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,…
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A Brief History On June 28, 1926, Mercedes-Benz, a company known for quality and luxury in automobiles, formed by merging companies founded by German engineers Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz. Digging Deeper Benz pioneered auto making, and his 1885 effort is considered the first practical production auto. Daimler followed with his car the next year. While Mercedes-Benz has a long history of fame for quality and reliability, in 2023, the firm’s cars came in a dismal 29th out of 30 car makers for reliability according to Consumer Reports. Fellow Teutonic car makers also did not lead the pack, with Mini…
A Brief History On June 25, 1906, heir to a railroad and coal fortune, Harry Kendall Thaw of Pittsburgh shot and killed famed architect Stanford White. Thaw shot the man in front of hundreds of witnesses at the theater on the rooftop of Madison Square Garden. Digging Deeper Why would Thaw throw away a life of luxury by shooting a man? For a variety of reasons, including White’s prior involvement with Thaw’s wife, the notion that White was blocking Thaw’s social climb, and due to mental illness, shown by Thaw’s successful use of the insanity defense. You may wonder why…
A Brief History On June 24, 2022, the US Supreme Court handed down a blockbuster ruling that would become a major bragging point for then former President Donald Trump, the overturning of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that made abortion a right all across the United States. Digging Deeper The case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization found that abortion was not a right guaranteed by the US Constitution, a 6-3 decision in which the three Trump appointees to the Supreme Court made a major difference in making that decision. Reveling in the victory of overturning Roe v.…
A Brief History On June 23, 1926, the SAT exam was administered for the first time, a test created by the College Board to predict a student’s likelihood of success in college. Going through name changes and modifications of the testing itself, the SAT has generated controversy over its usefulness as a predictor of college or workplace performance, especially in relation to cultural factors of the test takers. Digging Deeper As with any standardized test, the SAT, which once stood for Scholastic Aptitude Test and Scholastic Assessment Test then the SAT Reasoning Test before being shortened to just SAT, has…