A Brief History On May 4, 1970, the M-1 Garand rifles of the Ohio National Guard were used in combat; against college kids! Digging Deeper With the United States torn by the War in Vietnam, protests at college campuses became common. President Nixon had promised to end the War in Vietnam when running for election in 1968, and by 1970 he had sent US forces into Cambodia to eliminate sanctuary for communist Vietnamese forces and disrupt communist supply lines. Many in the US saw this broken promise as an escalation of the unpopular war. Additional fuel for the anti-war fire…

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A Brief History On May 3, 752, the Mayan King Bird Jaguar IV began his reign.  Not only do we not know what the heck a bird jaguar is, but there were three of them before this one!  On April 23 we told you people used to have goofy names.  Well, they still do, coming up with new ones all the time.  Here are 10 of our favorites from more modern times.  (Honorable mention: Yahoo Seriously.) Digging Deeper 10. Elton John. A name he made up for himself, Elton was born Reginald Dwight. Known for a time as The King,…

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A Brief History On May 3, 1945, five squadrons of Hawker Typhoon fighter aircraft attacked three ships in Lubeck Bay, Northern Germany and sunk all three.  The ships were prisoner ships carrying thousands of inmates from concentration camps. Digging Deeper The ocean liners Cap Arcona and Deutschland and a smaller companion ship, Thielbeck attempted to leave Lubeck. The destination for the 3 ships is a contended point, with some claiming the ships were headed for Sweden, while other claim they were to be sunk after the crews and SS guards got off the ships. Either way, several other passenger carrying…

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A Brief History On May 2, 1863, the Confederate States of America lost their best or second best general, because they shot him! Digging Deeper The not so United States engaged in a titanic Civil War between the Federal Government (Union) and the secessionist Confederate (Southern) states. At the battle of Chancellorsville General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson was reentering his own lines when pickets (sentries) mistook him for a “yankee” and shot him in the arm. Jackson’s arm had to be amputated, and as so often in those days, pneumonia set in and Jackson died 8 days later, robbing Robert E.…

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A Brief History The end of April 2016 saw the campaign of Rafael Eduardo “Ted” Cruz sink to new lows, some of the wounds self inflicted and some from his own fellow Republicans. Digging Deeper Considered the “Most Hated Man in The Senate,” In February 2016 Cruz was said by Senator Lindsey Graham to be so hated that if “you killed Ted Cruz on the floor of the Senate, and the trial was in the Senate, nobody would convict you.” As much as politicians publicly “hate” each other, this remark was a rare step into a dark place even for…

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