“Stand Your Ground,” “Shoot First,” “Make My Day” – state laws asserting an expansive right to self-defense – have come into focus after the February 2012 killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. In 2005, Florida became the first state to explicitly expand a person’s right to use deadly force for self-defense. Deadly force is justified if [...]

Their names suggest selfless dedication to democracy. Fair Districts Mass. Protect Your Vote. The Center for a Better New Jersey. And their stated goals are unarguable: In the partisan fight to redraw congressional districts, states should stick to the principle of one person, one vote. But a ProPublica investigation has found that these groups and [...]

While black cultures in Africa were still referring to themselves by their tribal names, the white Europeans (mainly from the Netherlands and France) who emigrated to southern Africa in the 17th and 18th century were referred to after the continent in which they chose to settle, becoming the first to be called “Africans.”

“You show people what you’re willing to fight for when you fight your friends,” Hillary Clinton once said. If only all politicians will practice what they preach all the time the world might be, well, even more entertaining, as can gathered from the diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks. What some US diplomats had to say [...]

The word revolution means “turning around,” meaning a rapid transformation. The most famous revolutions arguably are the American Revolution (1775–1783), the French Revolution (1789-1799) and the Russian Revolution of 1917. All these revolutions saw a change of power from the hideous monarchy system to the public. Even the English Revolution (1642–1651) – better known as [...]

Between 1860 and 1880, the illustrator Thomas Nast introduced Santa Claus as a jolly old man with a white beard and red outfit. He also invented the idea of Santa’s home-workshop, and Santa’s naughty-and-nice list. Being a talented caricaturist, Thomas Nast (1840 – 1902) also destroyed the Tweed Ring, a group of corrupt New York [...]

In the 17th century, English philosopher John Locke wrote about freedom, life, liberty, property and the “pursuit of happiness.” The latter quoted from his 1693 Essay Concerning Human Understanding that “the highest perfection of intellectual nature lies in a careful and constant pursuit of true and solid happiness.” These were his concepts of inalienable rights. [...]

The FBI has been investigating Rod Blagojevich, the former Governor of the State of Illinois, since 2005. Blagojevich was removed from office in January 2009 and indicted in April 2009. The charges centered on allegations that he tried to “sell” the Senate seat left vacant by Barack Obama. The federal agents recorded Blagojevich saying, “I’ve [...]

George Washington was the first president under the US constitution of 1789. However, the US was an independent nation for 13 years before the Constitution was signed. For one year during this time John Hanson served as “President of the US in Congress assembled.” Technically, he was the first president of the United States. Washington’s [...]

The word “Machiavellian” is named after Niccolo di Bernardo dei Machiavelli, the Italian philosopher who was friends with Leonardo da Vinci. In 1513, Machiavelli dedicated a leaflet called The Prince to the ruling Medici family of Florence in an effort to gain their favor. It was meant to express the Medici’s goals and argued that [...]