Craig Hill Media and Consulting
United States
Homelessness in Honolulu
In 2007, I moved to Hawaii in the United States. While it was meant to be a two week visit, it turned into a six month stay. I was surprised to find that even this tropical paradise has its share of social issues, including homelessness. I had travelled to Honolulu with an old friend I … Continue reading
The homeless in Seattle’s Underground City
In 2007, I found myself in Seattle, in the United States. I was meeting with a friend who wanted to tell me about the homeless in the underground city. The following are my observations from that time: Are homeless people living in undeveloped parts of Seattle’s abandoned underground city? From speaking with some of the … Continue reading
Unmasking war propaganda against Russian aggression
Since its unprovoked military aggression against Ukraine, Russia has inundated the world with misinformation and disinformation in efforts to justify its military operations and to claim its strict observance of the rules of warfare. Unsurprisingly, many of these efforts have often been penetrated due to the poor and blatant construction exposed by the mainstream Western … Continue reading
Ukraine: Is a new and different world order being created?
Europe is faced with yet another crisis that reminds of the horrors of the two world wars. The consequences of the war ravaging the Eastern part of the European continent, will not be limited only to the region, but will have ramifications on the rest of the world as well. Russia started the war with … Continue reading
On This Day In Australia: In 1951, the ANZUS Treaty between Australia, New Zealand and the United States was signed
On 1 September 1951, the ANZUS Treaty between Australia, New Zealand and the United States was signed in San Francisco. The Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty (ANZUS or ANZUS Treaty) is a collective security non-binding agreement between Australia and New Zealand and, separately, Australia and the United States, to co-operate on military matters in the Pacific Ocean region, although today the treaty is taken to relate … Continue reading
On This Day In Australia: In 1975, David Hicks, a former prisoner at Guantánamo Bay, was born in Adelaide
On 7 August 1975, David Hicks was born in Adelaide, South Australia. He would go on to become a prisoner of the United States Government at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. He attended Al Qaeda’s Al Farouq training camp in Afghanistan, and met with Osama Bin Laden during 2001. He was then detained by the United States in Guantanamo Bay detention camp from 2002 until 2007. Guantanamo Bay … Continue reading
February 3, 1998 – US Marine jet severed ski-lift cable in Italy
On February 3, 1998, a U.S. Marine jet flying low over the town of Cavalese in the Italian Alps severed a ski-lift cable, sending a tram crashing to the ground and killing 20 people. Cavalese is located in the Dolomite Mountains, about 20 miles northeast of Trento, Italy. In 1976, 42 people there, including 15 … Continue reading
February 2, 1812 – Russians established Fort Ross in California
Staking a tenuous claim to the riches of the Far West, Russians established Fort Ross on the coast north of San Francisco. As a growing empire with a long Pacific coastline, Russia was in many ways well positioned to play a leading role in the settlement and development of the West. The Russians had begun … Continue reading
January 31, 1950 – Truman announced development of H-bomb
On June 31, 1950, U.S. President Harry S. Truman publicly announced his decision to support the development of the hydrogen bomb, a weapon theorized to be hundreds of times more powerful than the atomic bombs dropped on Japan during World War II. Five months earlier, the United States had lost its nuclear supremacy when the Soviet … Continue reading
January 28, 1986 – The space shuttle Challenger exploded after liftoff
At 11:38 a.m. EST, on January 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and Christa McAuliffe is on her way to becoming the first ordinary U.S. civilian to travel into space. McAuliffe, a 37-year-old high school social studies teacher from New Hampshire, won a competition that earned her a place among the seven-member crew … Continue reading
January 23, 1849 – Elizabeth Blackwell becomes first woman in US to receive a medical degree
At a graduation ceremony at a church in Geneva, New York on January 23, 1849, Geneva Medical College bestows a medical degree upon Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman in the United States to receive one. Despite the near-uniform opposition of her fellow students and medical professionals, Blackwell pursued her calling with an iron will and dedicated … Continue reading
January 20, 1981 – Iran Hostage Crisis ended
Minutes after Ronald Reagan’s inauguration as the 40th president of the United States, the 52 U.S. captives held at the U.S. embassy in Teheran, Iran, were released, ending the 444-day Iran Hostage Crisis. On November 4, 1979, the crisis began when militant Iranian students, outraged that the U.S. government had allowed the ousted shah of Iran to travel … Continue reading
January 5, 1933 – Golden Gate Bridge is born
On January 5, 1933, construction begins on the Golden Gate Bridge, as workers began excavating 3.25 million cubic feet of dirt for the structure’s huge anchorages. Following the Gold Rush boom that began in 1849, speculators realized the land north of San Francisco Bay would increase in value in direct proportion to its accessibility to the city. Soon, a plan … Continue reading
