A Brief History On May 11, 1713, Finnish residents of Helsinki burned their own capital city to the ground rather than allow the Russian invaders to possess their city during the Great Northern War. The Russians, under Czar Peter the Great, had territorial designs on their neighbors just as the Russians of today under Vladimir Putin are trying to conquer Ukraine. Digging Deeper Ironically, it was the Russian residents of Moscow that burned their own city in 1812 to prevent Napoleon Bonaparte and his invading French Grande Armée from enjoying their pyrrhic victory over the Russians. The Soviets again used…
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A Brief History On February 24, 2022, days after recognizing Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states, Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered a full scale invasion of Ukraine. Digging Deeper Russia’s invasion has had five major phases thus far. The first phase covers the period from February 24th, 2022, when Russia launched a military invasion of Ukraine, to April 7th, 2022 when fighting focused away from the northeast and Kyiv and towards the south and east of Ukraine. The second phase covers the period from April 8th, 2022, when the area of heavy fighting shifted to the south and east of…
A Brief History On May 9, 1941, German submarine U-110 was forced to the surface by a British corvette and a destroyer that were escorting a convoy attacked by the sub. U-110 had been a successful attack submarine, but on this day, depth charges forced the boat to the surface. Digging Deeper Damaged and in danger of sinking, the captain ordered the sub abandoned and scuttled, but in their haste to get off the sub that was also under fire from the British, the crew failed to scuttle the sub. U-110 was not sinking, so the British kept German sailors…
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 May 5, 1945, a rare circumstance arose when German troops fought alongside US Army troops against an attack by the German 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division. Making the event even more bizarre, freed French prisoners of war joined the Americans and Germans in fighting off the attacking SS soldiers. Digging Deeper The Germans fighting with the Americans to defend Castle Itter in Austria were led by Hauptsturmführer Kurt-Siegfried Schrader of the SS and Major Josef Gangl. The German soldiers involved had quit fighting for Germany and joined the Austrian resistance. Castle Itter was used to house prisoners,…
