A Brief History On March 22, 1621, the European (basically British) colonists of Plymouth Colony, a “Pilgrim” venture for displaced religious zealots to find a place to practice their religion in peace, signed a peace treaty with Chief (or “Sachem”) Massasoit of the Wampanoag Native American coalition of tribes that had occupied what is now Massachusetts. Only a year later, at Jamestown, Virginia, the European (mostly British) colonists suffered a catastrophic attack from Algonquian Native Americans, resulting in the deaths of about a third of the entire population of colonists at and around Jamestown, leaving 347 White colonists dead, part…
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A Brief History On March 16, 2001, Jin Ruchao, a Chinese citizen of Hubei Province in China proved once again that a deranged person does not need guns to kill a LOT of people, when he set off a series of bombs in the provincial capital of Shijiazhuang that killed 108 people and injured 38 more. His reason for his wanton murder? He hated his ex-wife and her mother! Digging Deeper As is often the case with people that go off on murderous rampages, Jin had previously threatened to blow up the buildings his ex-wife and her mother lived in. …
A Brief History On March 15, 493, Ravenna, Italy was a scene right out of the HBO cable television series Game of Thrones when King Theodoric the Great of the Ostrogoths invited his defeated enemy, King Odoacer of Italy to a great banquet marking the “end” of hostilities. Odoacer, the first barbarian King of Italy, whose reign marked the end of the Western Roman Empire, was walking into a trap! Digging Deeper Theodoric used the banquet as a lure to draw in Odoacer so that the erstwhile King of Italy could be killed. In the manner typical of both fictional…
A Brief History On March 14, 1982, an 11 kilogram bomb went off at the office of the African National Congress in London, England. The explosion that occurred at 9 am local time, did not kill anyone, but the considerable blast smashed windows as far as 400 meters away. Obviously, the human damage could have been much worse. ANC voluntary worker, Vernet Mbatha, a caretaker, was the only person injured. He had been sleeping in an apartment above the offices. Digging Deeper The ANC is currently the governing political party of the Republic of South Africa, a country that was…
A Brief History On March 6, 1975, entranced Americans were glued to their television sets to watch the first mass public showing of the infamous “Zapruder Film” that depicted the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. According to US Government reports, a single gunman acting alone, Lee Harvey Oswald, used a World War II surplus Italian bolt action rifle that he bought mail order. The 6.5×52mm caliber Carcano Model 91/38 cost Oswald only $19.95 (plus shipping) and it even included an attached riflescope! Today we take a look at 10 guns that will live in infamy. …