Browsing: Society

A Brief History On October 17, 1931, Mobster Al “Scarface” Capone was convicted of income tax evasion and later sent to Alcatraz Federal Prison.  Authorities had long sought to arrest and convict this famous gangster for the murders, extortion and bootlegging he was involved in, but they never had enough evidence. Finally, law enforcement hit on the idea of going after him on income tax evasion. It is not a surprise that a career criminal would have income-reporting irregularities, but what about seemingly non-criminal people?  Here we look at  9 celebrities, not from the criminal underworld, who have had problems…

A Brief History On October 16, 1968, two U.S. Olympic athletes on the medal podium raised a black-gloved fist during the playing of the American national anthem to protest the status of human rights in the U.S., particularly in regard to African-Americans.  What is hardly remembered is that both African-American medalists also wore no shoes and instead stood there in black socks to symbolize Black poverty in the U.S.  Both of the Americans as well as the silver medalist from Australia wore “Olympic Project for Human Rights” badges and some other symbols of protest.   An irate International Olympic Committee expelled…

A Brief History On October 15th, 1917, the famous exotic dancer and courtesan Mata Hari was executed by firing squad after having been found guilty of espionage.  Digging Deeper In our three previous articles from this series, we have already listed 31 women famous for being naked or who, at one point in their lives, had famously been naked.  In this article, we again examine 10 more such ladies.  These lists on History and Headlines are different from conventional naked ladies lists in that the main prerequisite for being considered for these is less the actual nudity itself and more its social, cultural or historical significance.   For the latest installment…

A Brief History On October 14, 1066, the Normans under William the Conqueror defeated the English at the Battle of Hastings.  This date is one that you might find on a high school or college history test or perhaps on the television trivia show Jeopardy. Certain battles in history are associated with a particular date or year that many people remember or are reminded of, regardless of the importance of the battle.  Here 9 such dates and battles are listed. (By battles we mean the starting or ending date of the battle or the date of a significant event that…

A Brief History On October 11, 1975, the iconic television show Saturday Night Live made its debut with the late, great George Carlin hosting.  Guest performers included Andy Kaufman, Billy Preston and Janis Ian.  That memorable show featured Janis Ian singing her second major hit song, “At Seventeen.” Her first hit had been the controversial song “Society’s Child (Baby I’ve Been Thinking),” a song that dealt with a relationship between a 16-year-old white, Jewish girl and a black man.  Initially released in 1965, the song about interracial love was released 3 times before it made the charts in 1967.  It was subsequently banned from many radio stations…