Browsing: Society

A Brief History On September 4, 1886, after almost 30 years of raiding Mexican and white settlers and battling the U.S. Army, Apache war leader Geronimo finally surrendered in Arizona to U.S. Army General Nelson Miles. Digging Deeper Geronimo’s actual Apache name means “One who yawns.”  After his wife, children and mother were killed by Mexican soldiers in 1858, it seems he did little yawning and much fighting, leading raids against both Mexican and American settlers and soldiers.  Although Geronimo’s hatred was mainly directed at the Mexicans, his raids of theft and murder of Americans had the U.S. Army chasing him and his…

A Brief History On September 3, 1941, the first experiments using an insecticide which had been adapted to kill people were conducted at the Auschwitz concentration camp.  Soviet prisoners of war were gassed to death with a cyanide-based insecticide in a dress rehearsal for the mass extermination of Jews and others known as the Holocaust. Digging Deeper Zyklon B was a product made by the giant German chemical company IG Farben.  Developed from an earlier version known as Zyklon A, it was originally intended to be used as an insecticide and delousing agent.  In its insecticide form, it had a special odorant added for safety reasons so that the smell…

A Brief History On September 2, 1666, one of history’s most memorable fires occurred in the English capital of London.  The medieval portion of central London located within the old Roman wall was completely devastated and every building therein basically gutted. Digging Deeper Despite the terrific damage, the death toll has never been known and only 6 fatalities have been documented.  Researchers seem to think many more people must have died but were not counted as they came from parts of town that were either poor or middle class; the shops and homes of the upper classes being spared.  Also, possible victims may have been incinerated in the flames, making it…

A Brief History On September 1, 1715, King Louis XIV of France died after having ruled for 72 years, the longest reign of a king or queen of any major European country.  Many Frenchmen were born and died during his time on the throne and never knew any other monarch.  Here 10 of the longest-reigning leaders of countries or other institutions are listed, in no particular order. Digging Deeper 10. Howard Stern, “King of All Media,” 1986-Present. Howard became the soi-disant (self-proclaimed) “King of all Media” in response to Michael Jackson’s claim to be the “King of Pop.”  Stern went national in 1986 after having been fired from…

A Brief History On August 31st, 1997, Princess Diana died in a Paris hospital after being involved in an accident in which the car she had been riding in had been chased down and harassed by paparazzi before crashing into a wall and pillar of an underground tunnel.  Digging Deeper This article discusses less the actual circumstances of the crash and its aftermath and more the impact Diana’s death had on the author of the article. Just a teenager at the time, the author had grown up with Princess Diana being omnipresent.  From the time Diana got married as the author was a baby…