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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 large amount of American land for ownership, leading to about 10 percent of the total land mass of the United States to be privatized by 1934.
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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 Berlin. The success of the US-British airlift and the counter-blockade forced the Soviet Union to abandon the blockade, allowing British and American forces to enter West Germany.
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Currywurst Shakshouka with Labneh swirl
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Politics For Dinner (@politicsfordinner)
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Terror at the Games: The 1972 Munich Hostage Crisis
Recently, I watched the Oscar-nominated film September 5, which drew my attention to the brutal hostage crisis that unfolded at the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics, an event I had previously known little about. The movie’s dramatic portrayal of the ABC News coverage of the hostage crisis and how it progressed throughout the 24-hour period compelled me to learn more about what happened on this dark day in history. The 1972 summer was the first return of this event to Germany since the 1936 Olympic Games, which had been hosted in Berlin by Adolf Hitler. In an effort to wash over the memory of Hitler’s Olympic Games, the organizing committee of…
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Tilapia and Kachumbari Salad!
Inspired by my article about a disputed lake in Africa, I created this dish using Malawian and Tanzanian ingredients as inspiration. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Politics For Dinner (@politicsfordinner)
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The Football War
A World Cup qualifying match turned into an international crisis. This bloody, four-day conflict between the nations of Honduras and El Salvador has gone down in history as the Football War, or in other areas of the world, the Soccer War. But what correlation did the soccer match and the conflict really have? This is the story of the 100-hour war between two neighboring nations. To understand the beginning of this conflict, some necessary demographic issues must be discussed. Honduras and El Salvador are neighboring nations in Latin America. In 1969, when the Football War broke out, the population of El Salvador was around 3 million people, while the population…
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On this day in history – February 24th, 1917
On this day, February 24th, 1917, the United Kingdom first showed an encoded telegram, written by the German Foreign Secretary, to the United States. This telegram that the British had intercepted, now infamously known as the Zimmerman Telegram, contained details proposing an alliance between Mexico and Germany, against the United States and its possible entry into the war. In the telegram, the Germans offered Mexico some territory in the United States in exchange for the alliance and support. This telegram, once released to the public, was one of the ultimate push factors in shifting public opinion in America toward entering World War I.
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On this day in history – February 10th, 1945
On this day, February 11th, 1945, the Yalta Conference between the leaders of the Allied Powers came to an end. At this conference, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin, and Winston Churchill signed the Yalta Agreement, in which they decided to demand a full and complete surrender from Germany, and began to plan their final steps to ending the Second World War and what would take place in the post-war period.
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Welcome to the Budae Jjigae Chronicles
As part of my continuing research on dishes and their relation to political events in history, I have decided to take a closer look at a dish that is not only part of my Korean heritage but also one that I love. I was inspired to create this after watching Naengmyeon Rhapsody, an amazing show on Netflix that explores the history of Korean cold noodles and how various historical events have shaped the dish’s evolution. So, I’d like to welcome you to a new section of the blog: The Budae Jjigae Chronicles. Budae Jjigae is a spicy Korean stew—budae refers to “military camp,” calling back to its origins during the…
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On This Day – January 14th, 2010
On January 14th, 2010, Yemen openly declared war on al-Qaeda. They also urged all Yemeni citizens against supporting the group. This decision came in response to international pressure, particularly from the United States and Saudi Arabia, Yemen’s key allies, following a series of attacks orchestrated by Yemeni militants. Declaring war on al-Qaeda marked the culmination of an effort to intensify the fight against the organization since 2001.

















