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The Other Cold War: Why China and the Soviet Union Fell Apart
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, China and the Soviet Union looked like the perfect pairing, as they were two huge Communist powers challenging the Western world. However, by the end of the 1960s, the relationship between the powerhouses quickly began to deteriorate, turning from an alliance into competition for influence, and even to violence. What happened to cause…
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On this day – November 5th, 1943
On November 5th, 1943, Vatican City was bombed in the midst of World War II. After an unidentified plane had been circling Rome for hours, it dropped four bombs on the Vatican. The attack did not cause any casualties for injuries, but did cause damage to some of the Vatican’s buildings and infrastructure. To this day, it is still unclear…
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Stamppot Shepherd’s Pie
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Politics For Dinner (@politicsfordinner)
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On this day – September 9th, 1543
On September 9th, 1543, at just nine months old, Mary Stuart was formally crowned as the Queen of the Scots. Mary had been Queen since her father’s death on December 14th, 1542, when was six days old. However, the crowning ceremony at Stirling Castle marked the official beginning of her reign as Mary Queen of Scots.
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The 335-Year War: History’s Longest Running Technicality
Imagine being at war for centuries without even knowing it… That was the 335 Year War between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly, a minuscule island off the coast of England. Widely considered the world’s longest war, the conflict dates back to 1651. In order to fully understand the roots of the war, we must first take a look…
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A Taste of Resilience: The Story of Budae Jjigae
75 years ago, on June 25th, 1950, the Korean War began. The fighting between the northern Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and the southern Republic of Korea raged on for 3 years. During the devastation and food shortages that followed, Koreans created a dish that would come to symbolize resilience and creativity: budae jjigae. This popular dish represents the exact…
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On this day – June 12th, 1987
On June 12th, 1987, Ronald Reagan delivered one of his most famous speeches while visiting West Berlin, Germany. At the height of the Cold War period, with the Berlin Wall in the background of his speech, Reagan called to Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev, imploring him to tear down the wall. The speech continued to further call for arms reductions…
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Operation Cactus: How India Thwarted the 1988 Coup in the Maldives
A small island nation facing the threat of a coup: how would they respond? This is the story of the 1988 Coup in the Maldives and of Operation Cactus, the response that ensued. Before I begin, let us first look into a short history of the Maldives, and how they arrived in this situation. The Maldives, or the Republic…
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On this day in history – May, 20th , 1862
On this day, May 20, 1862, the Homestead Act was signed into action by President Abraham Lincoln. This act worked to foster settlers to move west of the Mississippi River by giving American citizens 160 acres of land if they were willing to pay a small fee and work on the land to improve it. The act opened up a…
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On this day in history – May 12th, 1949
On May 12th, 1949, the Soviet Union lifted its blockade against West Berlin. Since March 1948, the Soviet Union had blocked the Allies’ road, railway, and water access to the Western sectors of Berlin. Throughout this 11-month period, the United States and British planes had been airlifting supplies to West Berlin and had also been staging a counter-blockade against East…
