A Brief History On June 25, 1998, the US Supreme Court voted 6-3 to strike down the Line Item Veto Act of 1996. It is said that politics makes for strange bedfellows, and this attempt to stifle congressional pork barrel tactics was an example of just that. Digging Deeper After Democrat Bill Clinton was elected President in 1992, the Republicans mounted a major surge in the mid-term elections of 1994 and achieved their dreamed of majority in congress. One promise these Republicans had made was to enact a line item veto law allowing the President to veto only a specific…
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A Brief History This article provides a table of contents and timeline or sorts for History and Headlines’ editor Beth Michaels’ series of counterfactuals concerning the wives of King Henry VIII of England in which she takes a less-than-conventional approach and highlights aspects from their lives about which even Tudor enthusiasts may not have thought. Digging Deeper Introduction: A Timeline of Tudor Britain Wife no. 1: Could Catherine of Aragon have Lied? Wife no. 2: What if Anne Boleyn Had Slept with Henry VIII? Wife no. 3: What if Jane Seymour Had Survived? Wife no. 4: What if Anne of Cleves Had Been Beautiful? Wife no. 5:…
A Brief History On June 22, 1990, Checkpoint Charlie, the best known crossing point between Soviet-occupied East Germany to Western-occupied West Germany was torn down, a sign that the Cold War that had threatened the world with nuclear annihilation since 1947 was drawing to an end. Here we list 10 prominent symbols or icons that are closely associated with this time period. (Honorable mention to the AK-47 and the M-16 assault rifles.) Digging Deeper 10. MiG-15 and F-86. These are the best of the early jets from both sides that faced off during the Korean War; the fierce debate over which was the…
A Brief History Legendary fighters Ken Shamrock (age 51) and Kimbo Slice (age 41) will battle inside the Bellator cage on Friday, June 19, 2015 in a historic match-up! Digging Deeper In one corner, we have Ken Shamrock, who, despite his age, looks like an action figure. A member of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Hall of Fame, Shamrock was the first ever UFC Superfight Champion. He also had the longest fight in UFC history at 36 minutes. In professional wrestling, he became the World Wrestling Federation’s Intercontinental Champion. Of course most of his accomplishments are from the 1990s and…
A Brief History On June 18, 1900, the Dowager Empress Cixi of China proclaimed war against the colonizing powers in China, including diplomats and their families. This order was made during the Boxer Rebellion (1899-1901), a popular uprising of Chinese against foreign Imperialists who had been imposing their will upon China. For 55 days, foreigners and Christian Chinese were held under siege at a legation/embassy in Peking, now modern-day Beijing. Digging Deeper A major motion picture, 55 Days at Peking (1963), starring Charlton Heston, David Niven and Ava Gardner is loosely based on this event; it flopped at the box office,…
