A Brief History On September 2, 1666, one of history’s most memorable fires occurred in the English capital of London.  The medieval portion of central London located within the old Roman wall was completely devastated and every building therein basically gutted. Digging Deeper Despite the terrific damage, the death toll has never been known and only 6 fatalities have been documented.  Researchers seem to think many more people must have died but were not counted as they came from parts of town that were either poor or middle class; the shops and homes of the upper classes being spared.  Also, possible victims may have been incinerated in the flames, making it…

A Brief History On September 1, 1952, The Old Man and the Sea, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Ernest Hemmingway novel, was first published.  Many great novels have centered on ships and men at sea.  In the Marine Corps we used to say, “The difference between a fairy tale and a sea story is the fairy tale starts ′Once upon a time,′ while the sea story starts ′This is no sh*t!′ ”  Here 10 great sea stories involving the tales of sailors and seamen and their ships are listed.   Digging Deeper 10. The Caine Mutiny, Herman Wouk, 1951. This Pulitzer Prize-winning fictional story of…

A Brief History On September 1, 1715, King Louis XIV of France died after having ruled for 72 years, the longest reign of a king or queen of any major European country.  Many Frenchmen were born and died during his time on the throne and never knew any other monarch.  Here 10 of the longest-reigning leaders of countries or other institutions are listed, in no particular order. Digging Deeper 10. Howard Stern, “King of All Media,” 1986-Present. Howard became the soi-disant (self-proclaimed) “King of all Media” in response to Michael Jackson’s claim to be the “King of Pop.”  Stern went national in 1986 after having been fired from…

A Brief History On September 1st, 1914, Martha, the last known passenger pigeon, was found dead in her cage by her keepers at the Cincinnati Zoo. Digging Deeper Now extinct, passenger pigeons were once the most abundant bird in the entire world.  Native to North America, it is estimated that there were 3-5 billion of them when Europeans first arrived.  Today their closest living relative is the smaller mourning dove. Their demise was caused by deforestation and the commercialization of their meat.  Losing more and more of their natural habitat, they were easy game for hunters. Their numbers already dwindling…

A Brief History On August 31st, 1997, Princess Diana died in a Paris hospital after being involved in an accident in which the car she had been riding in had been chased down and harassed by paparazzi before crashing into a wall and pillar of an underground tunnel.  Digging Deeper This article discusses less the actual circumstances of the crash and its aftermath and more the impact Diana’s death had on the author of the article. Just a teenager at the time, the author had grown up with Princess Diana being omnipresent.  From the time Diana got married as the author was a baby…