Browsing: Society

A Brief History On July 9, 1540, the marriage between Henry VIII and his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, was annulled. Digging Deeper Annulled on the basis of non-consummation of the marriage, the real reason Henry wanted the divorce was because he found Anne unattractive, if not revolting.  Yes, it sounds very harsh, but it was probably a bit of an exaggeration as Henry had to get his point across to morally win his case.  How could he possibly be expected to make love to a woman who did not turn him on?  Well, he should have asked his forefathers who…

A Brief History On December 4, 1969, the Chicago Police took the “war” with the militant African-American extremists, the Black Panthers, right into the bedroom when they shot Fred Hampton, a high-ranking member of the Black Panther Party (BPP), to death while he was sleeping. Digging Deeper The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Police had been keeping tabs on Panther activity with the help of an informant, William O’Neal. O’Neal had given information on Panther whereabouts and weapons as well as details about the house that was raided at 4 a.m. on December 4, 1969.  Expecting to find as many as 20 armed Panthers willing to…

A Brief History On December 2, 1804, Napoleon Bonaparte shocked the world as he crowned himself Emperor of the French by taking the crown from the Pope and plopping it on his own head.  48 years later on this same date, his nephew and namesake, Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, was also crowned Emperor and given the title Napoleon III. Digging Deeper Over 9,500 people in the U.S. have Napoleon for a first name, a name that means “from Naples,” as in Naples, Italy.  More has been written about Napoleon Bonaparte than any other person in history after Jesus Christ. Just as Napoleon I’s attempts to…

A Brief History On December 1, 1960, Paul McCartney and Pete Best of The Beatles were arrested in Hamburg, Germany for the arson of the grubby room they had been staying in at a theater.  For this crime, they were deported back to England. Digging Deeper Apparently Best, the drummer who was later replaced by Ringo Starr, and McCartney were dissatisfied with the room and had left a burning condom nailed on a concrete wall as a token of their contempt for the lack of amenities.  Though they did not intend to burn anything down and though nothing actually burned…

A Brief History On November 30, 1864, Confederate Lieutenant General John Bell Hood set what has to be a record for an American general for getting his subordinate generals killed and wounded after ordering an epic fail charge against Union forces led by Major General John M. Schofield at the Battle of Franklin in Tennessee during the American Civil War. Digging Deeper The opposing forces started out virtually dead even, with 27,000 troops on each side.  Hood planned to attack the Union forces with a frontal assault even though his cavalry commander, Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest, counseled instead for an envelopment of the…