Browsing: Society

A Brief History On May 12, 1965, the Soviet space craft, Luna 5, an unmanned spaceship designed to become the first ever Earth launched craft to make a controlled landing on the surface of the Moon, instead crashed when its retro-rockets failed to ignite. Digging Deeper Soviet space agency attempts to land a spacecraft on the Moon had previously failed, both at launch and at landing.  After US President John F. Kennedy had boldly claimed the US would land a man on the Moon and safely return him to Earth before the decade was over, the US and the USSR…

A Brief History On May 11, 1812, the lobby of the British House of Commons was the scene of an unprecedented and as yet not repeated historical event, the assassination of a British Prime Minister. Digging Deeper Spencer Perceval had been Prime Minister since October of 1809, representing the Tory party.  Previously he had served as an MP, Solicitor-General, Attorney General, and Chancellor of the Exchequer, the only British politician to hold those offices and then become Prime Minister. On the fateful day, Perceval was shot in the chest by a single pistol round fired by John Bellingham, a British…

A Brief History On May 10, 1899, a farmworker in Finland hacked seven people to death with an axe, proving once again that murderers do not necessarily need a firearm to inflict mayhem on the innocent public. Digging Deeper Karl Emil Malmelin, 27 years old at the time, was working on a farm in Klaukkala, Finland, when his offer of marriage was rebuffed by a young lady, the daughter of the property owner.  Not one to take no for an answer, Karl proceeded to kill everyone on the farm, which included two men, three women, and two children. Although convicted…

A Brief History On May 9, 2020, the unemployment rate in the United States hit the staggering number of 14.9%, the worst employment number since the Great Depression in 1939. Digging Deeper Incredibly, the unemployment rate in the UK was less than 5% and in Germany it was “only” 5.9%, while Europe as a whole suffered just over 7% unemployment in the Year of COVID. Sadly, lower income working class people in the US were hurt the worst by the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, with persistent unemployment leading to loss of health insurance and inability to pay normal bills. …

A Brief History On May 6, 2014, Canadian author Farley Mowat died only a week before turning 93 years old. Digging Deeper A World War II veteran, Mowat saw combat in Sicily and Italy with the infantry and later served as an intelligence officer, including working with a German general to allow the Allies to drop food and supplies to Dutch civilians behind German lines. Promoted to the rank of Captain, Mowat would have been promoted to major had he stayed in the Army.  After the war, he began a career in writing and environmental causes and was known as…