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…
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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,…
A Brief History On May 4, 1946, the US Marine Corps was called to assault and secure an island, this time in San Francisco Bay! Why would Marines assault an American island? Because that island was Alcatraz, home to Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, built to house the worst federal criminals, and those ultra-bad guys were in the middle of a violent riot. Digging Deeper The riot started as an escape attempt by convicts who overpowered a guard and managed to steal guns and gas grenades. Prisoners jammed a lock while trying different keys, ruining their escape. Then the convicts took more…
A Brief History On May 2, 1982, Britain’s nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror fired torpedoes at the Argentine Navy’s World War II era cruiser, ARA General Belgrano, rapidly sinking the big ship and killing 323 of her crew of 1,095. Digging Deeper General Belgrano was the former USS Phoenix, 608 feet long and 62 feet wide, with a displacement of over 12,000 tons. Armed with 15 X 6 inch guns and 8 X 5 inch guns, she was one of the biggest and baddest warships in any third world navy. General Belgrano has the distinction of being the only ship sunk…
A Brief History On April 27, 1945, Finnish soldiers were photographed proudly raising the Finnish war flag on top of a concrete cairn where the borders of Finland, Norway, and Sweden meet. A famous photograph, the shot is often called “Raising the Flag on the Three-Country Cairn.” Digging Deeper An opportunistic bully, the USSR tried to capitalize on the chaos of World War II to expand their own borders, in Poland, the Far East, and in Finland. From 1939 to 1940, the Finns fought the Soviets in the Winter War, and again in the Continuation War of 1941 to 1944. …