A Brief History On February 12, 1733, James Oglethorpe founded the English Province of Georgia, later to become the Colony of Georgia in 1752, the Southernmost and last of the 13 Colonies that would later become the United States of America. Digging Deeper Georgia was named after King George II, who had issued the charter allowing for its colonization.  The first settlement was at Savannah, and Georgia was the 4th state admitted to the Union in 1788. Known as The Peach State, Georgia’s capital is Atlanta, a city of a half million, although its metropolitan area is over 6 million,…

A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on February 11th.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On February 11, 1812, Elbridge Gerry, the Governor of Massachusetts, was accused of manipulating voting districts in a bizarre, uneven way in order to tailor voting demographics to suit his own political benefit. On February 11, 1823, a tragedy occurred at the Carnival celebration mass at the Convent of the Minori Osservanti in Valletta, in what was then the British Crown Colony…

A Brief History On February 11, 1990, Iron Mike Tyson went into his match against James “Buster” Douglas as a 42 to 1 favorite.  Not only did Tyson, undefeated and undisputed as the Heavyweight Champion at the time, lose the fight, he was knocked out in the 10th round! Digging Deeper While Douglas’s surprise victory is largely considered the biggest upset in boxing history at any weight class, some of the other major heavyweight upsets include: James “The Cinderella Man” Braddock over Max Baer, 1935 Max Schmeling’s knockout of Joe Louis in 1936 Muhammad Ali’s knockout of Sonny Liston in…

A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on February 10th.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On February 10, 1355, Oxford, England, the site of the ultra-prestigious University of Oxford, was the scene of a considerable riot that cost the lives of 63 student/scholars and at least 30 townsfolk. On February 10, 1862, during the American Civil War, the Union fleet won the battle of Elizabeth City, North Carolina, by sinking the Confederate “Mosquito Fleet.” On February 10, 1933, Primo…

A Brief History On February 10, 1862, during the American Civil War, the Union fleet won the battle of Elizabeth City, North Carolina, by sinking the Confederate “Mosquito Fleet.”  So, what is a “mosquito fleet?” Digging Deeper Generally speaking, a mosquito fleet is an unofficial nickname for a fleet of small warships or gunboats, in the case of the Confederate mosquito fleet mentioned here, 5 gunboats and a single schooner. Other nations and navies have employed mosquito fleets, ranging from commandeered private yachts used for anti-submarine patrol during the World Wars to converted fishing or utility vessels pressed into military…