Browsing: Society

A Brief History On October 29, 1877, former Confederate States of America Army General Nathan Bedford Forrest died, but despite being an early member of the infamous racist organization, the Ku Klux Klan and serving as the first Grand Wizard of the notorious hate group, he had changed his tune, denying involvement with the Klan and denouncing the racism and violence associated with the KKK! Digging Deeper If you believe Nathan Bedford Forrest is something of a folk hero to White Supremacists, and conversely a hated and despised person by those seeking racial equality, you would be right!  Forrest’s contribution…

A Brief History On October 24, 1871, a number of Chinese immigrants to the United States (perhaps 17 to 20) were lynched in Los Angeles, California, the victims hanged by the neck until dead by a mob of White and Hispanic Americans.  The mob had heard that a Chinese man or men had shot a lawman and killed a rancher assisting that lawman while trying to effect the arrest of a Chinese man in the Chinatown section of LA known as “Calle de los Negros” (Street of the Blacks).  We previously discussed lynching in the United States, but recent events…

A Brief History On October 22, 1983, the Federal Penitentiary at Marion, Illinois was the scene of a tragedy when inmates overpowered and killed two corrections officers in two separate incidents.  This terrible incident resulted in the concept of the “Supermax” prison, short for “super-maximum security” in the United States Federal prison system (Bureau of Prisons).  The idea is to provide secure housing for the “worst of the worst,” prisoners that are either so dangerous, represent such a tempting target to assassins, extreme escape risks, or ones that are a danger to national and/or international security. Digging Deeper The “supermax”…

A Brief History On October 21, 1966, at 9:15 in the morning, the little Welsh village of Aberfan was the scene of a bizarre disaster that combined natural and man-made elements that resulted in the deaths of 116 children and 28 adults.  The event, known as “The Aberfan Disaster,” was caused by the sudden failure of a “spoil tip” at the local coal mining yard. Digging Deeper (For those unfamiliar with such lingo, a “spoil tip,” also known as a “culm bank,” “boney pile,” or “gob pile,” is a waste area where the unwanted residue of coal mining operations is…

A Brief History From October 2, 1941 to January 7, 1942, the Battle of Moscow was fought on the Eastern Front of World War II (WWII).  The Battle for Moscow is known as the one in which Hitler’s military forces were stopped. This German defeat was an important event, given that the same military was able to advance through all of Europe with little to no resistance from the other countries. Therefore, the Russian leaders at the time, with their decisions, were able to change the course of the war for the good guys. Even if Hitler’s army seemed to…