A Brief History On March 20, 1985, 29 year old Libby Riddles from Madison, Wisconsin became the first woman ever to win the premier sled dog mushing race, the famed Iditarod. Digging Deeper Having moved to Alaska as a 17 year old, Libby became wild about mushing after watching her first race.  Proving her abilities as a dog sled racing phenomenon, Libby won the 1978 Clines Mini Mart Sprint, the first race she competed in. Moving up to the big leagues of mushing, Libby first placed in the Iditarod in 1980 and 1981 when she finished 18th and 20th respectively. …

A Brief History On March 19, 1965, a diver and soon to become underwater archaeologist discovered the wreck of the SS Georgiana, a Confederate States of America cruiser sunk in Charleston Harbor in 1863.  Built in Scotland, the Georgiana was on her maiden voyage to Charleston when she encountered Union blockade vessels and was heavily damaged.  The cruiser was scuttled to avoid capture, her cargo worth about $50 million, including 350 pounds of gold. Digging Deeper Perhaps the most powerful cruiser in the Confederate Navy, the actual purpose of the Georgiana is unknown.  The 205 foot long, 25 foot wide…

A Brief History On March 18, 1934, a photograph taken by astronomer par excellence Edwin Hubble showed that there were more galaxies of stars in the observable Universe than there were stars (100 billion!) in the Milky Way Galaxy. Digging Deeper The Milky Way Galaxy is a group of stars and associated planets and other material that the Earth and our Solar System are part of.  As late as the early part of the 20th Century astronomers believed the Milky Way Galaxy was the Universe, until Hubble proved that other galaxies were considerably farther away than the limits of the…

A Brief History On March 17, 1970, the US Army charged 14 officers with suppressing information about the My Lai Massacre that took place in South Vietnam in 1968, a horrible atrocity in which between 347 and 504 Vietnamese civilians, including women, children and babies, were slaughtered by C Company, 1st Bn 20th Regt of the 11th Brigade of the 23rd Infantry Division of the US Army. Allegations included gang rape, shooting women with babies, bayoneting and clubbing people, using grenades and burning occupied dwellings. Digging Deeper Probably the best known and worst atrocity committed by US military troops during…

A Brief History On March 16, 1945, less than a month before Allied armies captured the city, British Lancaster bombers dropped 1207 tons of high explosive and incendiary bombs on the German city of Würzburg, killing 5000 people and destroying about 90% of the buildings, including many historic Medieval structures. Digging Deeper Despite the city being home to 40 hospitals and lacking war industries or military targets, the British bombing commanders decided to bomb the city for its strategic importance as a road and rail hub, and to destroy the morale of the German people. Despite its name, the German…