Browsing: Society

A Brief History On March 22, 1872, the State of Illinois became the first state to enact a law requiring equal treatment of men and women in hiring.  The rest of the United States would not find this Gender Equality under the law until Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Equal Employment Opportunity provision that made it illegal to discriminate in employment hiring based on race, color, national origin, religion or sex.  Note: March is Women’s History Month. Digging Deeper Exactly 100 years after the ground breaking move by Illinois, the United States Congress sent the…

A Brief History On March 21, 630, Emperor Heraclius of the Byzantine Empire returned what he believed to be the “True Cross” (the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified) to Jerusalem to its current place in the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre. Digging Deeper According to legend (or history), the mother of Emperor Constantine went on a holy mission to the Middle East, establishing Christian churches and aid stations for the poor along the way, searching for the Holy Sepulchre, the tomb of Jesus Christ and the True Cross.  Coincidentally, in the immediate vicinity of the Holy Sepulchre is the…

A Brief History On March 19, 1965, a diver and soon to become underwater archaeologist discovered the wreck of the SS Georgiana, a Confederate States of America cruiser sunk in Charleston Harbor in 1863.  Built in Scotland, the Georgiana was on her maiden voyage to Charleston when she encountered Union blockade vessels and was heavily damaged.  The cruiser was scuttled to avoid capture, her cargo worth about $50 million, including 350 pounds of gold. Digging Deeper Perhaps the most powerful cruiser in the Confederate Navy, the actual purpose of the Georgiana is unknown.  The 205 foot long, 25 foot wide…

A Brief History On March 17, 1970, the US Army charged 14 officers with suppressing information about the My Lai Massacre that took place in South Vietnam in 1968, a horrible atrocity in which between 347 and 504 Vietnamese civilians, including women, children and babies, were slaughtered by C Company, 1st Bn 20th Regt of the 11th Brigade of the 23rd Infantry Division of the US Army. Allegations included gang rape, shooting women with babies, bayoneting and clubbing people, using grenades and burning occupied dwellings. Digging Deeper Probably the best known and worst atrocity committed by US military troops during…

A Brief History On March 16, 1945, less than a month before Allied armies captured the city, British Lancaster bombers dropped 1207 tons of high explosive and incendiary bombs on the German city of Würzburg, killing 5000 people and destroying about 90% of the buildings, including many historic Medieval structures. Digging Deeper Despite the city being home to 40 hospitals and lacking war industries or military targets, the British bombing commanders decided to bomb the city for its strategic importance as a road and rail hub, and to destroy the morale of the German people. Despite its name, the German…