A Brief History On April 26, 1802, Napoleon Bonaparte signed a general amnesty for those members of the émigrés of the French Revolution, those royalists and others opposed to the French Revolution that had fled France. Allowing all but about 1000 of the most die hard opponents of the Revolution (and Napoleon) such as the ringleaders of the Armée des Émigrés, those expatriate French royalists that created military forces to fight against Napoleon’s regime, to return to France without penalty was of course a healing gesture to unite France under the leadership of Napoleon. (Napoleon publicly stated respect for the…
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A Brief History On April 25, 1644, the last of the Ming Dynasty Emperors, Zhu Youjian, known as The Chongzhen Emperor, committed suicide when his armies were unable to contain a peasant rebellion. Over the centuries, many leaders of countries, kingdoms, etc. have for one reason or another committed suicide, an ignoble end to the glory of leading a country or kingdom. Today we list 10 such leaders and former leaders that killed themselves. Digging Deeper 1. Zhu Youjian, “The Chongzhen Emperor,” China, 1644. The Ming Dynasty reigned in China from 1368 to 1644, with 17 emperors in the line,…
A Brief History On April 24, 2013, Communist China proved to be less than tolerant of ethnic dissent when authorities attempted to crush suspected ethnic Uyghur “terrorists.” Violence broke out in response to perceived heavy handed police action, and at least 21 people were killed, 15 of which were reported to be policemen and authorities. Previously in our article “10 Oppressed Minorities Around the World” we discussed the problem the Uyghurs have with the Chinese government, especially insofar as the predominant religion of the Uyghurs is Islam in a country that is officially atheistic. Digging Deeper The April 2013 violence…
A Brief History On April 16, 1990, Dr. Jack Kevorkian, a Michigan physician later to gain the sobriquet, “Dr. Death,” assisted in his first physician assisted suicide when he assisted a 54 year old woman that had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease in the act of taking her own life. Kevorkian had made his controversial views on euthanasia and physician assisted suicide public by advertising in Detroit area newspapers, the culmination of the evolution of his medical opinions about death and how patients should be allowed to handle their own fate. Digging Deeper Dr. Kevorkian (1928-2011) was Michigan born and…
A Brief History On April 9, 1948, events in Palestine brought to the forefront the adage that “One man’s freedom fighter is another man’s terrorist.” (An adage of uncertain origins, but dating back well over a century, or more.) On that fateful day about 120 Zionists from the Irgun and Lehi groups attacked a Palestinian town called Deir Yassin outside Jerusalem, killing about 107 of the Palestinian inhabitants of the village of only 600. In the massacre, 4 Zionists were also killed. Digging Deeper The Civil War in Palestine conducted by Jewish Zionists (those intent on establishing a Jewish state…