Thomas Paine was an England-born political philosopher and writer who supported revolutionary causes in America and Europe. Published in 1776 to international acclaim, “Common Sense” was the first pamphlet to advocate American independence. After writing the “The American Crisis” papers during the Revolutionary War, Paine returned to Europe and offered a stirring defense of the French Revolution with “Rights of Man.” His political views led to a stint in prison; after his release, he produced his last great essay, “The Age of Reason,” a controversial critique of institutionalized religion and Christian theology. 

Paine’s most famous pamphlet, “Common Sense,” was first published on January 10, 1776, selling out its thousand printed copies immediately. By the end of that year, 150,000 copies–an enormous amount for its time–had been printed and sold. (It remains in print today.

“Common Sense” is credited as playing a crucial role in convincing colonists to take up arms against England. In it, Paine argues that representational government is superior to a monarchy or other forms of government based on aristocracy and heredity.

‘These Are The Times That Try Men’s Souls’

As the Revolutionary War began, Paine enlisted and met General George Washington, whom Paine served under.

The terrible condition of Washington’s troops during the winter of 1776 prompted Paine to publish a series of inspirational pamphlets known as “The American Crisis,” which opens with the famous line “These are the times that try men’s souls.”

The Radium Girls were female factory workers who contracted radiation poisoning from painting watch dials with self-luminous paint. The painting was done by women at three different factories, and the term now applies to the women working at the facilities: one in Orange, New Jersey, beginning around 1917; one in Ottawa, Illinois, beginning in the early 1920s; and a third facility in Waterbury, Connecticut.

Told the paint was harmless, the women in each facility ingested deadly amounts of radium after being instructed to "point" their brushes on their lips in order to give them a fine tip; some also painted their fingernails, face and teeth with the glowing substance. The women were instructed to point their brushes in this way because using rags or a water rinse caused them to use more time and material.

Many of the women later began to suffer from anemia, bone fractures, and necrosis of the jaw, a condition now known as radium jaw. It is thought that the X-ray machines used by the medical investigators may have contributed to some of the sickened workers' ill-health by subjecting them to additional radiation. It turned out at least one of the examinations was a ruse, part of a campaign of disinformation started by the defense contractor. U.S. Radium and other watch-dial companies rejected claims that the afflicted workers were suffering from exposure to radium. For some time, doctors, dentists, and researchers complied with requests from the companies not to release their data. At the urging of the companies, worker deaths were attributed by medical professionals to other causes. Syphilis, a notorious sexually transmitted infection at the time, was often cited in attempts to smear the reputations of the women.

The inventor of radium dial paint, Dr Sabin A. Von Sochocky, died in November 1928, becoming the 16th known victim of poisoning by radium dial paint. He had gotten sick from radium in his hands, not the jaw, but the circumstances of his death helped the Radium Girls in court.

Radium Girls is an American drama film that premiered in 2018. 

Read These 2 Incredible Stories

Still Glowing in Their Coffins

Burning bones prove that women were poisoned by glowing paint

The Great Brink's Robbery was an armed robbery of the Brink's Building at the east corner of Prince St. and Commercial St. in the North End of Boston, Massachusetts on January 17, 1950. Today the building is a parking garage located at 600 Commercial Street.[1][2]

The $2.775 million ($29.5 million today) theft consisted of $1,218,211.29 in cash and $1,557,183.83 in checks, money orders, and other securities. It was then the largest robbery in the history of the United States, and remained so until 1984. The robbery, skillfully executed with few clues left at the crime scene, was billed as "the crime of the century". It was the work of an eleven-member gang, ten of whom were later arrested.

The plan

Joseph "Big Joe" McGinnis was the originator of the heist, according to information later gleaned from Joseph "Specs" O'Keefe. He brought in Anthony Pino and Stanley "Gus" Gusciora.

O'Keefe and Gusciora secretly entered the Brink's depot; they picked the outside lock with an ice pick and the inner door with a piece of plastic. They later temporarily removed the cylinders from the five locks, one at a time, so that a locksmith could make duplicate keys for them. Once this was done, Pino recruited seven other men, including Pino's brother-in-law Vincent Costa, Michael Vincent "Vinnie" Geagan, Thomas "Sandy" Francis Richardson, Adolf H. "Jazz" Maffie, Henry Baker, James "Guillemets" Faherty, and Joseph Banfield.

The gang decided to wait for the optimal time for their heist. Pino studied schedules and was able to determine what the staff was doing based on when the lights in the building windows were on. O'Keefe and Gusciora stole the plans for the site alarms. The gang members entered the building on practice runs after the staff had left for the day. Costa monitored the depot from a room of a tenement building across Prince Street from the Brink's building. By the time they acted, the gang had planned and trained for two years.

The heist

On January 17, 1950, after six aborted attempts, the robbers decided that the situation was favorable. They donned clothing similar to that of a Brink's uniform with navy pea coats and chauffeur's caps, along with rubber Halloween masks, gloves, and rubber-soled shoes. While Pino and driver Banfield remained in the getaway car seven other men entered the building at 6:55 PM.

