Browsing: Business and Economics

A Brief History On April 17, 1912, Russian Imperial soldiers fired on a crowd of protesting goldfield workers in Siberia that were upset about the arrest of their strike committee.  Perhaps 270 striking workers were killed and a similar number wounded.  Such brutal treatment ultimately led to the Russian Revolution and the formation of the USSR, a self-described “workers’ paradise.” Digging Deeper Soviet authorities, especially the Cheka secret police, killed protesting and striking workers on a grand scale, both by gunning down workers and by executing arrested workers.  Killings of disgruntled workers and soldiers included drowning as well as shooting!…

A Brief History On April 15, 1955, McDonald’s hamburger and fast-food chain claims their founding by Ray Kroc in Illinois when he opened a franchise restaurant of the hamburger stand brand founded by Richard and Maurice McDonald in California.  Since Kroc made McDonald’s the fast-food giant that it is, it is not surprising he would use the date of his involvement as the “founding” date. Digging Deeper Some interesting McDonald’s facts include: Mickey D’s has over 40,000 locations in at least 119 countries. The runners up in most fast-food locations is Subway, followed by Starbucks, KFC, and Burger King. McDonald’s…

A Brief History On April 6, 2017, President Trump ordered an attack against Shayrat Airbase in Syria.  The 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles sent by the US impacted early on April 7th and killed about 16 Syrian troops while destroying between 9 and 20 aircraft and a SAM missile battery. Digging Deeper Those cruise missiles cost a cool $2 million apiece to deliver 1,000 pounds of explosives as far as 2,500 km away.  Modern weapons are not cheap, and even private citizens are aghast at the cost of rifle and pistol ammo at their local sporting goods stores.  Some weapons’ prices…

A Brief History On March 24, 1999, an unlikely cargo became deadly when a truck carrying margarine and flour caught fire in the Mont Blanc tunnel on its way from France to Italy. Digging Deeper While fires in tunnels can be a terrifying prospect, the Mont Blanc tunnel was no stranger to fire, having previously experienced 16 truck fires prior to this incident.  The driver of the Belgian truck became aware of a problem when oncoming traffic began flashing their headlights to alert him to smoke pouring out of his truck. Stopping his truck about half-way through the 7.2 mile…

A Brief History On March 17, 1945, the Ludendorf Bridge over the Rhine River fell 10 days after the US Army seized the span allowing them to cross the Rhine into Germany.  The Germans failed to blow up the bridge, and again failed to take it down later, a major blunder in World War II. Digging Deeper Bridges are often magnificent, and when they fall the event is major news.  Some notable bridge collapses include the following: The Ponte das Barcas of Porto, Portugal in 1809, is the deadliest bridge collapse, with 4,000 people fleeing French soldiers falling to their…