Browsing: Politics

A Brief History On July 14, 2013, a statue of Rachel Carson was erected at Woods Hole, Massachusetts, commemorating her environmental activism, including writing the book, Silent Spring in 1962 that served to alert Americans about the dangers of pesticides. Digging Deeper Many persons have done service to mankind and deserve a statue.  Today, we ask you, who you would dedicate a statue to that does not already have statues in their honor? Here are some people we think are worthy of being immortalized on statues, and in any instance in which a statue already exists depicting any of these…

A Brief History On July 12, AD 70, the army of Titus Caesar Vespasianus, a Roman general that would later become Roman Emperor, finally attacked the walls of the city of Jerusalem after a 6 month siege, succeeding in taking the city 3 days later. Digging Deeper By taking Jerusalem, Titus effectively ended the Jewish revolt and in a punitive measure he had the Second Temple destroyed, a temple that has yet to be rebuilt.  The Second Temple, known as Herod’s Temple, had stood for nearly 6 centuries until its destruction.  The Jews never recovered from this defeat, and the…

A Brief History On July 7, 1863, the US instituted its first ever draft of young men to serve in the military, a necessity brought about by the enormous effort needed to prosecute the US Civil War.  As usual, rich people were not really in danger of risking their lives, because for $300 a draftee could buy his way out of induction! Digging Deeper The US Civil War draft started a history of controversy over forced military service in the US, and infamous draft riots occurred in New York City and other Northern areas, even before the government started drafting…

A Brief History On July 4, 1946, the Philippines became an independent country after having been under colonial rule by Spain and then the US for 381 years.  Today, we look at countries that spent even more years under colonial rule than the Philippines. Digging Deeper Guyana, 387 years under Dutch then British rule, and English is the official language. Cuba, 389 years under Spanish rule. Angola, 400 years, first visited by the Portuguese in 1484 and later colonized, gaining independence in 1975. Ghana, 426 years dominated by European countries including Portugal, the Netherlands, Britain, Sweden, and Denmark! Jamaica, 454…

A Brief History On June 29, 1974, famed ballet dancer with the Kirov Ballet, Mikhail Baryshnikov, defected from the USSR while on tour in Canada.  Baryshnikov went on to great success in ballet in the US, while branching into dramatic acting and television as well, with an estimated net worth today of about $45 million. Digging Deeper Baryshnikov is not the only Soviet citizen to defect to the West in order to seek more freedom and opportunities and today, we list some other such famous defectors. In 1961, Rudolf Nureyev, possibly the greatest male ballet dancer, defected while in Paris,…