Browsing: September 5

A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on September 5th.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On September 5, 1698, Czar Peter I of Russia (Peter the Great) enacted a tax on beards. On September 5, 1698, Czar Peter I of Russia (Peter the Great) enacted a tax on beards.  (NOTE: The link in the date for this entry leads to a different article than the other mention to this same event above.) On September 5, 1725, Louis…

A Brief History On September 5, 1980, the Gotthard Road Tunnel from Uri Canton to Airolo in Switzerland opened for travel, at the time the longest highway tunnel in the world at 10.5 miles long.  Today, we look at some other real and fictional tunnels: Digging Deeper The Channel Tunnel, or, “Chunnel,” connecting France and England with an under the sea section of 23.5 of its 31 mile length. The Time Tunnel, a TV show from 1966 to 1967, featuring two lost time travelers going from one historical adventure to another. The Delaware Aqueduct, the longest tunnel in the world,…

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…

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…