A Brief History Today, on September 18, 2014, Scotland is voting either yes or no on the topic of independence from Great Britain and the United Kingdom.  Only a simple majority vote is needed, that means 50% + one person. Update: As of July, 2020, Scotland is still part of the UK, although the Brexit fiasco looms over the union and the issue of the independence of Scotland is still a realistic possibility at some point. Digging Deeper Formally united in 1707 by the Act of Union which was ratified by both the English and Scottish parliaments, Scotland is now seeking…

A Brief History On September 18, 2001, in the wake of the terror attacks of September 11, people in the United States were jumpy and on edge, not knowing if another attack would occur.  They did not have to wait long.  Just one week later, the first “Anthrax Letters” were mailed.  Believed at first to be “weaponized” Anthrax, that is Anthrax enhanced with silica to facilitate infection, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) ultimately refuted this claim. Digging Deeper Called the “Amerithrax Case” by the FBI, a series of letters laced with powdery Anthrax were sent in two batches in September and…

A Brief History On September 17, 1991, model Stephanie Seymour starred in the first of two music videos for the hard rock band Guns N’ Roses.  Stephanie was also the girlfriend of its lead singer, Axl Rose, and became such after he had spotted her on the cover of a Playboy magazine and contacted her.  There have been many cases of a portrait, picture or magazine cover of a woman fascinating a person in such a way that it led to an action.  This article spotlights 10 such cases.   Digging Deeper 1) Anne of Cleves (1515-1557) After the death of…

A Brief History On September 16, 1920, years before the great stock market crashes of 1929 and 2008, some unknown, disaffected malcontents showed the fat cats of Wall Street some serious financial terrorism of their own by setting off a bomb in a horse-drawn wagon in front of J.P. Morgan Bank in New York’s financial district. Digging Deeper The perpetrators were never caught, and anarchists to members of various revolutionary and anti-capitalist groups were suspected of committing the crime.  Investigation showed that the bomb consisted of 100 pounds of dynamite and 500 pounds of metal sash weights meant to act as projectiles.  The bomb was…

A Brief History On September 15, 1981, Sandra Day O’Connor was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee to become the first female Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States of America (U.S.).  Today, we list five spectacular firsts accomplished by women.  By the way, in this list, the alma mater of each of these accomplished women is mentioned (the author, for example, is a Cleveland State University graduate). Digging Deeper 5. Dr. Rachel Maddow, First Openly Lesbian Rhodes Scholar, 1995 / First Openly Lesbian US News Anchor, 2008 Educated at Stanford University, Maddow earned a Rhodes Scholarship to…