A Brief History On November 1, 1918, the Austro-Hungarian battleship, SMS Viribus Unitis, was sunk in the harbor at the Pola Naval Base by two Italian commandos that penetrated the harbor via a manned torpedo and placed explosives on the big ship. Digging Deeper The Italians were captured and admitted their sabotage, but the ship’s captain disregarded the warning when the explosion was late and allowed his crew back on the ship which promptly blew up and sank. The ship had been turned over to the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, and renamed the Jugoslavija the day before the…
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A Brief History On October 29, 2014, the island nation of Sri Lanka experienced a fatal natural disaster known as the Badulla landslide. Monsoon rains loosened hillside soil which cascaded downhill on an incredible three kilometer path into the village of Koslanda, leaving at least 16 dead and hundreds missing, and about 150 homes destroyed. Digging Deeper Mudslides are an ever-present danger to people living on or below hills, and can be triggered by excessive rain, poorly engineered slopes, lack of adequate vegetation, heavy snow cover, earthquakes and tsunamis. Of course, mud has tormented people in many other ways, making…
A Brief History On October 27, 312, Emperor Constantine the Great of the Roman Empire on the eve of the Battle of Milvian Bridge is reported to have had a vision or dream of the Christian Cross, leading to his men fighting under the protection of the cross. Sure enough, Constantine beat his rival as Roman Emperor, Maxentius and won the battle, eventually turning the Roman Empire Christian. The date and whether or not the vision really happened has been argued. Digging Deeper Some other notable historic visions include: Visions of the Virgin Mary are numerous in Christian lore, most…
A Brief History On October 25, 1854, the gallant but foolish Battle of Balaclava took place during the Crimean War, propelling the Light Brigade into immortality when Alfred, Lord Tennyson, penned his great poem, The Charge of the Light Brigade. Digging Deeper As horrible as war is, human combat has also inspired writers to create epic poems, books and even music to remember those that fought and died. Just a a few of these great works include: In Flanders Fields by Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae, a Canadian doctor, who was lamenting the loss of life at the Second Battle of Ypres…
A Brief History On October 22, 1721, Peter I, better known as Peter the Great, Czar of All Russia for nearly four decades at this point, announced the existence of the Russian Empire, the first time Russia had been so declared. What was so “great” about Peter? Digging Deeper Well, for one thing, he created the Russian Empire, which he proclaimed after defeating Sweden. Ruling with an iron fist, Peter was a prototypical absolute monarch. Some of his accomplishments include modernizing the Russian Navy and switching to the Julian Calendar, as well as personally updating the written Russian language. While…