A Brief History On December 19, 2016, another part of our democratic process will take place when the 538 electors of the Electoral College vote in the official US Presidential election of 2016. All those millions of individual votes could either be confirmed or thrown out with the trash, depending on how the electors vote. Digging Deeper With a mandatory majority of 270 votes needed to be elected President, if no candidate gets that many electors to vote for him/her the vote would be remanded to the House of Representatives, who would then choose our next president. Who are these…
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A Brief History What does being a king of Macedonia, a hero, a humanitarian, and a maniac have in common? Those qualities came together to breathe life into King Alexander. He was extremely “Great” in many regards. To analyze these characteristics of Alexander of Great, one must experience an abundance of primary, secondary, and visual sources. Additionally, one must take a step back and view the actions and consequences of Alexander the Great with an open mind. This analysis must be done while paying close attention to the positive and negative interpretations of this historical figure’s life. His life includes…
A Brief History On December 15, 1978, US President Jimmy Carter announced that the United States would no longer recognize the government of the Republic of China (based on the island of Taiwan) as the legitimate government of China, and instead would recognize the Red Chinese government, The Peoples Republic of China. This agreement went into effect January 1, 1979, and from this time the US has referred to “Taiwan” instead of the “Republic of China.” Digging Deeper During the 1930’s and 1940’s the people of China had fought a long civil war between the forces of Nationalist Chinese leader…
A Brief History On December 14, 835, Emperor Wenzong of the Chinese Tang Dynasty was given the news that “sweet dew” had formed on a pomegranate tree outside a military headquarters, a sign of divine favor for the Emperor. It was suggested that the Emperor and his court travel to the lucky tree to observe the blessed event for themselves, which was readily agreed to. In reality, this story and movement of the officials was all a ruse to get the powerful court Eunuchs (castrated public officials dedicated to a life of government service) to a place where they could…
A Brief History On December 12, 884, the King of West Francia, Carloman II, son of Louis the Stammerer (Louis II), died in a hunting accident. Carloman was only 18 years old at the time, which goes to show you being King is no guarantee of a long happy life. Digging Deeper In the convoluted manner of the time (no convenient DNA tests back then) the succession to the throne was contested in 879 when the Stammering old King died. Carloman and his brother, Louis III, ended up both being elected King despite disputed paternity, and split the throne of…