Browsing: Business and Economics

A Brief History On May 17, 1983, the US government was obligated to release information due to a newspaper’s Freedom of Information Act request about the largest Mercury pollution source in history, the Oak Ridge, Tennessee, home of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Y-12 National Security Complex, nuclear facilities first constructed during World War II as part of the Manhattan Project. Digging Deeper The site of the second self-sustaining atomic pile reactor in the world, Plutonium was produced there from Uranium to make atom bombs.  From 1950 to 1963, 11 million kilos of Mercury were used for isotope separation,…

A Brief History On May 7, 1992, the State of Michigan ratified the 27th Amendment after a two century struggle to pass this “common sense” law, namely that Congress cannot give itself a raise during a current term. Digging Deeper Laws are by nature political, and therefore differences of opinion about what is a “good” law generates fierce debate, but we offer some ideas for laws that we think are good and invite you to nominate your own ideas. Term limits for elected officials, especially in Congress, and also for the Supreme Court and Federal Courts. Mandatory ethical standards for…

A Brief History On April 29, 1967, heavyweight boxing champ, Muhammad Ali, was stripped of his crown when he refused induction into the US military.  He later was vindicated and regained his championship belt in the ring, and today we look at some sports champions that were stripped of their honors. Digging Deeper One of the saddest and most famous cases was Olympic champ Jim Thorpe, stripped of his Gold Medals won at the 1912 Olympics in the Decathlon and Pentathlon because he had once played semi-pro baseball. In 1982, his honors were posthumously returned. Performance enhancing drugs have cost…

A Brief History On April 26, 1942, the Benxihu Colliery an iron and coal mine in Liaoning, China, was the scene of a horrific accident resulting in the deaths of 1,549 miners, the highest death toll of any mining disaster ever. Digging Deeper Japan had invaded Manchuria in 1931 and began to exploit the natural resources and the people of the region.  Using Chinese as slave labor, the Japanese military did not provide adequate food, clothing, medical care, and sanitation for the workers. In miserable conditions, a huge coal dust explosion took place on April 26, 1942, triggering a massive…

A Brief History On April 24, 2013, the Rana Plaza, an eight story multi-use commercial building in Bangladesh, collapsed and killed over 1,100 of the people inside, as well as injuring another 2,500.  Apparently, the top four floors were added without proper support, leading to heavy garment equipment causing the collapse. Digging Deeper Sadly, many times buildings have collapsed with tragic consequences, and here we list two of the worst tragedies. In 27, AD a wooden amphitheater in Fidenae on the outskirts of Rome collapsed during a gladiatorial contest, killing a reported 20,000 spectators, although that number may be a…