With their copied keys, they came to the second floor through the locked doors and surprised, bound, and gagged five Brink's employees who were storing and counting money. They failed to open a box of the payroll of the General Electric Company but scooped up everything else.

The robbers walked out at 7:30 p.m. They had taken money and four revolvers from the employees. The gang rapidly counted the loot and gave some of the members their cut. Then robbers scattered to establish their alibis.     Full Story: Wiki

The new discovery is about 50% bigger than Earth and is three times its mass, which is why astronomers call it a 'Super-Earth.'

It only takes less than half an earth day to go around its own sun.

And it is very hot, with an average temperature of 3,140 degrees Fahrenheit.

This super-earth is about 10 billion years old, making it one of the oldest rocky planets ever to be discovered.

The planet, also known as TOI-561b, has a hot and rocky surface with an average temperature of 3,145 degrees Fahrenheit.

FCC Warns Against Using Radio to 'Facilitate Criminal Acts' Ahead of Biden Inauguration

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) warned against using radio services to "facilitate criminal acts," ahead of President-elect Joe Biden's upcoming inauguration this Wednesday.

The warning, issued from FCC's Enforcement Bureau, followed reports that some people were using radio services as an alternative to social media sites in order to communicate and coordinate activities.

"The Bureau recognizes that these services can be used for a wide range of permitted purposes, including speech that is protected under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution," the agency said in a Sunday statement. "Amateur and Personal Radio Services, however, may not be used to commit or facilitate crimes."

"The Bureau reminds amateur licensees that they are prohibited from transmitting 'communications intended to facilitate a criminal act' or 'message encoded for the purpose of obstructing their meaning," the agency added.

A Bitcoin owner has revealed he only has two guesses left to unlock more than $220m in cryptocurrency after eight failed attempts to access his fortune.

Stefan Thomas, a German-born computer programmer based in San Francisco, was given 7,002 Bitcoins more than ten years ago as a reward for recording a video explaining how the cryptocurrency works.

At the time, the Bitcoins were worth between $2 to $6 each.

With the price of Bitcoin rising rapidly during the coronavirus pandemic, those Bitcoins are now worth around $34,000 each, putting the value of the total fortune at more than $220 million.

Unfortunately for Mr Thomas, he kept the password to accessing the digital wallet holding the Bitcoin on a piece of paper - which he lost years ago.

Read the Full Story

January 6, 1994 - Nancy Ann Kerrigan was born on October 13, 1969, in Stoneham, Massachusetts, to homemaker Brenda and welder Dan Kerrigan. As the youngest of three — and the only girl — Kerrigan often tagged along with her brothers to the neighborhood ice rink while they played hockey, becoming a self-described "tomboy."

Nancy Kerrigan showed figure skating talent at an early age. She began training and competing in grammar school and won a bronze medal at the 1992 Winter Olympics. On January 6,1994, Kerrigan was attacked by a hitman hired by the ex-husband of skating rival Tonya Harding. Despite her knee injury, Kerrigan went on to win the silver medal at the 1994 Games. 

Video of the Attack

It was Jan. 6,1974, and the energy crisis was cutting into the American way of life, with odd-even gas rationing, a national speed limit and shortened Nascar races. The Emergency Daylight Saving Time Act signed by President Nixon dictated that clocks would spring forward one hour on Jan. 6 — and stay that way for almost 16 months, until April 27, 1975.

Students wait for a schoolbus at 7:35 a.m. in Astoria, Queens, during the daylight savings experiment. (Getty Images) 

By fall, the dark mornings were apparently wearing on the American people. Proclaiming “it’s for the children” — those scholars standing at bus stops in the predawn — lawmakers threw in the towel of gloom.  Year-round DST was scrapped, and on Oct. 27, clocks fell back.

What do you think about current efforts to move New England to the Atlantic time zone?  Link to Atlantic Time Zone Story.

January 4,1998 - 1998 Ice Storm

The North American ice storm of 1998 occurred during January 4–10, 1998. It was one of the most devastating and costly ice storms in North American history and potentially one of the most devastating ice storms in modern history. Reported ice accumulations of 4" in some areas. 

In many areas a state of emergency was declared . Massachusetts was spared the brunt of the storm. Central New Hampshire was devastated.

Storm damage was estimated at over $3 billion, millions of customers lost power, some for several weeks, millions of acres of trees damaged, roads were impassable and nearly 40 deaths were attributed to the storm across the affected region.

It was the Dutch, in their New Amsterdam settlement at mid-17th century, who originated the modern American New Year celebration. The New Year' s Day was the most important holiday for the Dutch who were noted in all the colonies for their love of beer and wine.

New Netherland’s population in 1624 was only 270 people, with few if any children. 

New Amsterdamers didn’t stop at Christmas; the party kept going for weeks afterwards, throwing Manhattan’s very first New Year’s parties.

According to one source, “On Nieuw Jaar (New Year) and Kerstydt (Christmas) the Governor’s house was ablaze with candles and the young men and maidens danced in the ‘entry’.”

Official business was closed for weeks after, and “the burghers and their families spent much of their time in firing guns, beating drums, dancing, card-playing, playing at bowls or nine-pins and in drinking beer.”

What's your New Year's Resolution(s) ?