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…

A Brief History This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on February 9th.  For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. Digging Deeper On February 9, 1825, the United States of America had the only incident (so far) of no presidential candidate winning a majority of the Electoral votes in a presidential election, forcing the House of Representatives to elect our next president. On February 9, 1907, the city of London was the scene of an epic civil rights march, colloquially known as “The Mud…

A Brief History On February 9, 1907, the city of London was the scene of an epic civil rights march, colloquially known as “The Mud March.”  More correctly known as the “United Procession of Women,” it was at the time the largest demonstration in history for the cause of women’s suffrage.  Today, we name a few others of the most famous or infamous marches. Digging Deeper The Long March, 1934-1935, when Mao Zedong led Chinese communist forces on an epic retreat by foot over the course of a year, walking about 5600 miles on the trek! The Bataan Death March,…