A Brief History On November 10, 1865, the long sad saga of the Camp Sumter prisoner of war camp located in Andersonville, Georgia finally came to a conclusion of sorts when the Camp Commandant, Confederate Major Henry Wirz was hanged for the crimes of conspiracy and murder for his terrible treatment of Union soldiers held captive at the camp popularly known as “Andersonville.” Digging Deeper The name, Andersonville, has become synonymous in the US as being a hell-hole of a prison camp, a place where men starved and died of disease every day. Heinrich Hartmann Wirz was born in Switzerland…
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A Brief History On November 8, 1973, the severed right ear of John Paul Getty III was delivered to a newspaper with a ransom note demanding $3.2 million in return for the kidnapped heir to the Getty fortune. The 17 year old John Paul Getty III had been living in Rome, Italy, where he was raised by his father, the son of Jean Paul Getty (usually referred to as JP Getty), the oil magnate that amassed a fortune of over $2 billion by the time of his death in 1976. Digging Deeper The younger Getty lived in Rome while his…
A Brief History On October 25, 1944, SS Chief Heinrich Himmler of the German Third Reich ordered a crackdown against the youth culture anti-Nazi government resistance group known as “Edelweisspiraten,” or “Edelweiss Pirates.” This group of teenagers had dodged mandatory induction into the Hitler Youth organization and worked to help others hide from government authorities, whether those avoiding service in the Hitler Youth, draft dodgers, or army deserters. A German produced film, Edelweiss Pirates, detailed the exploits of these resisters in 2004. Digging Deeper Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was an early associate of Adolf Hitler and was with Hitler for the…
A Brief History On October 23, 1861, President Abraham Lincoln, defender of the Union of the United States, illegally suspended the rule of Habeas Corpus, the Constitutional protection of Americans against being held in confinement without charges and due process. Lincoln has been made into an American legend and icon, an idol mostly deserving of high praise, but he was not necessarily what people think he was, or what schools teach children about him. Here we list 10 things either contrary to the Lincoln myth, or interesting facts that you might not be aware of. Digging Deeper 1. Suspension of Habeas…
A Brief History On October 16, 1991, a disturbed man crashed his pick-up truck into a Luby’s cafeteria in Texas, and proceeded to shoot and kill 24 people, including himself. George Hennard wounded another 27 with gunshots, which up until June 11, 2016 had been the worst non-school mass shooting in United States history. (On that day 49 people were gunned down at the Orlando, Florida gay nightclub called “Pulse.”) When Stephen Paddock, age 64, opened fire from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel and casino in Las Vegas on a crowd attending a country music concert and…