Browsing: Society

A Brief History On July 31, 1715, one of those events that leads to dreams occurred, when a storm off the coast of Florida sank all 11 Spanish treasure ships heading to Spain from Cuba. Digging Deeper Carrying a load of mostly silver, the fleet has been dubbed, “The 1715 Plate Fleet,” using the Spanish word for silver, “plata.” About 1,500 sailors drowned in the catastrophe, although a few survived to tell the tale.  Treasure wrecks spawn mighty efforts to find and recover the lost treasure, and the occasional washing up of some of the 1715 Fleet’s treasure on beaches…

A Brief History On July 29, 1862, female Confederate spy, Belle Boyd, was arrested by Union forces with the assistance of famed private detective Allan Pinkerton.  Arrested at least six times for spying, and despite warning that she could be executed, Boyd was never executed or given long prison sentences. Digging Deeper A native of Virginia, Boyd ran afoul of Union troops when they found Confederate flags in her home.  A Union soldier insulted Boyd’s mother, resulting in Boyd shooting and killing the soldier. Found not guilty of murder, Boyd went on to a career of spying, being caught and…

A Brief History On July 27, 1996, at the Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, a pipe bomb exploded killing 2 and injuring 111.  The perpetrator was caught seven years later.  This terrorist act is one of several Olympic incidents that go against the Olympic principles of ethics, comradery, peace, brotherhood and all that is good about humanity.  Politics and hate have no place in the Olympic Games, but sometimes these factors intrude anyway. Digging Deeper Some incidents where the Olympic ideal was betrayed include: In 1972, the Munich Olympics were marred by a terrorist attack that cost 17 lives. In…

A Brief History On July 25, 2010, the web media non-profit organization, WikiLeaks, released a trove of American secret documents regarding the War in Afghanistan, commonly referred to as “The Afghan War Diary” or “Afghan War documents leak.” Digging Deeper Although WikiLeaks somehow got their hands on 91,000 classified documents, only 71,000 have been released, allegedly out of consideration for the person or persons that leaked the documents to WikiLeaks who claimed to want to limit damage to US security. While people that leak classified information are liable for severe criminal penalties, there seems to be no shortage of leakers…

A Brief History On July 20, 1906, Finland ratified a law guaranteeing equal rights to women to vote in political elections, the first European country to do so. Digging Deeper During the 19th Century, women in many countries mounted campaigns to gain the right to vote, a movement called “Women’s Suffrage.”  This movement gained its first success in New Zealand, which became the first self-governing colony to grant universal women’s suffrage in 1893, although women could not run for office. Other colonies, territories, and states had some sort of women’s suffrage, although usually not universal, with restrictions based on race,…