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The chief obstacle to the progress of the human race is the human race.
— Don Marquis
Reading Time: 5 minutes 35 seconds
Today is Wednesday, August 30th, the 242nd day of 2023. There are 123 days left in the year. It is Frankenstein Day, National Slinky Day, National Beach Day, National Grief Awareness Day, and International Whale Shark Day.
On This Day
In 1813, Creek “Red Sticks” committed the Fort Mims massacre in what would later become Alabama.
In 1835, Melbourne, today the capital and most-populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, was founded.
In 1862, Confederates under General Edmund Kirby Smith routed federal forces under General William “Bull” Nelson at the Battle of Richmond.
In 1914, Germany defeated Russia in the Battle of Tannenberg.
In 1945, the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong ended.
In 1963, the Washington-Moscow Direct Communications Link went into operation.
In 1967, Thurgood Marshall was confirmed as a justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
In 1983, Aeroflot Flight 5463 crashed into Dolan Mountain while approaching Almaty International Airport in present-day Kazakhstan, killing all 90 people on board.
In 1992, the 11-day Ruby Ridge standoff ended with Randy Weaver surrendering to federal authorities.
In 2021, the last remaining American troops left Afghanistan, ending the U.S. quagmire in that godforsaken “country.”
Today’s Birthdays
Investor and tax-hike advocate Warren Buffett is 93. Former actress Elizabeth Ashley, born Elizabeth Ann Cole, is 84. Cartoonist Robert Crumb is 80. Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer Robert Parish is 70. Actor and television director David Paymer is 69. Actor Michael Chiklis is 60. Former model Frederique van der Wal is 56. Former actress Cameron Diaz is 51.
The Links
Sweden during the Pandemic (Cato Institute)
“Sweden’s economy got through the pandemic better than comparable countries, and elementary school students have not suffered learning losses. These benefits do not seem to have come at the expense of human health. Remarkably, total excess deaths were smaller in Sweden than in any other European country during the three pandemic years (2020–2022), and the rate was less than half of America’s. In the absence of strict government control, Swedes adapted their behavior voluntarily.”
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