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.…

A Brief History On June 15, 1785, Jean-Francois Pilatre de Rozier (say that 10 times fast!) and his companion, Pierre Romain became the first people to die in an aircraft accident when the  hot air balloon they were flying crashed in an attempt to cross the English Channel.  Every so often someone finds a new way to die.  After all, somebody had to be the first to die from auto erotic asphyxiation, or from drowning in a bucket.  Here we list 10 of those pioneers that invented new ways die (at least the first known person to die that way).…

A Brief History On June 14, 2016, Central Florida was rocked by its third horrific event within the past few days when an alligator snatched a 2 year old boy wading in shallow water at a Disney resort. Compounding the horror, the boy’s father tried to pull the child from the giant reptile, but the alligator was too strong, and pulled the child underwater where the boy was drowned. Digging Deeper This horror comes on the heels of the shooting death of internet and Voice singing sensation Christina Grimmie on June 11 in Orlando and the Pulse nightclub massacre on…

A Brief History On June 14, 1789, the Rev. Elijah Craig first distilled whiskey from maize (corn).  Since he was living in Bourbon County, Kentucky, he called his creation Bourbon.  Many foods and drinks derive their name from where they were invented or made popular, or for whatever reason were named after a city, region, or country.  Here we list 10 of the most popular of these “place named” foods and drinks.   10. 1000 Island Dressing. Going back to around 1900 or so, legend has it that this salad dressing and sandwich topping was made in the 1000 Islands Region of…

A Brief History On June 14, 1954, Flag Day that year, President Eisenhower signed a joint resolution of Congress amending the 1942 Flag Code, adding the words “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance.  The president had only recently been baptized a Presbyterian and was apparently in a religious feeling when he declared “the dedication of our nation and our people to the Almighty.” Digging Deeper Not surprisingly, not everyone agreed.  The backdrop to this issue was the Cold War, the struggle of atheistic communism against “Christian” democracy and capitalism.  Eisenhower and Congress clearly wanted to differentiate us from them. Many people already were against the Pledge of Allegiance on…