A Brief History On June 17, 1932, 17,000 United States military veterans of World War I and 25,000 of their friends and family gathered in Washington, D.C. to demand early payment of their service certificate war bonuses.  Although the bonuses were not due to be paid until 1945, the Great Depression had hit the United States and these veterans were floundering financially.  General Douglas MacArthur, chief of staff of the Army, personally led US troops to forcibly drive away his fellow veterans, even though future 5 star general and president, Maj. Dwight Eisenhower (serving as an aide to MacArthur) counseled…

A Brief History This article presents a timeline of music history. Digging Deeper On January 1, 1773, the first use of the all familiar hymn, “Amazing Grace“, was performed at a church service in England. On May 23, 1829, Austrian maker of keyboard instruments, Cyrill Demian, a man of Armenian descent, was granted a patent for his new musical instrument, the Accordion. On March 31, 1923, the first U.S. dance marathon ended in New York City but began a strange fad with sometimes fatal consequences! On October 11, 1932, in the heart of Depression Era Tennessee, little Dorothy Marie Marsh,…

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…