1881: The real shootout at the OK Corral happened this day

On this day in 1881, the Earp brothers faced off against the Clanton-McLaury gang in a legendary shootout at the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona.   We've seen the shootout in movies over the years, such as "Frontier Marshal" (1939), "Gunfight at the OK Corral" (1957), "Tombstone" (1993) and "Wyatt Earp" (1994).

The story has been featured in several books and the 1957 movie with Burt Lancaster is the best.

 P.S.  Check out my blog for posts, podcasts and videos. If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.

We remember The Shah of Iran (1919-80)

We remember that Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, the future Shah of Iran, was born on this day in 1919.

Back in January 1979, The Shah of Iran and family fled Iran.  He had ruled Iran since 1941.   Under The Shah, Iran was a strong ally of the US, specially during The Cold War.

On a democratic scale, the Shah was not Jefferson or Washington.   At the same time, Iran was stable, women were allowed to pursue university degrees and we didn't have to worry about him passing nuclear material to terrorists.

Give me the Shah.   He was not perfect but he was a lot better than what we've known since.   

Moral of the story:   Stability matters, specially when anti-West religious fanatics come into power looking to get a nuclear weapon.

For more on the Shah, see this book below. 

 

 P.S.  Check out my blog for posts, podcasts and videos. If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.