Browsing: Society

A Brief History On June 22, 1969, the Cuyahoga River near downtown Cleveland, Ohio caught fire, sparking a story in Time Magazine and becoming the symbol for the ecology movement.  Nature and mankind have worked separately or together throughout history to create environmental disasters.  Here we list 10 of the more spectacular ones, the order of which is the ones we find most entertaining. Digging Deeper 10. Leaded Fuel, 1920’s-1970’s. Discovered to be an effective anti-knock compound for gasoline by Charles Kettering and Tom Midgely in 1921, the compound tetraethyl lead made by Dupont was necessary for engines to operate at higher compression, thus…

A Brief History On June 22, 2004, President George W. Bush signed into law HR 218, known as the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act.  This law gave police officers in good standing and properly retired officers the legal right to carry concealed weapons (guns) in any jurisdiction in the United States.  That means an officer from Los Angeles can go on vacation to New York City and be allowed to carry his gun. Digging Deeper The logic behind this legislation was to provide law enforcement personnel with the ability to defend themselves against vengeful criminals while off duty or when retired. …

A Brief History This article serves as a sort of table of contents to other articles on this site by presenting a chronological listing of bizarre events in the history of civil rights.  For the purpose of this timeline, we are expanding “civil rights” to include “natural rights,” “gay rights,” and “women’s rights” rather than just limiting the timeline to “African-American rights”. Digging Deeper On March 23, 1775, Patrick Henry delivered a speech that may well have led to the successful formation of the United States.  Known as the “Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death” speech, Henry was addressing…

A Brief History On June 21, 1964, three civil rights workers were kidnapped and murdered by the Ku Klux Klan in Mississippi, an event commemorated in the 1988 feature film, Mississippi Burning.  Advocating or campaigning for civil rights of various groups of people has been an historically dangerous business.  Many people engaged in the struggle for civil rights throughout history have been murdered or executed for their efforts.  Here we list 10 such people who have been martyred in the cause of freedom.   Digging Deeper 10. Chaney, Schwerner and Goodman, 1964. A 21 year old African-American from Mississippi and 2 Jewish New Yorkers…

A Brief History On June 21, 1944, the US Navy was basking in the glow of an enormous victory over the Japanese Imperial Navy in the Battle of the Philippine Sea.  Yesterday we told you about this battle (The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot) in which we suggested the US aircraft were superior to the Japanese aircraft at this time.  US aircraft developed during the war much faster than did those of Japan, changing the qualitative edge from Japan to the US.  Meanwhile, the Royal Navy was also developing improved models of their own naval aviation planes, though they had used “string…