Lou Hoover was the wife of the 31stPresident of the United States Herbert Hoover. They met at Stanford when both were studying geology. As soon as they were married she accompanied her husband on his trips around the world as he became a world leader in the mining industry. When her husband was appointed Secretary […]
The 18th Amendment to the US Constitution prohibited the production, sale, and transport of “intoxicating liquors” but never specified what those intoxicating liquors were, leaving this up to future legislation. The National Prohibition Act (also known as the Volstead Act because it was managed by Andrew Volstead) was the piece of legislation which determined the impact […]
The Teapot Dome scandal occurred during Warren G. Harding’s presidency and left a lasting stain on his legacy. His Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall leased petroleum reserves in Teapot Dome, Wyoming to private oil companies at bargain rates in exchange for over $400,000. The investigation dragged on for two years, with no major evidence […]
At the outbreak of the Great War (WWI), Germany demanded Belgium allow them passage so they could invade France. Belgium, a neutral country, had the support of Great Britain. When Germany invaded and the Battle of Liege began, Belgian citizens found themselves in the midst of war. The German Army took their food and Great […]
The Byzantine General Belisarius was Emperor Justinian’s best military mind. He lived from 500-565 A.D. Early in his career, as a Roman soldier, he served close to Emperor Justin I (Justinian’s uncle) where he impressed both the current and future Emperors. His pride and joy was his unit of heavy cavalry, men armed with a lance, a […]
The Varangian Guard were the best, most loyal members of the Byzantine Army. The unit was first employed by Emperor Basil II in the year 988. The first iteration of the group was made up of Rus’ people (an early group of vikings who ultimately gave their name to Russia and Belarus) afer Basil lost trust […]
The Taiping Rebellion is estimated to have cost over 20 million lives at a minimum. For comparison, the Napoleonic Wars, conflicts between the French Empire and various European powers from 1803-1815, claimed over 5 million lives and the American Civil War, a conflict over the issue of slavery, claimed over one million lives. The rebellion occurred […]
The Berlin Conference was organized in 1884 in an effort to avoid conflicts between major European powers all scrambling for African colonies. Fourteen countries, none of which represented Africa, divided the continent over a three month period. They created arbitrary borders which ignored the history of African society. Ethnic groups and existing trade routes found […]
The Great Leap Forward occurred in China between 1958-1962 under Chairman Mao Zedong's plan to modernize China. Part of his initiative was to turn agriculture from a private enterprise to a collective institution. Groups of farmers were forced to work in groups to cultivate the land and any workers deemed superfluous were transitioned from grain […]
Followers of Jainism, an ancient Indian religion, live according to five Great Vows: To injur no living being in action or thought To speak only truth To take nothing unless it is given Celibacy in action, word, and thought Renunciation of worldly items Jain monks carry their religion’s requirements to the extreme, even going so […]
