Browsing: Society

A Brief History On January 7, 1960, the United States first successfully test launched the Polaris Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) from their launching facility in Cape Canaveral, Florida.  The Polaris would be the first missile deployed in the world that could be launched from a submerged submarine and carry a nuclear warhead, changing the game of nuclear brinkmanship forever. Digging Deeper In July of 1960 the first successful launch of a Polaris missile from a submerged USS Washington missile submarine led to the arming of 41 US submarines with 16 Polaris missiles each, with each missile carrying a single…

A Brief History On January 6, 1941, much of the world was enmeshed in World War II, with only the United States among the great powers not yet at war.  Many US citizens wanted to keep it that way, and sentiment was largely against any involvement in the affairs of Europe where Hitler and Nazi Germany along with Italy were at war with Western democracies such as France and Britain, and Asia where Japan was fighting in China. Digging Deeper US President Franklin Roosevelt publicly echoed the party line of non-involvement with the war, but he personally wanted to help…

A Brief History On January 3, 1521, Roman Catholic (Augustinian) priest and reformer Martin Luther was ex-communicated from the church by Pope Leo X.   440 years later, on January 3, 1962, Pope John XXIII ex-communicated Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, an avowed communist and therefore an atheist. Digging Deeper The reasons for each of these men to be ex-communicated from the church are obvious, since Luther went against church dogma and policy and ignored numerous warnings to desist in his heretical teachings. Luther made the unforgivable sin of going against church policy of selling indulgences, a money making scheme by which…

A Brief History On January 1, 1950, a new method of designating what year it is (or was) went into effect with the BP system, meaning “Before Present.”  The Anno Domini (“the year of our Lord”) choice of a starting date for modern counting of years was proposed by the colorfully named Dionysius Exiguus (a monk from what is now modern Bulgaria or Romania) back in 525 AD.  (Yes, you can use the letters with or without the periods.) Digging Deeper The Lord referred to in AD is Jesus Christ, which of course seems to slight people of any religion…

A Brief History On December 31, 192 AD, Roman Emperor Commodus was assassinated by his own inner circle, setting the stage for The Year of the Five Emperors in 193. Digging Deeper A typical Roman emperor egomaniac, Commodus saw himself as a demi-god and often had himself depicted as Hercules.  Robust physically, he often participated in gladiatorial events, and his character was played by Joaquin Phoenix in the 2000 movie Gladiator (with Russell Crowe in the title role), a Best Picture Oscar winner. On December 22, 2015, we featured an article about the hazards of serving as Emperor of Rome…