Browsing: September

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 7, 1978, a Bulgarian secret agent assassinated Bulgarian dissident, Georgi Markov, as the unfortunate man was strolling across the Waterloo Bridge in London.  The novel means of committing this murder was firing or jabbing a poison Ricin pellet from a specially adapted umbrella.  Markov thought little of the minor sting at the time but died four days later. Digging Deeper Some other unusual methods or weapons used in assassinations include: Edward II, King of England, had a red hot fireplace poker shoved up his butt in 1327. Alexander Litvinenko was the first ever murder victim…

A Brief History On September 7, 1876, the infamous James-Younger gang attempted to pull off a bank robbery in Northfield, Minnesota, but an alert and irate group of citizens quickly armed themselves and foiled the robbery, killing three of the robbers and wounding others. Digging Deeper Frank and Jesse James eluded capture, but two Younger brothers were caught and sent to prison.  The gang had previously served the Confederate States during the American Civil War as “bushwhackers,” basically land based pirates attacking and robbing Union forces and anyone believed to be Union sympathizers. Infamous bank robber Willie Sutton explained why…

A Brief History On September 6, 1939, the Battle of Barking Creek in the skies over England became an historic event for Britain’s RAF, the first loss of an RAF fighter plane and fighter pilot during World War II.  Unfortunately, this “combat” was a mistake, as radar operators misidentified the blips on their screen as enemy aircraft when in fact those menacing blips flying toward the English coast were actually RAF Hurricane fighters. Digging Deeper Spitfire fighters scrambled to intercept the supposed enemy and promptly shot down a pair of the incoming Hurricanes, killing one of the unfortunate pilots.  Such…

A Brief History On September 6, 2022, Ukrainian military forces conducted a surprise counter-offensive against the much larger and better equipped Russian forces that had invaded Ukraine in February of 2022, a continuation of the land grab Russia had illegally begun against their neighbor by seizing the Crimea in 2014.  Not only did Ukraine resist the Russian invasion of 2022, but the counter-offensive of September also resulted in Ukraine regaining over 3000 square kilometers of previously lost territory.  As the Russia-Ukraine war grinds toward 2025, the haughty Russians, previously believed to be a juggernaut of military power, has still failed…