A Brief History Based on the British equivalent of the real life Amityville Horror referred to as the Enfield Poltergeist, the major motion picture The Conjuring 2 is set to open on Friday, June 10, 2016. Digging Deeper Having seen an advance screening (“screaming?”) of the film, we can assure ghost movie buffs of a solid treat with high production value. The casting, acting, and special effects are up to high industry standards, and the serious attempt to portray much of what happened during the real events in a run down section of Enfield, England from 1977 to 1979 give…

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A Brief History This article presents a timeline of the history of Mormonism. Digging Deeper On October 27, 1838, Missouri’s governor issued an order for all Mormons to leave the state or face extermination! On June 27, 1844, Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Church of Latter Day Saints (Mormons), was shot to death by a mob with blackened faces in a Carthage, Illinois jail while awaiting trial for treason. On June 9, 1856, 500 Mormons left Iowa and headed for Salt Lake City, Utah.  So eager to leave the religious persecution behind them, they started their trek on foot…

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A Brief History On June 9, 1856, 500 Mormons left Iowa and headed for Salt Lake City, Utah.  So eager to leave the religious persecution behind them, they started their trek on foot pulling 2 wheeled handcarts! Digging Deeper If you are familiar with the stories of Mormons walking to Utah and pulling handcarts, you might not know that only about 10 percent of the Latter Day Saints (what Mormons actually are called, or LDS) that traveled to Utah before 1868 made the trip on foot with handcarts.  The other 90 percent had horse, mule, or oxen drawn wagons. Although…

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A Brief History On June 9, 1667, the Dutch Navy handed the British Royal Navy its worst defeat in its history in what is known as the Raid on the Medway.  The Dutch burned 13 British ships, including 3 of the largest (“capital ships”) and towed away 2 more large ships, including the Flagship of the Royal Navy, the HMS Royal Charles.  This raid was done in England, far up the river Thames and then up the river Medway at Chatham.  Bold raids such as this are sometimes spectacularly successful, and sometimes not so much.  Raids are surprise attacks of short duration,…

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A Brief History On June 9, 1959, the USS George Washington was launched, the first ballistic missile carrying submarine, creating a new class of nuclear delivery weapons that would virtually guarantee mutual destruction in time of nuclear war.  Here we list 10 such milestones in modern  (19th through 21st Centuries) weaponry that can be considered “game changers.”  (The order listed is not necessarily by importance.) Digging Deeper 10. Ballistic Missile Submarine, 1959. Almost impossible to keep track of an entire enemy submarine fleet, either side in the Cold War would be subject to a surprise attack with much shorter notice…

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