Browsing: Society

A Brief History On February 2, 1935, Leonarde “Nard” Keeler testified about polygraph evidence in a Wisconsin courtroom at a trial of 2 men for assault, the first use of the polygraph, often simply called “the lie detector,” in court. Then, as now, debate about the efficacy of the polygraph was fiercely defended on both sides. Digging Deeper Keeler was the co-inventor of the polygraph, a machine that measures bodily functions in response to questions being asked the subject of the test, the reaction of those functions supposedly indicating whether the subject is telling the truth or a lie. Bodily…

A Brief History On January 31, 2018, we celebrate National Appreciate Your Social Security Check Day, one of those many days you find all over the internet that seem to have no specific origin. Well, this cowboy does not celebrate this particular “holiday,” because of the JERK (or jerks) that came up with the WEP (Windfall Elimination Provision) that cheats people like me out of half their social security! Today we list 7 Jerks of the Month. Digging Deeper 1. WEP (Congress). How can our country celebrate social security when so many people are getting so thoroughly shampooed by the…

A Brief History On January 27, 98 AD, Trajan became Emperor of Rome, succeeding his (adoptive) father Nerva as Emperor. Trajan ruled until his death in 117, a time when Rome saw its greatest military and territorial success. Digging Deeper Many readers may immediately think of Gaius Julius Caesar when the subject of “greatest Roman emperors” comes up, but in fact, Julius Caesar was not emperor, as that office did not exist at that time. The first person to be considered Emperor of Rome was Augustus, the great nephew (and adopted son) of Julius Caesar. Born Gaius Octavius, Augustus was…

A Brief History On January 26, 1965, the Constitution of India was amended to make Hindi the official language of Government in India, with English relegated to a “subsidiary official language.” Although the Indian constitution recognizes 22 “scheduled” languages, there are actually many more dialects spoken throughout the country, about 780, perhaps the second most linguistically diverse nation on Earth (after new Guinea with over 800 languages). Digging Deeper According to the official census of India, there are 122 “major” languages and an additional 1599 languages spoken there (presumably dialects). At least 30 of the languages are spoken by a…

A Brief History On January 23, 1795, one of the most unusual battles in history took place when a force of French cavalry galloped across the frozen Zuiderzee to capture 14 Dutch ships and seize 850 guns (cannon). Known as The Battle of Texel, or otherwise known as The Capture of the Dutch Fleet at Den Helder, the action took place during The War of the First Coalition, one of a series of wars that started with the French Revolution and ended with The War of the Seventh Coalition when Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated at Waterloo in 1915. Digging Deeper…