Dear Readers, As you may have noticed, our site is going through some structural changes.  2014 was our first full year online, and we learned a lot concerning your preferences.  In response, we are altering our website’s design and concept somewhat and ask for your understanding in regard to any temporary inconveniences or inconsistencies you may notice during the transition.  At the beginning of the New Year, we will formally introduce our “revamped” site to you, now renamed History and Headlines. Thank you for your loyalty this past year!  We ask for your patience and look forward to your continued readership and to providing you with many…

A Brief History On December 21, 1965, the United Nations, often accused of being a useless organization, outlawed racism by passing The International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination.  This agreement went into effect in 1969 and to date has been signed by 87 nations (somewhat less than half of nations in the United Nations). Digging Deeper This convention called upon all member nations to “outlaw hate speech and to criminalize membership in racist organizations.”  Some of the nifty articles cover: methods to prevent discrimination, also in regard to immigration policies; definitions of appropriate terms; ways of resolving disputes and…

A Brief History On December 20, 1941, the American Volunteer Group (AVG), better known by its nickname, the Flying Tigers, engaged in its first round of air-to-air combat when its fighters encountered Japanese “Sally” bombers.  Just in case you do not know, the AVG was a group of American flyers under the command of Claire Chennault that flew for China against the Japanese. Digging Deeper As you can tell by the date above, by the time the AVG got into combat, the U.S. was already at war with Japan, which kind of defeated the purpose of using “volunteers” from supposedly uninvolved countries.  A similar…

A Brief History On December 19, 1974, Nelson Rockefeller was sworn in as Vice President of the United States, a job he was not elected to, to serve under President Gerald Ford, another guy not elected to the office he held, or even to the vice presidency before that! Digging Deeper This travesty of the so-called democracy in the United State was a result of Richard Nixon’s and Spiro Agnew’s malfeasances in office as the previous President and Vice President.  Agnew was drummed out of office when he was convicted of fraud, and Nixon resigned rather than face impeachment over the Watergate scandal. Gerald Ford,…

A Brief History On December 18, 1932, the first National Football League (NFL) championship football game ever was played between the Chicago Bears and the Portsmouth Spartans.  Obviously, this is what you would call an historic game, but for more reasons than you would think.  For one thing, due to a blizzard, it had to be relocated from Wrigley field to Chicago Stadium which had a field only 80 yards long!  Blasphemy!  Here 10 such historic football games, both memorable and significant, are presented.  Can you think of any others to add?  Digging Deeper 10. First NFL Championship, Chicago Bears vs. Portsmouth Spartans, 1932.…