A Brief History On August 27, 1927, five steadfast women in Canada petitioned the Supreme Court of Canada to clarify if the word “persons” in the British North America Act included women.  These ladies from Alberta were disappointed when months later the Court ruled no, women were not “persons.” Digging Deeper The 5 Alberta women, known as “The Famous Five” or “The Valiant Five” were specifically seeking clarification of the wording to see if women could legally be appointed to the Senate.  This case was more or less a continuation of the women’s suffrage movement in Europe and in the…

A Brief History On August 24, 410, the city of Rome fell to foreign invaders for the first time in 800 years.  Although no longer the capital of the Roman Empire (that had moved to Ravenna in 402), Rome was still the symbol of the Roman culture and world. Digging Deeper Rome had suffered the indignity of a previous sack in 387 BC (or 390 BC  depending on dating system used) at the hands of the Gauls (from France).  The defeated Romans were forced to pay a ransom to get the Gauls to leave. In 410 AD, the invaders were…

A Brief History On August 26, 1970, the Women’s Liberation movement spearheaded by Betty Friedan held the Women’s Strike for Equality.  The event, under the auspices of the National Organization for Women (NOW), was held on the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, the amendment that allowed women in the US to vote. Digging Deeper The idea of the strike, which featured a 20,000 person demonstration in New York City, was to champion equal rights for American women vis a vis employment (both positions and pay), access to abortion, free child care, marriage rights,…

A Brief History On August 26, 1968, the Democratic Party began their National Convention in Chicago at a time of great unrest in the United States.  Between national angst over the course of changes regarding Civil Rights, race relations and women’s liberation, the divisive nature of the war in Vietnam, and a general activist and non-conformist wave that had swept the young people of America, the situation was ripe for problems, and problems they had! Digging Deeper A couple of other Democratic National Conventions likewise rank as embarrassments to the Democratic Party, and here we tell you a bit about…

A Brief History On August 25, 1945, American Army Intelligence officer, Captain John Birch, was killed by communist revolutionaries in China a mere 10 days after the end of World War II.  Birch is seen by many, especially hard corps right wing anti-communists, as the first martyr or victim of the Cold War between the totalitarian communist states and the democratic capitalistic nations (largely East vs. West). Digging Deeper Birch was the son of Christian missionaries and was born in India in 1918.  Highly intelligent, hard working, and a dedicated patriot, Birch graduated Magna cum laude from Mercer University in…