480 BC Greeks defeated Persians at Salamis in a naval engagement. Accordingly all those Greek words related to politics entered into Europe, e.g., democracy.
1097 Members of the First Crusade arrived at Antioch (Antakya) and set about destroying any and everything. Such was their Christian enlightenment. It is in that part of Turkey that lies between Aleppo Syria and the Mediterranean Sea.
1820 The United States bought Florida from Spain. The insects came at no additional cost. Been there.
1947 The House UnAmerican Activities Committee (HUAC) targeted Hollywood. Elia Kazan, Gary Cooper, Robert Taylor (of Grand Island), Walt Disney, and Jack Warner happily named names like Katherine Hepburn and Edward G Robinson among others as dangerous radicals. N.B. that Ronald Reagan steadfastly refused to name anyone. David O. Selznick was one of the few major figures in Hollywood who resisted HUAC. Members of HUAC loved the publicity that came from ruining lives and careers. It was the unacknowledged monster that roved Hollywood for a decade.
1973 Queen Elizabeth II opened the Sydney Opera House. Work had begun in 1958. When looking at it today remember it was done by slide rule, hand, and eye. Most the cost was born by a lottery run for years. Been there many times.
Skip to content