A Brief History On June 16, 2010, the nation of Bhutan became the first nation in the world to outlaw tobacco.  Growing and otherwise producing tobacco products and the sale of any tobacco product was outlawed.  Harsh penalties were put in place, but within a couple years things eased up a bit.  The actual use and possession of tobacco was not outlawed, just the production and sale.  The government was also mandated to provide anti-tobacco counseling and education. Digging Deeper Not Banned 5.  Tax Revenue. In 2013, the government collected $43.9 billion in tobacco tax revenue, and over half a…

A Brief History On June 16, 1586, Mary, Queen of Scots, named her heir and successor, Phillip II of Spain.  Since Mary was imprisoned at the time and not on any throne to give, this move was sure to irritate her jailer, Queen Elizabeth I of England.  Plus, Phillip II was Catholic as was Mary, something the Protestant Elizabeth would certainly not tolerate. Digging Deeper Mary had become Queen at age 6 days upon the death of her father, King James V of Scotland.  Raised in France while adults ran Scotland, she was married to the heir (Dauphin) to the…

A Brief History On June 16, 1944, 14 year old George Stinney was executed in the electric chair by the State of South Carolina, giving him the distinction of being the youngest American executed in the 20th Century.  Stinney had been convicted of murdering 2 girls, age 11 and 8. Digging Deeper Not surprisingly, the murderer was an African-American boy and the victims were Caucasian girls.  No physical evidence was presented implicating the young man, and his conviction rested only on the fact that he had spoken to the girls shortly before their murders.  In 2014, 70 years after his…

A Brief History On June 16, 2012, Forgotten Books published The English Madrigal Composers.  The book concerns a style of music popularized during The Renaissance Era in Europe, a new age for invention and discovery. It was an age of rebirth and re-education in the arts, and science.  It was also important to know that the Renaissance Era was also the age of re-education of Ancient European history for example, Greek philosophy and Roman teaching and characteristic to the general public. The alpha of the printing press by German painter, Johannes Gutenberg was an encouragement of knowledge as well as…

A Brief History On June 15, 1667, Dr. Jean-Baptiste Denys, personal physician to King Louis XIV, performed the first human blood transfusion.  The patient was a 15 year old boy who had been treated by using leeches to suck out “the bad blood.” Digging Deeper Denys used about 12 oz. of Sheep’s blood and the boy lived, probably the first ever transfusion that did not kill the patient.  Trying this technique on other patients, using small quantities of sheep or cow blood so as not to overload the allergic response was not so successful and some of his patients died.…