Browsing: Politics

A Brief History On April 10, 2018, adherents of the Anglican Church celebrate the Feast Day of St. William of Ockham, the Franciscan theologian and philosopher that gave us the logical tool known as Occam’s Razor, an idea oversimplified as ‘the briefest, most likely explanation is the best.’ Digging Deeper Born in Ockham, Surrey, England around 1285, William joined the Franciscan Order as a lad and was probably educated at Oxford, believed to have completed his studies in theology for a master’s degree which was apparently not awarded (for unknown reasons). William wrote an unpopular commentary on the Peter Lombard…

A Brief History On April 7, 1940, Booker T. Washington became the first African American depicted on a United States Postage stamp. A community leader among African Americans and an educator/advocate for equal rights, Washington was one of the last African American leaders to have been born as a slave. Digging Deeper Born in 1856 in Virginia, Booker Taliaferro Washington (in case you wondered about the T) his mother moved Booker and her family to West Virginia after the Civil War to reunite with her husband (Booker’s father), Washington Ferguson. Booker was a smart lad and an able student, later…

A Brief History On April 6, 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump had a busy schedule, participating in a Wounded Warrior Project Soldier Ride event in the East Room, receiving his daily intelligence briefing in the Oval Office, leaving the White House en route to Mar-a-Lago, arriving in West Palm Beach, Florida, and having dinner at Mar-a-Lago with China’s President Xi Jinping and Madame Peng Liyuan.  Today, a year later, we list some of Donald Trump’s Greatest Accomplishments. (Please note: The article is not meant to endorse The Donald or his policies, just meant to point out his victories as they…

A Brief History On April 4, 1883, Peter Cooper died at the age of 92 in New York City, the same city he was born in. His legacy still affects us today, although many of our readers may not even be familiar with him. A businessman, inventor, philanthropist, and politician, Cooper left a positive influence on the United States of America that deserves remembering. Digging Deeper Born in New York, he was of English, Dutch and French ancestry, and was adopted as a baby. His father was a hat maker, and Peter continued in the trades, working in cabinetry, hat…

A Brief History On April 2, 1911, the Australian Bureau of Statistics conducted their first ever national census. Most countries conduct some sort of periodic census, and we here in the United States do so every 10 years, a critical process that results in how many representatives to Congress each state gets (and electoral votes) and how Federal funds are distributed. In 2018, the Trump Administration announced the 2020 Census questionnaire would include a question asking if the respondent was a citizen or not, a volatile and contentious issue being debated at this time. Digging Deeper That first Australian census…