Not even Shakespeare could concoct such a story.
Francisco Pizarro Gonzalez died on June 26 1541. The daring conqueror of Incas reaped what he sowed.
The illiterate bastard son of a Spanish soldier, Pizarro looked across the Atlantic for opportunity. Inspired by the success of Hernando Cortes, in Mexico, he set his focus on the Incan Empire. [Read more…]
Research and future rights skate Antarctica
On June 23, 1961, the Antarctic Treaty came into effect. At that time, the Cold War was in full swing and nobody wanted to have additional headaches working through the overlapping and competing claims to Earth’s last true frontier. [Read more…]
Pancho Villa
On June 21, 1916, the Mexican military attacked elements of the U.S. 10th Cavalry at Carrizal, a city in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. The clash occurred during the punitive expedition carried out by General Pershing in pursuit of the guerilla leader “Pancho Villa.” [Read more…]
Vlad Courtesy of National Authority of Tourism The medieval citadel of Sighisoara
On this day, 550 years ago, the Ottoman Turks faced the wrath of Vlad Dracula also known as Vlad the Impaler.
Mehmed II, the conqueror of Constantinople, had invaded Wallachia with the intention of controlling the lower Danube. The odds were stacked against Vlad as the Ottomans heavily outnumbered the Wallachians. [Read more…]
James Douglas 1st Governor of Vancouver Island which straddled the 49th parallel
On this day in 1846, the United States and the British Empire agreed to extend the 49th parallel border from the Rockies all the way to the Pacific Ocean.
As a result, the southern tip of Vancouver Island remained as the only British (now Canadian) territory, west of Minnesota that lay south of 49th parallel. [Read more…]
Grave marker for Air Force fighter pilot BGen. Robin Olds
What do you do when your daughter wants to see her best friend-the one who helped her through her dad’s last deployment? If you are within a 100 mile radius you load up the Family and make it happen.
We all met up at a hotel outside of the Air Force Academy and soon saw that the rest of the tribe was getting restless with simply hanging out at the hotel.
In the previous week, I had just missed an opportunity to check out the Air Force Academy. I had been on location surveying possible upcoming training areas for use in my new assignment. [Read more…]
Ernesto Miranda
On June 13, 1966, the Supreme Court of United States decided that all criminal suspects must be advised of their rights before an interrogation.
The decision was a legal procedural landmark that marked the transition from the “tell me all you know” method to the “you have the right to remain silent…” scenario. [Read more…]
J.E.B. Stuart dapper and daring Cavalry General
On June 12, 150 years ago, the Confederate Cavalry ran a 100 mile long reconnaissance raid. They went full circle around the Union Army of the Potomac of General McClellan.
J.E.B. Stuart, the Confederate Cavalry General, accomplished this feat by eluding the northern cavalry commanded by his father-in-law, Philip St George Cooke.
On June 11 1937, the NKVD (old style KGB) executed eight Soviet high ranking officers (one Red Army Marshal included). A military court found them guilty of anti-Soviet conspiracy.
In order to keep the purge productive and secret, most members of the court later died of pneumonia caused by cold bullets. [Read more…]
Illustration of a scene in Henry Wardsworth Longfellow's play "Giles Corey of Salem Farms" as Mary Warren points to the ghost of a man Giles Corey is accused of killing.
Starting on June 10, 1692, the Puritan community of Salem, Massachusetts, ‘tried’ and executed 20 innocents for witchcraft.
The ‘prosecution’ based their case on the ‘fits and hallucinations’ caused by the defendants. Such a faultless argument resulted in 19 hangings.
The accusations originated with the inexplicably bizarre behavior of a group of young girls. Convulsive seizures, blasphemous screaming, and trance-like states afflicted them. Physicians had no answers so the belief that Satan was at work through others in their community took hold.
Giles Corey, one of the alleged sorcerers, refused to enter a plea in the judicial proceeding. [Read more…]