A Brief History On August 9, 1965, the city/state of Singapore was evicted from the country of Malaysia and became the only country that became independent against their own will. Digging Deeper Established as the British Crown Colony of Singapore in 1946, Singapore, a strategically positioned island near the Straits of Malacca, possesses a fine harbor and had a strong British presence since 1819. An important Far East British possession, Singapore was fortified to the point where it was called “The Gibraltar of the Pacific.” After World War II, the world saw the gradual independence of many formerly colonized countries,…
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A Brief History On August 8, 2017, country and pop music superstar Glen Campbell passed away. Campbell had a Gold and Platinum singing career and a successful acting career as well, and the first song that put him in the public eye was “Universal Soldier,” reaching #45 on the charts. Digging Deeper Written by singer/songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie, an indigenous Canadian woman, her original rendition did not rock the airwaves, but when Scottish singer Donovan and American Glen Campbell covered the song in 1965 the tune became an anti-war icon. Other famous anti-war tunes such as Edwin Starr’s “War,” PF Sloan’s…
A Brief History On August 7, 2007, Giants slugger Barry Bonds slammed his 756th career home run at his home field, AT&T Park, in San Francisco. This historic blast catapulted Bonds ahead of Hank Aaron as the all-time major league career home run hitter. Digging Deeper Seemingly a certain future inductee to the Baseball Hall of Fame, Bonds’ achievements, which include the season home run record of 73 dingers in 2001, are unfortunately tainted by the cloud of suspected steroid and or other performance enhancing drugs or compounds and Bonds has so far been denied the coveted entry into the…
A Brief History On August 6, 1996, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States announced that a piece of a meteorite believed to have originated on Mars known as Allan Hills 84001 contained traces of extraterrestrial life. Digging Deeper The meteorite, found in the Allan Hills in Antarctica back in 1984, contained fossils of bacteria, which implies that such life had existed on Mars when the chunk of rock broke off and made its journey to Earth. Of course, the world took this news with enormous interest, and even President Clinton dedicated a speech about the discovery. …
A Brief History On August 5, 2010, 33 Chilean miners were trapped underground 2,300 feet deep in a copper and gold mine, an incredible 3 miles from the entrance to the mine. Their lives certainly seemed to be over, but 69 days later they emerged, alive! Digging Deeper The incident, called the Copiapó mining accident, received frantic efforts by the mine’s owners and then the national mining company to save the miners. Little hope remained 17 days later as rescuers continued to drill exploratory holes to locate the lost men, when rescuers were startled to find a note attached to…