A Brief History On November 17, 1993, the United States House of Representatives passed a resolution establishing the North American Free Trade Agreement, normally referred to as NAFTA, a trade treaty between the United States, Canada, and Mexico that has generated bitter political debate ever since. The agreement became effective as of January 1, 1994. Digging Deeper The trade treaty replaced a previous trade agreement between the US and Canada called the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement (effective January 1, 1988), and serves to reduce or eliminate barriers to trade between the US and its neighbors, creating a free trade…
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A Brief History On November 11, 1993, a sculpture honoring the women that served in the Vietnam War was dedicated at the site of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. The two acre site of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was established in 1982, and consists of “The Wall,” “The Three Soldiers,” and since 1993, the “Vietnam Women’s Memorial.” Digging Deeper The Vietnam Women’s Memorial is a sculpture by Glenna Goodacre (nee Maxey), of Lubbock, Texas. She is a graduate of Colorado and has lived in New Mexico since 1983. (She is now 78 years old.) The sculpture consists of…
A Brief History On November 10, 1865, the long sad saga of the Camp Sumter prisoner of war camp located in Andersonville, Georgia finally came to a conclusion of sorts when the Camp Commandant, Confederate Major Henry Wirz was hanged for the crimes of conspiracy and murder for his terrible treatment of Union soldiers held captive at the camp popularly known as “Andersonville.” Digging Deeper The name, Andersonville, has become synonymous in the US as being a hell-hole of a prison camp, a place where men starved and died of disease every day. Heinrich Hartmann Wirz was born in Switzerland…
A Brief History On November 9, 1918, in the face of catastrophic defeat after four years of debilitating war, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany abdicated his throne and went into exile in the Netherlands. Throughout history, leaders have been forced by political or personal circumstances to give up power and leave office, sometimes of their own free will and other times because of outside influence. Here we list 10 of those leaders that left their position of leadership before their time was due. (Resigning to assume a higher post does not count.) Digging Deeper 1. Kaiser Wilhelm, Germany, 1918. Kaiser Bill…
A Brief History On November 8, 1973, the severed right ear of John Paul Getty III was delivered to a newspaper with a ransom note demanding $3.2 million in return for the kidnapped heir to the Getty fortune. The 17 year old John Paul Getty III had been living in Rome, Italy, where he was raised by his father, the son of Jean Paul Getty (usually referred to as JP Getty), the oil magnate that amassed a fortune of over $2 billion by the time of his death in 1976. Digging Deeper The younger Getty lived in Rome while his…