other euphemistic names. So, what could be the problem? Digging Deeper To date, according to US News, 18 states as well…
A Brief History On February 7, 1981, a Soviet airliner carrying 6 crewmen and 44 passengers crashed immediately after takeoff from Pushkin Airport near Leningrad, killing all 50 people aboard the jetliner. Among the passengers killed, were 16 senior Soviet officers, Admirals and Generals of the Soviet Pacific Fleet, effectively decapitating one of the most powerful military units in the world. As we have repeatedly in the past, we take another look at what we call a “Naval Oops Moment.” Digging Deeper Unlike other naval disasters we have reported on, this incident did not entail ships or even the ocean,…
A Brief History On January 31, 2022, we take a look at one of many persistent conspiracy theory type allegations that seem to permeate our society at the present time, this time going back to the ancient origins of the Olmec civilization of what is now modern Mexico. Despite ample evidence to support the conventional academic view of Olmec origins, as well as other Native American peoples’ origins, these wild theories include Nordic, African, Chinese, and Jaredite sources of the population that became the Olmecs. Digging Deeper Current serious academic scientists date the Olmec civilization from about 1500 BC and…