Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Historically speaking.

Today is a very interesting day in history. On this day in 1547, Ivan IV, previously the Grand Prince of Moscow, was crowned the King of Russia at the ripe old age of sixteen. He later conquered several neighboring lands, among them Siberia, making Russia an enormous country it is today. He would also be the first Russian ruler to adopt a title inspired by, and borrowed from, the Roman Empire: Czar. But he is best known by a nickname given to him for the terror he inflicted upon his people during his reign: Ivan the Terrible.

Also on this day in 1919, an American experiment in liquor control, better known as Prohibition, started. This experiment was, of course, a complete failure. But several things did come out of it: the mafia got bigger, the liquor got better, and the Government found out that dictating to the people how they can live their lives is not a good course of action. Unfortunately this lesson, just like Prohibition itself, has fallen by the wayside of history.

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