Author: Jimmy Akin

Did You Know? The “Texas Tower Sniper” incident occurred Aug. 1, 1966, when the deranged gunman Charles J. Whitman opened fire at the University of Texas in Austin, killing 16 and wounding 32. I was there, though I was a baby, with my mother in student housing (if I have my family stories correct). My father was closer, in another building, and when the gunfire rang out, people in the room where he was rushed to the window to see what was happening. My father instead stepped back. LEARN MORE.

Did You Know? Under instructions from Adolf Hitler, Nazi official Hermann Göring, ordered SS General Reinhard Heydrich to “submit to me as soon as possible a general plan of the administrative material and financial measures necessary for carrying out the desired final solution of the Jewish question.” The date was July 31, 1941. LEARN MORE.

Did You Know? U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Social Security Act of 1965 into law, establishing Medicare and Medicaid, on July 30 1965, as part of his “Great Society” push toward unsustainable entitlements. LEARN MORE.

Did You Know? When the Greeks gained control of ancient Egypt, Pharaoh Ptolemy I (who was Greek) invented a Greek-style Egyptian god to try and unite the two peoples. Unlike the animal-headed gods of Egypt, Serapis was depicted as a man, but his head wasn’t entirely normal. He was depicted with a basket used for measuring grain on his head. Go figure. LEARN MORE.

Did You Know? Pope Benedict had a cousin who suffered from Down’s Syndrome. He was carted off by the Nazis for “treatment” and fell victim to their eugenics program. LEARN MORE.

Did You Know? Joseph Smith is reported to have said “No man knows my history,” but we do know some of it. On June 27, 1844 he died in a gunbattle after shooting and wounding three members of a lynch mob while incarcerated in the Carthage, Illinois jail. He was in jail because he had previously ordered the destruction of a newspaper in Nauvoo, Illinois after its first (and only) edition was critical of him. Despite the circumstances of his death, he is often portrayed as a martyr by Mormons. LEARN MORE.

Did You Know? The Roman Emperor Julian–also known as “Julian the Apostate”–died on July 26, A.D. 363. He was the last pagan Roman Emperor, and he worked to undermine the Church. Good riddance. LEARN MORE.

Did You Know? The animated short A Wild Hare was released July 25, 1940, introducing the character of Bugs Bunny. LEARN MORE.

Did You Know? Hiram Bingham III re-discovered Machu Picchu, “the Lost City of the Incas” on July 24, 1911. LEARN MORE.

Did You Know? The Ford Motor Company sold its first car on July 23, 1903. LEARN MORE.