Browsing: Society

A Brief History On May 23, 1934, bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde were gunned down by law enforcement officers.  For a change, the lawmen had the upper hand as far as firepower goes.  In the 1920’s and 1930’s gangsters had been arming themselves with automatic and semi-automatic weapons and out-gunning the police, with the police mostly armed with .38 caliber revolvers and sometimes 12 gauge pump action shotguns. On numerous occasions then and even in the 1970’s and 1980’s the police were woefully under-armed, but that is changing now.  Here is a list of some of the favorite gangster guns…

A  Brief History On May 13, 1998, Jakarta (or Djakarta) Indonesia experienced race riots directed against the ethnic Chinese minority. These Indonesians of Chinese descent owned many of the shops and stores, creating jealousy and ill will, resulting in looting and rape. Many countries have minorities that are discriminated against, either officially by law or by common practice. Here in the US we are most familiar with discrimination against African-Americans, but here and around the world there is much more than that. Here are 10 examples of minority groups struggling against such oppression. What groups would you add to this…

A Brief History May 1st marks two critical events in the history of the American Civil War.  The first occurred in 1862.  On May 1st of that year, The Union Army completed the Capture of New Orleans.  A year later, in 1863, The Battle of Chancellorsville began, ultimately resulting in a Confederate victory, although the confederates lost one of their most celebrated generals (Stonewall Jackson) as a result of injuries sustained in the week long battle.  In a bizarre twist, on the second night of the battle, Jackson was shot by fellow Southern soldiers who mistook him for a Union…

A Brief History From 1945 to 1991, two superpowers (the capitalist United States of America versus the communist Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) challenged each other for dominance on the world stage.  This article presents a chronological timeline of some of the more bizarre events of the Cold War! Digging Deeper On March 5, 1946, while speaking at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, former British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, uttered the term “Iron Curtain” in reference to the divide between the Soviet led Communist Bloc and the democratic/capitalist Western group of nations led by the United States. On May 10,…

A Brief History On April 23, 1910, former President Theodore Roosevelt (TR) gave one of his most famous speeches at the Sorbonne in Paris, France.  In what is known as the “Man In the Arena” speech, but actually titled “Citizenship in a Republic,” TR contrasted the bold man of action to the “timid souls that neither know victory or defeat.”  A man of action himself, and the youngest president, Teddy Roosevelt had numerous times been in the arena.  Here are 10 reasons why Theodore Roosevelt is one of the greatest of Americans. Digging Deeper 10. The Great White Fleet. Roosevelt…