A Brief History On September 5, 1698, Czar Peter I of Russia (Peter the Great) enacted a tax on beards. This tax targeted the nobility in an effort to “westernize” Russia and proved highly unpopular. Many laws in the US have also been unpopular, and today we ask you to tell us which law you think is the worst law in US history, giving you some samples to choose from. Digging Deeper “Blue Laws” against Sunday business practices Income Tax in 1861 and again in 1909 with the 16th Amendment Insanity defense Mandatory use of automotive seat belts, first in…
Browsing: September 5
A Brief History On September 5, 1927, long before he became famous for his feature film cartoons and amusement parks, Walt Disney’s production of Trolley Troubles, an animated cartoon featuring the character Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, was released by Universal Pictures. A far cry from what we now associate Walt Disney with, Trolley Troubles was only just over 6 minutes long and was in black and white, and although it did not feature sound to go along with the animation, music and sound effects were added years later. Oswald became a popular cartoon character and Disney was on his way…
A Brief History On September 5, 1836, Sam Houston was elected as the first president of the Republic of Texas. Of course, we remember him largely through the city that is named after him, the 4th most populous in the United States and spreading a massive nearly 600 square miles, about double the area of New York City. In 2017, while the city of Houston is in the news as Hurricane Harvey and its resultant floods devastate the city and the area, we look into the man behind the city’s name. Digging Deeper Sam Houston was born to a Scots-Irish…
A Brief History On September 5, 1725, Louis the XV, King of France, married Maria Karolina Zofia Felicja Leszczynska, the daughter of King Stanislaw I of Poland. Known as Queen (consort) Marie of France, she served in that role until her death in 1768 at the age of 65. For a whopping 43 years between Louis XIV (“The Sun King” famous for his namesake furniture style) and Louis XVI (the guy that wed Marie Antoinette and got his head lopped off) there was a Polish lady serving as Queen of France. If you did not know this, perhaps you are…
A Brief History On September 5, 1798, France instituted the Jourdan Law making military conscription the law of the land. Military drafts have never been popular with the masses that supply the cannon fodder and it is likely this law was no exception. Like the American and other national military drafts, this one discriminated against the poor and lower classes, leaving various exemptions available for the privileged. On September 5 and August 5 of 2014 we published lists of unpopular laws, and this time we are doing it again, with no significance to the order listed. Digging Deeper 10. Right…
