Browsing: Society

A Brief History On July 18, 1967, little Mark Sinclair was born in Alameda County, California, a baby that would become one of the highest grossing film actors, Vin Diesel. Digging Deeper Of “ambiguous” ethnicity, Diesel has a mother of English, Scots, and German heritage, while he never met his biological father.  He himself claims not to know his exact ethnicity, although his mother described him as “multi-cultural.” At the time of Diesel’s birth, several states had “anti-miscegenation” laws against mixed race marriages, and Diesel has speculated that this fact may have contributed to his hidden background. Diesel took to…

A Brief History On July 17, 1998, a conference of international delegates under the auspices of the United Nations adopted The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, a treaty to provide a permanent international venue to prosecute war crimes and related crimes. Digging Deeper Some countries refused to endorse the treaty, and others that initially agreed, withdrew their support or failed to ratify the treaty.  Countries that signed the treaty but later withdrew their signatures include the United States and Russia, while China and India did not sign in the first place. Without the largest and most powerful countries…

A Brief History On July 16, 1956, the last “Big Top” circus produced by Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus ended its run in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and all subsequent circus productions would be held in arenas instead of the giant tents. Digging Deeper PT Barnum’s “Greatest Show on Earth” had merged with The Cooper and Bailey Circus in 1881, then was bought by the Ringling Brothers in 1907. The two circuses operated separately until 1919. In 1944, the circus suffered a tragedy when the Big Top caught on fire in Hartford, Connecticut, resulting in 167 deaths, though this fire…

A Brief History On July 15, 1975, the United States and the USSR simultaneously launched manned spacecraft, an American Apollo capsule and a Soviet Soyuz capsule, bound for a rendezvous in space, the first ever international space effort. Digging Deeper The mission was part of an ongoing diplomatic effort to ease Cold War tensions between the superpowers, with the 3 man Apollo capsule docking with the 2 man Soyuz capsule via an intermediate docking section. Aside from the feat of a successful space docking between spacecraft from separate nations, the crews performed joint space experiments and their first ever in…

A Brief History On July 14, 1791, a buddy of Benjamin Franklin triggered a series of riots in England eponymously named “The Priestly Riots.” Digging Deeper English scientist and polymath, adept in the ways of chemistry, electricity, philosophy, theology, grammar, politics and education, he even invented carbonated water.  His main crime in the eyes of English traditionalists was supporting the ongoing French Revolution, especially in regard to religion, with “reason” replacing much of the religious tenets of more mystical themes and his dissent against the Church of England. Not only did Priestly support the French Revolution, he had also been…