On March 6, 1836, an abandoned mission near San Antonio de Bexar in the Mexican state of Tejas that was upgraded to a military fort, was overrun by Mexican Army forces, and the 185 Texian revolutionaries inside were all killed. The siege that lasted thirteen days, and notoriety of some of the revolutionaries helped to […]
THE STORY OF THE ALAMO AND TEXAS INDEPENDENCE Read More »
The football season in America has recently ended with Super Bowl LVIII that crowned the National Football League’s champion for the season that began in September. The championship game was exciting being won by the Kansas City Chiefs in overtime and viewed by perhaps as many as 120 million people worldwide.  Although injuries do exist,
HOW THE AMERICAN GAME OF FOOTBALL WAS SAVED Read More »
Life insurance companies do not always make a profit from the insurance underwriting portion of the business. Most of the profit comes from investing the policyholders’ premiums and realizing the financial returns. In a way this amounts to a double-edged sword of risk taking—first in the underwriting of insurance policies, and secondly in the management
HOW LIFE INSURANCE COMPANIES ARE IMPACTED BY PRIVATE-MARKET FIRMS Read More »
On January 10, 1776, a 47-page pamphlet authored ‘by an Englishman’ was published in Philadelphia. In three months, the pamphlet sold 100,000 copies to the two million residents of the thirteen colonies in North America. During the duration of the American Revolution, the sales number grew to about 500,000 copies including those that were not
THE PAMPHLET THAT LED TO THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION Read More »
On January 16, 1919, the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified by the requisite number of state governments and became the law of the land ending the manufacture, importation, or distribution of most alcoholic beverages. For the next thirteen years, this country went officially dry, but what actually happened as a consequence of
WHAT WAS LIFE LIKE IN THE U.S. DURING PROHIBITION? Read More »
For centuries European seafarers have been looking for a short, safe way to sail merchant ships to Asian ports in order to capitalize on the lucrative trade possibilities. The North and South American continents soon had their own trading possibilities, but to get to the big prize, these continents had to be circumnavigated. To sail
THE STORY OF THE PANAMA CANAL Read More »
This is the third in a series of blogs regarding private foreign investment in Chinese companies. Efforts are underway in Beijing to stimulate the Chinese economy to return it to its former levels of growth. Ordinarily this would provide potentially outstanding opportunities for foreign investors, but there are a number of pitfalls remaining that should
IS NOW THE RIGHT TIME TO INVEST IN CHINA: PART III Read More »
In December of 1901, the first Nobel Prizes were awarded in Stockholm by the Nobel Foundation. The awards were intended for the betterment of mankind, although the source of the funding originated in the manufacture and sale of war materiel. The following is the story of how these prestigious awards came into being. Alfred Nobel:
HOW DID THE NOBEL PRIZE COME ABOUT? Read More »
On December 5, 1945, a flight of five U.S. Navy Avenger torpedo bombers took off from their base in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, on a training mission that was to include practice bombing runs and aerial navigation over open sea. The weather was clear and the sea moderate to choppy. The afternoon flight left the Ft.
WHAT HAPPENED TO FLIGHT 19 LOST IN THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE? Read More »
Fist-pounding arguments, vitriolic debates, name calling, public disturbances, and an assault by an armed mob have all been a part of the history of the U.S. Congress. Prior to the Civil War the acrimony was especially acute dividing the country into two major camps that led to war. In more recent times the rules of
VIOLENCE THAT TOOK PLACE IN THE U.S. CONGRESS Read More »