Browsing: September 25

A Brief History On September 25, 1066, Harald III of Norway, aka Harald Hardrada, aka the “Thunderbolt of the North,” died a Viking’s death in battle at the Stamford Bridge in England, at the hands of the last Anglo-Saxon crowned King of England, Harold Godwinson. Digging Deeper As depicted in the semi-historical cable show, Vikings: Valhalla, the game of thrones played by the Vikings in Scandinavia, all around Europe, Britain, and as far as the Byzantine Empire was a violent exercise in subterfuge and betrayal, often resulting in violent death for those players who aspired after the various thrones. Harald…

A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on September 25th.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On September 25, 1066, the Battle of Stamford Bridge signaled the end of the Viking invasions of England. On September 25, 1066, Harald III of Norway, aka Harald Hardrada, aka the “Thunderbolt of the North,” died a Viking’s death in battle at the Stamford Bridge in England, at the hands of the last Anglo-Saxon crowned King of England, Harold Godwinson. On September 25, 1555,…

A Brief History On September 25, 1555, the peace treaty known as the Peace of Augsburg or alternately as the Augsburg Settlement was signed by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and his opponents, known as the Schmalkaldic League. Digging Deeper The signing took place in the German city of Augsburg, giving the treaty its name.  The Holy Roman Empire of the time consisted of a Catholic consortium of countries, including Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Austria, and Burgundy, as well as portions of Italy. Opposing the Emperor was the Schmalkaldic League, an alliance of Lutheran princes within the empire that…

A Brief History On September 25, 1992, NASA launched a probe known as the Mars Observer, alternately known as Mars Geoscience/Climatology Orbiter, an unmanned spacecraft sent to study the surface, atmosphere, climate, and magnetic field on Mars.  Unfortunately, in August of 1993 communication with Mars Observer was lost permanently, a costly failure.  Today, we list several egregious space exploration failures and invite you to tell us which one you think was the worst. Digging Deeper Soyuz 1, reentry parachute failure, 1967, 1 cosmonaut died Apollo 1 Fire on Ground, 1967, 3 astronauts died Apollo 13, multiple failures caused Moon landing…

A Brief History On September 25, 1961, the State of Wisconsin first required any new automobile made starting in 1962 to be equipped with front seat safety belts.  While Nash Motors first offered this commonsense device in 1949, the rest of the United States was not required to have seat belt equipped cars until 1962, with shoulder belts required as of 1968. Digging Deeper Despite all cars having seat belts, drivers and passengers rarely wore them, even when annoying buzzers were included to “remind” people to wear the hated belts.  New York paved the way with a law requiring seat…