Browsing: Society

A Brief History On May 18, 1974, India’s Operation Smiling Buddha resulted in the successful detonation of a nuclear weapon, becoming the sixth nation to explode a nuclear device. Prior to India, only the 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council (US, Soviet Union/Russia, United Kingdom, France and China) had developed nuclear weapons, at least officially. Digging Deeper India officially claimed a yield of about 13 kilotons, similar in size to the bomb the US dropped on Hiroshima, Japan in 1945. Outside scientists estimated the explosion as less powerful, perhaps as little as 2 kilotons. Canada, which had supplied…

A Brief History On May 17, 1943, the British RAF conducted their famous “Dambusters” raid on dams on Germany’s rivers, a story we told in our article “May 17, 1943: 10 Most Daring, Dashing, Devastating Bombing Raids (WWII)”. Today we will discuss 10 Bombing raids of significance (historic or famous) that did not occur during World War II. Digging Deeper 1. Balloon Bombs, Venice, 1849. The first known use of aerial bombing, Austrians used unmanned balloons to carry bombs over Venice on July 15, 1849, which had revolted against Austrian rule and declared the Republic of San Marcos. The Austrians…

A Brief History On May 16, 1960, a scientist at Hughes Research Laboratories in California, Theodore Maiman, operated the world’s first optical laser, a red (ruby) coherent light beam. We have published 2 articles about lasers (“November 14, 1967: The LASER is Patented” and “March 22, 1960: When Were Lasers Invented?”) and another article titled “Things That Did Not Exist (Or Were Different) on July 1, 1957” and today we list another 10 things that were not around when this author was born. (January 1957.) Digging Deeper 1. Video Games. Although rudimentary efforts to construct some sort of electronic video…

A Brief History On May 13, 1981, Mehmet Ali Agca, a Turkish member of the Grey Wolves (ultranationalist Turkish neo-fascist organization), attempted to assassinate Pope John Paul II by shooting the pontiff four times with a 9mm Browning semi-automatic pistol. The Pope survived and eventually forgave the attempted assassin. So far this incident was nearly tragic, but not all that exceptional, at least until John Paul II revealed the long held information about the “Third Secret of Fátima” in June of 2000, telling the world that the assassination attempt had been the third prophesy foretold by three Portuguese children in…

A Brief History On May 12, 1593, History shows us a good example of the problems that develop when Church and State are not separate. Playwright Thomas Kyd was swept up with many others in a sweep of suspects in “libelous” postings (“divers lewd and mutinous libels”) around London, England, accused of posting letters denying the Holy Trinity and the Godliness of Jesus Christ (Arianism) and comments critical of the government. Kyd and the others were questioned and tortured by the Privy Council, as was the customary treatment of suspected blasphemers, and their lodgings were searched for evidence. Digging Deeper…