Browsing: Society

A Brief History On January 17, 2010, Stephanie Peatling, writing for The Sydney Morning Herald, reported that there “is now one poker machine for every 110 people in Australia, putting the nation in the top 10 of international gambling meccas, alongside Monaco and Macau.”  Anyone alive and using the internet today can attest to the fact that slot machines are advertised practically everywhere.  Hugely popular across the web, they are played by people of all demographics and seem to enjoy a mass appeal.  Given that we are so familiar with seeing them online, however, it can be easy to forget…

A Brief History On January 18, 1884, Welsh physician Dr. William Price attempted to cremate the remains of his infant son, Jesus Christ Price, who had died of natural causes at the age of 5 months.  A believer and proponent of the ancient Druid religion, Price believed burying dead people would somehow “pollute” the earth, and therefore dead people should be cremated.  In Britain at the time, there were strong mores against cremation and as such an angry mob developed when Price was conducting the open-air cremation on a hilltop.  The mob swarmed the doctor and prevented the cremation, starting…

A Brief History On January 16, 27 BC, the Roman Senate conferred upon Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus the title “Augustus,” effectively making Augustus Caesar the first Roman Emperor, marking the beginning of the Roman Empire.  While previously the Romans had indeed conquered many lands, their government had been a Republic and run by the Senate until Gaius Julius Caesar (the man usually referred to as simply Julius Caesar) became Dictator of Rome, sort of a de facto king or emperor.  If you notice the similarity in names between Julius and Augustus, you can be assured this is not coincidental. Digging…

A Brief History On January 14, 1943, the Japanese Navy began their operation to successfully evacuate the remaining Japanese land forces from the Island of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands of the Pacific Ocean.  Called Operation Ke, the withdrawal of the Japanese forces is used to start us off on our list of 10 Famous or Infamous Withdrawals or Retreats.  The military calls such operations “retrograde operations,” the opposite of an attack or an advance.  Comedians refer to these actions as “attacking in a different direction.”  Far from being funny, retrograde operations, especially while still in contact with the enemy…

A Brief History On January 11, 532, the seeds of a riot broke out in the capital of the Byzantine Empire (spawn of the Eastern Roman Empire), Constantinople (modern day Istanbul) over competing support of chariot racing teams.  Not your typical few hours of drunken revelry, the Nika Riots went on for a week and resulted in half the city being burned down!  While we consider a modern sports related riot that results in a fatality to be a tragedy, the Nika Riots resulted in an estimated 30,000 rioters killed, making it the worst sports related riot in history.  Today…