Browsing: September

A Brief History On September 30, 1955, up-and-coming actor James Dean perished in an auto accident aged only 24.  In 3 movies he had already established himself as a “giant” of the silver screen, but his death at such a young age meant he would stay forever young in the eye of movie fans.  History is full of people who left their mark in a surprisingly short amount of time.  Here 9 such people are listed, in no particular order.  (Remember, the criteria is not just death at a young age but also lasting fame and/or influence.) Digging Deeper 9.…

A Brief History On September 29, 1982, the first of seven victims of intentionally-contaminated Tylenol died.  The deadly Tylenol capsules had had their normal acetaminophen switched and replaced with cyanide, meaning that anyone who took them would die a quick and unexpected death. Digging Deeper When the first victim died suddenly, his family and friends gathered to mourn his passing, and then the victim’s brother and widow took Tylenol from the same contaminated bottle and became fatalities numbers 2 and 3.  Another 4 bottles resulted in another 4 deaths, and the nationwide alarm was raised.  Only 3 more tampered-with bottles were found, but the…

A Brief History On September 28, 1066, a warrior leader known as “William the Bastard” invaded England from Normandy in what is now France.  You probably know him better as William the Conqueror, a much catchier name.  William the Bastard was the illegitimate son of the Duke of Normandy.  His status as a bastard posed some difficulties for him as he succeeded his father; however, after he had consolidated his power and established control over his duchy, he also set his sites on England and set the invasion of the island country in motion.  That move was the best thing he…

A Brief History On September 27, 1937, the smallest of all sub-species of tiger, the Bali Tiger, native only to the Indonesian island of Bali, went extinct.  Approximately 40 years later, it was joined by fellow Indonesian tiger, the Java Tiger.  Currently, the only Indonesian tiger still among the living is the highly endangered Sumatran Tiger.  Unfortunately, no film was ever made of a Bali tiger, and none were ever displayed in zoos.  The last one was an adult female that was shot. Digging Deeper The various tiger subspecies that have gone extinct or are endangered today are pretty much all victims of habitat…

A Brief History On September 26, 1981, Nolan Ryan, right-handed pitcher for the Houston Astros, pitched his record-breaking 5th no-hitter of his career.  Ryan, arguably the best pitcher in major league baseball history, went on to throw 2 more no-hitters in his career, the last (number 7) in 1991 when he was an astounding 44 years old! Digging Deeper Fans of other great pitchers will make the case for those hurlers.  Some might talk about Bob Feller’s incredible fastball, his 3 no-hitters and 12 one-hitters and how he lost some of his prime years to service in the Navy during World War…