A Brief History On August 17, 1998, US President Bill Clinton admitted in a taped deposition that he had am “improper physical relationship” with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, a lie that led to his impeachment. American Presidents have been involved in many scandals over the years, and here we list some of those, inviting our viewers to chime in and rank those executive misdeeds from bad to the worst. (See our many other articles about political scandals.) Digging Deeper Andrew Jackson was married to an already married woman and was a veteran of 100 duels, including killing a man…
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A Brief History On August 17, 2008, 6 foot 4 inch tall American swimmer Michael Phelps broke the previous record held by American swimmer Mark Spitz by winning his 8th Olympic Gold Medal at a single Olympic Games. Digging Deeper Not only a single Olympics wonder, Phelps excelled at the 2004, 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympic Games as well as at the 2008 event, winning a record of 28 Olympic Medals, of which 23 were the coveted Gold Medals. Phelps is the current or former World Record holder in five events, and during his career, won more Olympic Medals than…
A Brief History On August 16, 1940, Flight Lieutenant Nicolson of the British Royal Air Force flew his Hawker Hurricane fighter into history during combat over England against the German Luftwaffe when he continued to fight an aerial battle despite his plane being on fire from 4 cannon shells and multiple machine gun bullets striking it from an enemy Me-110. Only after shooting down the enemy fighter despite being wounded and suffering severe burns, did Nicolson bail out, and was later awarded the Victoria Cross. Digging Deeper Air to air combat is a demanding and tricky business, and one of…
A Brief History On August 16, 2008, the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago, Illinois topped out and immediately became the tallest residence above ground level of any building in the world. Digging Deeper Towering, an appropriate adverb, 1,389 feet high, the skyscraper bearing the name of the future President of the United States cost about $847 million dollars in those-days dollars and would not open until January 30, 2009. When completed with its spire in 2009, Trump International became the 7th tallest building in the world, and boasted 98 floors with 2.6 million square feet of floor space.…
A Brief History On August 15, 1914, a disgruntled 31 year old chef and servant at a Frank Lloyd Wright property known as Taliesin, in Wisconsin, went on a murderous rampage, killing seven people and burning a prestigious mansion, all without the use of a firearm… Digging Deeper Wright, the great American architect, hired Julian Carlton, a West Indian of African descent to work at the 600 acre estate. Carlton grew increasingly paranoid over time and had run ins with other workers and contractors. Carlton began staying up late armed with a butcher knife while staring out a window, causing…