A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on September 18th. For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On September 18, 1812, the conquering French Grande Armée was appalled to see that the giant fire set by retreating Russians had destroyed almost all of the city of Moscow. On September 18, 1838, English businessman and politician Richard Cobden along with free trade advocate John Bright established the Anti-Corn Law League, an action taken in opposition to the “Corn Laws” that…
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A Brief History On September 18, 1812, the conquering French Grande Armée was appalled to see that the giant fire set by retreating Russians had destroyed almost all of the city of Moscow. Napoleon and his troops were left without food and shelter to face the upcoming winter. Either as scorched Earth policy or vindictiveness, burning cities in war is common. Digging Deeper In the case of Moscow, the city was burned by its own people to deprive the enemy of its resources. When Washington, D.C. was burned by the British in 1814, the act of mass arson was to…
A Brief History On September 18, 1990, the tiny European Principality of Liechtenstein was admitted to the United Nations. Incredibly, Liechtenstein is only the 4th smallest country in Europe, behind Vatican City, Monaco and San Marino. Digging Deeper A monarchy, Liechtenstein is ruled by the Prince of Liechtenstein, though under a national constitution. With barely over 38,000 residents, this German speaking country lies between Switzerland and Austria and occupies a miniscule 62 square miles. While the national wealth of Liechtenstein as measured by GDP ranks a mere 149th in the world, the individual wealth of the population is a staggering…
A Brief History On September 18, 1838, English businessman and politician Richard Cobden along with free trade advocate John Bright established the Anti-Corn Law League, an action taken in opposition to the “Corn Laws” that had been enacted in Britain since 1815, a series of tariffs on goods imported from outside of Britain, especially grain products, hence the name “Corn Laws.” Today we take a look at even more of the laws people love to hate, as we have previously done in our articles on this subject. Digging Deeper Corn Laws, Britain, 19th Century. Tariffs are a double edged sword,…
A Brief History On September 18, 2018, apropos to nothing in particular, we take the opportunity to once again discuss the disgusting English language! Previously, we started the discussion on our article dated September 29, 1975, “What is Up With The English Language?” and today we add to the discussion by addressing some troubling particular uses and misuses of words and phrases. As always, please tell us what you disagree with in this article or better yet, your own pet peeves about the use and alleged misuse of English! (BTW, we are well aware of the liberties this author sometimes…