January 2017

  • On this day in 1953, flooding in the North Sea killed more than 1,500 people in the Netherlands and destroyed one  million acres of farmland. The storm also caused death and destruction in Great Britain and Belgium. A combination of a high spring tide and a severe European windstorm over the North Sea caused a

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  • On January 31, 1945, Eddie Slovik became the only American soldier since the Civil War to be executed for desertion — the only one of the 40,000 American soldiers who deserted during World War II, the only one of the few thousand who were court-martialed for deserting, the only one of the 49 whose death

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  • Bloody Sunday-1972

    Today marks the 47th anniversary of Bloody Sunday sometimes also referred to as the Bogside Massacre. Sunday January 30th 1972 started as any other Sunday in Derry but would end with tragedy and a population thrown into a dark backlash of opinion towards the British. British soldiers shot 26 unarmed civilians during a peaceful protest

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  • AFC Ajax is one of the most well-known football clubs in Europe, if not the world. In addition to dozens of national trophies, it has also won 12 international trophies, a feat repeated by only a few other clubs. Historically, Ajax was popularly seen as having “Jewish roots.” Although not an official Jewish club like

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  • I don’t like Mondays

    “The silicon chip inside her head got switched to overload” is the opening line from  the Irish new wave/punk  band Boomtown Rats song “I don’t like Mondays” The song was based on true events. On January 29, 1979 ago 16 year old Brenda Spencer went on a killing spree she killed two men and wounded

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  • It’s amazing to think that the allies possibly won the war by a dead homeless man. Glyndwr Michael (4 January 1909 – 24 January 1943) was a semi-literate homeless man whose body was used in Operation Mincemeat, the successful World War II deception plan that lured German forces to Greece prior to the Allied invasion

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  • The liberation of Auschwitz

    On this day 72 years ago Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated by  by the 322nd Rifle Division of the Red Army, the soldiers found 7,500 prisoners alive and over 600 corpses. Among items found by the Soviet soldiers were 370,000 men’s suits, 837,000 women’s garments, and 7.7 tonnes  of human hair. Just imagine that 7.700 KG of

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  • Random Act of Kindness

    I enjoy going for walks aside from the health benefits it also  clears my head, On these walks I often take pictures of things that catch my eye. This morning I walked up to the Limerick Gallery of art just to check if there was a new exhibition, but before I went in I took

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  • We all know the story of Anne Frank, and there is no denying that her diary was essential to get an insight into how life was for those who had to hide from the evil Nazi regime. However, people do sometimes forget about the other women and men who hid in the annexe in Amsterdam.

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