Browsing: Society

A Brief History On June 6, 1944, American, British, and Canadian forces stormed the heavily defended beaches of Normandy, France, signaling the doom of the Third Reich. This amphibious landing would not have happened, at least not successfully, without the following piece of allied equipment and weapons. Here we list 10 of those items we think are most important to the success of the operation. Digging Deeper 10. Bangalore Torpedo.  This simple item is a metal pipe filled with explosives that can be attached in multiple sections to clear barbed wire obstacles and minefields. Invented by the British Army in 1912,…

A Brief History On June 6, 1997, Melissa Drexler gave birth to her baby in a bathroom stall, threw it in the trash, and went right back to the prom!  This Lacey Township High School (New Jersey) student was over 18 years old at the time and so faced charges as an adult.  Convicted of manslaughter, she was sentenced to 15 years in jail, of which she served only 37 months. Digging Deeper At 5’7” tall and weighing in at only 130 pounds, she still managed to hide her pregnancy from other people.  Going into a bathroom stall to deliver…

A Brief History On June 5, 1916, Louis Brandeis was sworn in as the first Jewish Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.  Here we list 10 Jewish “firsts” of either significance or curious interest.  (Bonus: The First Jewish Oscar Winner was Paul Muni for The Story of Louis Pasteur, 1936.) Digging Deeper 10. Louis Brandeis, US Supreme Court, 1916.  Justice Brandeis paved the way for current Jewish justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan.  (Making 3 of the 9 justices Jewish. The other 6 are all Catholics.) Ginsburg became the first Jewish female Justice of…

A Brief History On June 3, 1839, Chinese agents under Lin Zexu (various spellings) seized an incredible 1,210 ton cache of opium (2.66 million pounds, or 1.2 million kilos), later destroying the drug. Digging Deeper Incredibly, the opium was being forcibly imported into China by British drug merchants with the complicity of the British government.  China at the time had no need for Western goods, but was producing silk and other products bought in large amounts by the West, resulting in a gross trade imbalance.  (Sound familiar?)  British opium (poppy) farmers in India sent their drug to China where opium…

A Brief History On June 3, 1943, US Navy sailors and US Marines tangled with Latino young men in what is known as The Zoot Suit Riots. Earlier this web site discussed the Brown Dog Riot and the Egg Nog Riot, which just goes to show you that people will riot about almost anything. (We will ignore the typical riots, such as race based, all but one sporting event based, and starving peasants.) Here we list 10 of the goofiest named riots in history. Digging Deeper 10. Nika Hippodrome Riots (Constantinople), 532. Why is this incident the only sporting event…