Browsing: Society

A Brief History On March 13, 1964, Catherine “Kitty” Genovese, a 28-year-old resident of Queens, New York City was stabbed to death near her neighborhood.  The media reported that at least 38 people in the vicinity witnessed the attack but had done nothing to help, even failing to call the police, which allowed the attacker to return to the scene and finish his killing. Digging Deeper These reports were repeated in nearly all major media outlets, creating an uproar and outrage about the “bystander effect” in which citizens witness a crime but offer no assistance.  Americans became disgusted with one another, and the country engaged in…

A Brief History On March 11, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Lend-Lease Act that allowed him to let American factories become “The Arsenal of Democracy” and equip the country’s Allies with American-built war materials. Digging Deeper This could be done on an enormous scale since U.S. wartime production was unhindered by fighting within its own borders and because all raw materials could be easily obtained (unlike in Germany and Japan). Among the major weapon systems provided to the Allies, mainly the Soviet Union, was one of the most under-appreciated fighter aircraft of World War II, the Bell P-39 Airacobra.  Sleek and lethal looking, this plane certainly…

A Brief History On March 10, 1831, King Louis Phillipe of France established the world-famous Foreign Legion (Légion Étrangère) to help with the pacification of Algeria. Digging Deeper Commanded by French officers, the troops are made up chiefly of foreigners, although French citizens are also allowed to join.  (As of 2007, French citizens make up approximately 25% of new recruits.)  Current members come from around 140 different countries! Though women have been allowed to join the Legion since the year 2000, a woman has yet to do so.  An elite fighting corps feared and respected world wide, the Legion puts its men through a…

A Brief History On March 9, 1959, the world of toys was taken by storm in New York City with the introduction of the Barbie Doll by toy manufacturer Mattel at the American International Toy Fair. Digging Deeper Said to have been inspired by a German doll called Bild Lilli, it was a woman named Ruth Handler who invented Barbie after she noticed her own daughter playing with dolls in adult roles instead of holding them like a type of surrogate baby. At first, Barbie was marketed with either blonde or brown hair as a “teen-age fashion model” wearing a zebra pattern swimsuit.  From her birth on, the…

A Brief History On March 6, 1975, entranced Americans were glued to their television sets to watch the first mass public showing of the infamous “Zapruder Film” that depicted the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. Digging Deeper The 8mm film is by far the most complete and definitive of the photographic records of the assassination, and it is in color!  Obviously, the Secret Service was eager to get their hands on any film of the event and did so, having 3 prints made, returning one to Abraham Zapruder, a Russian-born Jewish tailor who had filmed the murder…