28 March, marks the birthday of Russian literary figure, Maxim Gorky, in 1868 in the city of Nizhny Novgorod, east of Moscow. Upon the death of his father, Gorky was put in the care of his …
World History
Success Formula
11 January marks the birthday of Harry Selfridge in 1858. Selfridge’s innovation, philosophy and drive, helped to revolutionize the retail business. Selfridge was born in Ripon, Wisconsin. His father joined the Union Army in the …
Mob Rule
It was on 31 October, that Nikolay Bauman, a Russian revolutionary, was attacked and killed by a mob in 1905. Bauman, born in Russia in 1873 to a family of German descent, was trained as …
Albania Enters the Modern World
16 October will mark the birth of Enver Hoxha in 1908. Hoxha would serve as First Secretary of the Albanian Party of Labor from 1944 until his death in 1985. Studying in various schools in …
In the Name of Independence
29 September marks the birthday of Mozambique independence leader, Samora Machel, in 1933. Machel was born in the Gaza Province, of Mozambique. He never completed the fourth grade and would go on to work as …
Verboten?
It was on 20 September, 1932, that the German film, ‘Madchen in Uniform’ opened in American theaters. The film was directed by Leontine Sagan, a Jewish theater director, and depicted romantic feelings in an all …
Son of Pravets
7 September marks the birth of Todor Zhivkov, in 1911. He was the Bulgarian Head of State from 1954 to 1989. Born into a poor family, Zhivkov was trained as a printer’s apprentice and soon …
Irving Berlin – This Week’s Jewish American Profile in History
After his family fled the anti-Jewish pogroms of Russian Tsar Nicholas II, Irving Berlin was raised in a cold-water basement apartment on the lower east side of New York City. He would go from saloon …
A Matter of Life and Death
It was on 5 May 1981, that Member of Parliament and Irish political prisoner Bobby Sands died while conducting a 66 day hunger-strike. He was 27 years old. While serving a sentence in the notorious …
The Sands of Oxus
27 April marks the birth of Tajik poet, Sadriddin Ayni, in 1878. Sadriddin Ayni was born in a peasant family in the village of Soktare. He became an orphan at the age 12 and moved …