Browsing: Society

A Brief History On July 20, 1304, the forces of King Edward I of England successfully took Stirling Castle during the First War of Scottish Independence.  Although the Scots would ultimately maintain their independence, key to the English victory was the intimidating-sounding “Warwolf,” allegedly the largest trebuchet ever made.  This mighty siege engine catapulted rocks or other projectiles that weighed up to 300 pounds and was capable of battering down the walls of any castle.    Digging Deeper Intimidated by the weapon, the Scots tried to surrender the castle, but Edward (known as “Longshanks”) wanted to see the effectiveness of…

A Brief History On July 13, 2013, self-appointed community watchman George Zimmerman, an Hispanic-American, was found not guilty of having murdered 17-year-old African-American Trayvon Martin on February 26, 2012.  The case was closely watched across America and prompted strong racial tensions. Digging Deeper Because of Zimmerman’s outward appearance, the public assumed, with help from the media, that he was white.  He is white but also Hispanic and has some African background.  The media also falsely portrayed the video and audio recordings of the incident where Zimmerman observed and then shot to death the unarmed black teen.  The 911 call was altered…

A Brief History On July 6, 1947, the aptly named AK-47 assault rifle went into production.  After undergoing military trials in the Soviet Union, it was accepted for general use by the Red Army in 1949.  Today, the AK-47 is still in production in many nations, and about 1 out of every 5 firearms in the world is an AK-47 or a closely related weapon.  Production is 75 million rifles and counting, with AK family of related weapons accounting for another 25 million rifles, carbines, pistols and machine guns, including semi-automatic civilian models. Digging Deeper To put the enormous impact…

A Brief History On July 4th, Americans celebrate their Independence Day, a holiday that signifies their freedom.  During the month of June 2015, Americans experienced a host of developments in the expansion of this freedom.  In any case, to paraphrase Bob Dylan, the times sure were a-changin’ in June 2015! Digging Deeper June 2015 included events, incidents and policy changes that the older generation among us probably did not expect to see take place in their lifetime. To begin, early in the month, Olympic medalist Bruce Jenner, a father of six, changed his name to “Caitlyn” and began referring to himself with feminine pronouns.  While he cross…

A Brief History In June of 2015, the Treasury Department announced that Alexander Hamilton, first Secretary of the U.S. Treasury, who has graced the $10 U.S. bill since 1929 will be replaced by the image of a woman in the year 2020.  No decision has yet been made about who will be selected, although the Treasury stated that it would probably be someone who represents for “our inclusive democracy.” Digging Deeper A little known fact is that women have already appeared on U.S. paper bills, in fact twice – namely inaugural First Lady Martha Washington and Native American princess Pocahontas. U.S. money has also included fictional characters such as…