A Brief History On August 13, 1779, a combined US Naval and ground expeditionary force was defeated after a 3 week campaign known as The Penobscot Expedition, the worst defeat in US Navy history until the surprise attack against Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Digging Deeper During the American Revolutionary War, the British had seized the mid-coastal region of Maine and declared it to be “New Ireland,” and the fledgling American government sought to reclaim this area from the British.  A large expedition was assembled, including 19 warships, 25 smaller auxiliary craft, and 1000 ground troops, consisting of Colonial…

A Brief History On August 12, 1883, the last known living specimen of the Quagga died, and the species became extinct.  This Zebra-like critter had only the  front half of its head and body striped, and unfortunately, only 1 photo of a live Quagga is known to exist.  Human encroachment on the habitat of the Quagga, including European colonization of Africa, farming and fencing, and hunting led to the extinction of this nifty looking beast.  We previously listed “10 Animals Extinct or Endangered Because of Humans,” and today we list “10 More.” Digging Deeper 1. Woolly Rhinoceros. Did you know that…

A Brief History On August 11, 1984, President Ronald Reagan said perhaps the stupidest lines of his Presidency, which we commemorated in our August 11 article, “10 Incredibly Stupid Things Said by Politicians”.  Today, we list another 10 dumb statements by the morons that are allegedly leading us through the wilderness.  As moronic as the statements by Michelle Bachman, Sarah Palin and George W. Bush were on a regular basis, our current President, Donald J. Trump, is in a class by himself, and thus dominates this year’s edition of idiotic statements by politicians. Please note that some of the quotations…

A Brief History On August 10, 1977, David Berkowitz, known popularly as “Son of Sam,” a serial killer in New York, was arrested for murders in the New York area over the past year.  It so happens that Berkowitz was a Postal worker, an occupation that has become synonymous in the United States with frustration and exploding rage.  Here we list 5 Times People “Went Postal!” with those “people” being postal employees.  (There have been at least 23 Postal and parcel service related shootings since 1975 in the US, not including Berkowitz.) Digging Deeper 1. David Berkowitz, 1977.  This serial killer…

A Brief History On August 9, 1936, Clevelander and Ohio State University athlete James Cleveland “Jesse” Owens won his 4th Gold Medal at the 1936 Olympics, by anchoring the 4 X 100 m relay, winning in a world record time of 39.8 seconds.  An international sensation, Owens was not even the first Olympic athlete to win 4 Gold Medals in an Olympics!  Here we list 10 Greatest Olympic Athletes, or at least as we see it.  (There is no special order to the list.) Digging Deeper 1. Jesse Owens, 1936. Not only a spectacular performance at the 1936 Olympics, but Owens…