A Brief History On September 25, 1555, the peace treaty known as the Peace of Augsburg or alternately as the Augsburg Settlement was signed by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and his opponents, known as the Schmalkaldic League. Digging Deeper The signing took place in the German city of Augsburg, giving the treaty its name. The Holy Roman Empire of the time consisted of a Catholic consortium of countries, including Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Austria, and Burgundy, as well as portions of Italy. Opposing the Emperor was the Schmalkaldic League, an alliance of Lutheran princes within the empire that…
Browsing: Religion
A Brief History On September 24, 2015, yet another religious related tragedy occurred when as many as 2,000 faithful Muslims in Saudi Arabia for the Hajj were stampeded and suffocated when a large crowd met another large crowd at a road intersection and chaos resulted. The worst tragedy in a long line of Hajj related tragedies, some estimates were as high as over 2,400 dead, the worst Hajj related disaster. Digging Deeper In previous articles we have discussed tragedies and disasters related to religious events and locations, and asked the question, “What do these tragedies mean?” If you are a…
A Brief History On September 15, 1978, the self-proclaimed “Greatest” boxer, Muhammad Ali, won a decision on points against former US Marine, Leon Spinks, winning back the heavyweight boxing championship he had held twice before. Digging Deeper Ali became the first three-time heavyweight champion, having previously won the crown in a fight against Sonny Liston in 1964, defending his title nine times successfully before losing his crown during a dispute with the US government over military conscription in 1967. Ali returned to the ring in 1970, winning a pair of fights before challenging Joe Frazier for the title. Ali lost…
A Brief History On September 11, 1941, aviator Charles Lindbergh delivered a speech for the America First Committee in Des Moines, Iowa, in which he claimed the US was being coerced into World War II, alleging, “…pressing this country toward war; the British, the Jewish, and the Roosevelt Administration.” Digging Deeper Having become a celebrity and American hero by becoming the first pilot to fly non-stop solo across the Atlantic in 1927, Lindbergh was a popular figure. Unfortunately, he had political leanings that included anti-British and anti-Jewish sentiments, while openly admiring Germany. An anti-communist, Lindbergh echoed contemporary German ideology by…
A Brief History On September 10, 1977, Tunisian French landscaper and pimp, Hamida Djandoubi, became the last person executed by guillotine in France, and the last person executed for a crime in Western Europe. Digging Deeper As the civilized world moved away from the death penalty, a furious debate about capital punishment has raged, with nearly half of the United States abolishing it altogether. Today, 27 states, the Federal government, and American Samoa retain capital punishment as a potential sentence, while in Europe only Belarus and Russia retain capital punishment. American neighbors Canada and Mexico have abolished the death penalty,…
