Browsing: September

A Brief History On September 10, 1939, with its torpedoing of its own submarine, the HMS Oxley, the British Royal Navy proved quite early in World War II that there is such as thing as “friendly fire.”  Digging Deeper In the military they play around with the words and say that “there is no such thing as friendly fire,” meaning that no fire is friendly, however, the true definition of “friendly fire” is the unintentional harming of one’s own troops or allied troops, basically one’s “friends.”  Bullets, rockets, bombs and torpedoes will kill your own people just as fast as they will kill the enemy, and sometimes…

A Brief History On September 9, 1850, in the middle of the California Gold Rush, California was admitted to the Union as the 31st state of the United States.  The second largest state at the time until the admission of Alaska, when it fell to third, California is currently the most populous U.S. state and has claim to many other reasons why it might be the greatest state. Digging Deeper The state that gave us Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm, the politicians Ronald Reagan, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Richard Nixon, California also gives us world class wines and Rice-a-Roni, the San Francisco treat.  California is…

A Brief History On September 9, 1739, the Stono Slave Rebellion, the largest slave revolt in pre-revolutionary British America took place in Charleston, South Carolina.  Throughout history, humans have kept other humans as slaves.  Some slaves resisted; some even revolted successfully.  Here 10 incidents when slaves had finally had enough and rose up against their masters are listed.   Digging Deeper 10. Stono Rebellion, British North American Colonies, 1739. In this rebellion, also known as “Cato’s Rebellion” after its leader, an educated slave, African slaves from the Congo, some of whom were former soldiers, attempted to break free and travel to Florida…

A Brief History On September 8, 1966, Americans in love with science fiction were treated to the most iconic space-oriented television show of all time when Star Trek made its debut on NBC. Digging Deeper In the days before cable or satellite television, VHS or DVDs, Americans usually only had 3 television channels to choose between.  Better-equipped households might also have gotten the PBS station on ultra high frequency (UHF) television.  TV shows were a much bigger deal in those days, with each show having much less competition than now. Detailing the adventures of Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock and the crew of the Enterprise, the original Star…

A Brief History On September 8, 1974, American President Gerald Ford pardoned former President Richard Nixon of any crimes he may have committed while in office.  Although some members of the U.S. public were relieved that the country was saved the spectacle of an ex-president on trial, many were outraged, and that act of mercy may have cost Ford the 1976 presidential election. Throughout history, there have been many cases of people being pardoned where the public thought they did not deserve to be granted clemency.  In some of the cases, a pardoned person went on with their criminal ways or reverted…