A Brief History On October 29, 1390, Paris, France got its first taste of professional witch hunting when the first of two witchcraft trials began in the French capital. Religious persecution of witches was nothing new, with records of arraignments by ecclesiastical authorities going back to 1275, but now the secular authorities, i.e. the state authorities, were involved. History and Headlines Note: Exactly 302 years later, on October 29, 1692, the Court of Oyer and Terminer in Salem, Massachusetts was dissolved after having presided over the infamous Salem Witch Trials. Digging Deeper This particular case involved two women who had conspired with the devil to create…
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A Brief History On October 28, 2004, Seattle Mariners star Ichiro Suzuki, the first major league baseball (MLB) player to come from Japan, broke George Sisler’s treasured 84-year-old record by hitting 262 balls for base hits in one season. Suzuki, better known simply as Ichiro, had come to the U.S. to play professional baseball after already being a star in Japan. Digging Deeper Starting with being named the American League (AL) Rookie of the Year in 2001, Ichiro made an impression on American baseball that will be hard to forget. 10 seasons in a row he smacked 200 or more hits…
A Brief History On October 27, 1954, Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. became the first African-American general (brigadier, or 1 star) in the U.S. Air Force. In 1998, he was promoted by President Clinton to (full) general (4-star rank). This accomplishment is all the more notable as he was the son of the first African-American general in the U.S. Army. His father, Benjamin O. Davis Sr., made general in 1940, a time when the U.S. military was still segregated. Digging Deeper Born in 1912, Ben Jr. was granted an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy (West Point) in 1932. There, in 1936, he became the…
A Brief History Sometime in the year 62 B.C., the famous Roman General Julius Caesar decided to divorce his second wife Pompeia. In regard to his reasoning, he famously said that any wife of his must be above suspicion. Digging Deeper Actually he said, “my wife ought not even be under suspicion.” This quote, however, later evolved into the expression: “Caesar’s wife must be above suspicion.” So, what event brought about the doubt concerning Pompeia’s character? Well, she had hosted an all-girls party known as Bona Dea (good goddess) to which Vestal Virgins had been invited and to which entry by males was prohibited. …
A Brief History On October 26, 1881, Tombstone, Arizona was the site of what became known as “The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral,” probably the most famous shootout in the history of the Wild West. Plenty of movies have been made about the incident, including one in 1957 by that same name, all of which got various aspects of the incident wrong. Like most depictions of the gunfight, the 1957 film shows a long-ranged massive shootout whereas the real incident featured fewer guns, fewer shots and a much closer range in a fight that lasted perhaps 30 seconds. Unlike the depiction…