A Brief History On September 5, 1698, Czar Peter I of Russia (Peter the Great) enacted a tax on beards. This tax targeted the nobility in an effort to “westernize” Russia and proved highly unpopular. Many laws in the US have also been unpopular, and today we ask you to tell us which law you think is the worst law in US history, giving you some samples to choose from. Digging Deeper “Blue Laws” against Sunday business practices Income Tax in 1861 and again in 1909 with the 16th Amendment Insanity defense Mandatory use of automotive seat belts, first in…
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A Brief History On September 2, 1984, Sydney, Australia was the scene of a major shoot-out between rival motorcycle gangs Bandidos and Comancheros. Contrary to the popular opinion that mass shootings only occur in the US, a total of 7 people were killed and 12 were wounded in the incident known as the “Milperra massacre.” Digging Deeper Apparently the answer to our question is that, “Yes, other countries do have motorcycle gangs.” Our previous article, Mass Shooting…in Canada??? tells the story of another such motorcycle gang related mass shooting, this time in Canada. In fact, Wikipedia has an article about…
A Brief History On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland under false pretenses, staging a phony border “incident” that gave them a claim of legitimacy. Little remembered by the public at large, was that Germany had an ally that also took part in that invasion. Digging Deeper No, we are not talking about the Soviet Union, with their infamous “stab in the back” attack on Poland on September 17, 1939, after Germany had invaded. We are referring to Slovakia, a fellow Slavic country with people sharing similar language and cultural traits with the Poles. The Slovak Republic contributed about 50,000…
A Brief History On August 31, 2006, the Norwegian police announced the recovery of Edvard Munch’s famous painting, The Scream, which had been stolen in 2004. A reward equal to around $313,000 US probably helped them catch the thieves, but many other crimes go unsolved. How many crimes? Read the list below to get a sobering idea about how many crimes in the US go unsolved. (Note: Data varies with source.) Digging Deeper Murder- 50% Rape- 30% Robbery- 27% Burglary- 14% Car theft- 12% Arson- 21% Do any of these meager solving percentages surprise you? Which one surprises you the…
A Brief History On August 30, 2021, the United States of America suffered one of its all-time worst humiliations when the last of the American forces were flown out of Afghanistan, a country the US had invaded in 2001 and was the scene of the longest armed conflict in American history. Digging Deeper After the terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001, President Bush authorized military action in Afghanistan to strike at the terrorist bases and ultimately to deny those terrorists the safe haven of Afghanistan. Never meant to be a nation building exercise, the woeful fact…