January 4, 1965 – L.B.J. envisions a Great Society in his State of the Union address
On January 4, 1965, in his State of the Union address, President Lyndon Baines Johnson lays out for Congress a laundry list of legislation needed to achieve his plan for a Great Society. On the heels of John F. Kennedy’s tragic death, Americans had elected Johnson, his vice president, to the presidency by the largest popular vote in the … Continue reading
January 1, 1863 – Abraham Lincoln signs the Emancipation Proclamation
On January 1, 1863, Abraham Lincoln signs the Emancipation Proclamation. Attempting to stitch together a nation mired in a bloody civil war, Abraham Lincoln made a last-ditch, but carefully calculated, decision regarding the institution of slavery in America. By the end of 1862, things were not looking good for the Union. The Confederate Army had overcome Union troops in significant battles … Continue reading
December 31, 1999 – Panama Canal turned over to Panama
On December 31, 1999, the United States, in accordance with the Torrijos-Carter Treaties, officially hands over control of the Panama Canal, putting the strategic waterway into Panamanian hands for the first time. Crowds of Panamanians celebrated the transfer of the 50-mile canal, which links the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and officially opened when the SS Arcon … Continue reading
December 21, 1988 – Pan Am Flight 103 explodes over Lockerbie, Scotland
On December 21, 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 from London to New York explodes in midair over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all 243 passengers and 16 crew members aboard, as well as 11 Lockerbie residents on the ground. A bomb hidden inside an audio cassette player detonated in the cargo area when the plane was at an altitude … Continue reading
December 18, 1865 – Slavery abolished in America with adoption of 13th Amendment
Following its ratification by the requisite three-quarters of the states earlier in the month, the 13th Amendment is formally adopted into the U.S. Constitution, ensuring that “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude… shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” Before the American Civil War, Abraham Lincoln and other leaders of the anti-slavery Republican Party sought not to … Continue reading
December 17, 1903 – The Wright brothers make the first sustained, controlled flights in a powered aircraft.
Near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville and Wilbur Wright make the first successful flight in history of a self-propelled, heavier-than-air aircraft. Orville piloted the gasoline-powered, propeller-driven biplane, which stayed aloft for 12 seconds and covered 120 feet on its inaugural flight. Orville and Wilbur Wright grew up in Dayton, Ohio, and developed an interest in aviation after learning of … Continue reading
December 16, 1773 – The Boston Tea Party
In Boston Harbor, a group of Massachusetts colonists disguised as Mohawk Indians boarded three British tea ships and dumped 342 chests of tea into the harbor. The midnight raid, popularly known as the “Boston Tea Party,” was in protest of the British Parliament’s Tea Act of 1773, a bill designed to save the faltering East India Company by … Continue reading
December 13, 1925 – Dick Van Dyke, American actor, singer, and dancer was born
Richard Wayne Van Dyke was born on December 13, 1925 in West Plains, Missouri. He went on to become an actor, comedian, writer, singer, and dancer, whose award-winning career has spanned seven decades. He grew up in Danville, Illinois. His family line traces back to Mayflower passenger John Alden.He is the older brother of actor Gerry Van Dyke. His … Continue reading
December 12, 1953 – Charles (Chuck) Yeager becomes the first person to travel two and a half times the speed of sound
Charles Elwood “Chuck” Yeager was born on 13 February 1923 in Myra, West Virginia. After joining the army at age 16 and training as an aircraft mechanic, he was then selected for flight training. His service record during WWII was impeccable, becoming an “ace-in-a-day” after shooting down five enemy aircraft in a single mission. Yeager … Continue reading
December 9, 1941 – Australia formally declares war on Japan
On the morning of 7 December 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy launched a surprise attack on the Pacific Fleet of the United States Navy, stationed at Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii. This one act changed the direction of World War II. Despite the success of the Japanese in their aim of crippling the US navy, the … Continue reading
December 7, 1941 – Pearl Harbor bombed
At 7:55 a.m. Hawaii time, a Japanese dive bomber bearing the red symbol of the Rising Sun of Japan on its wings appears out of the clouds above the island of Oahu. A swarm of 360 Japanese warplanes followed, descending on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in a ferocious assault. The surprise attack struck a critical blow … Continue reading
December 6, 1907 – 361 miners are killed in the US’s worst coal mining disaster
West Virginia, USA, once had the reputation for the highest mine death rate of any of the states. Large scale coal operations began in Marion County, WV, in the 1880s. Between 1890 and 1912, regulation of mining conditions in West Virginia was poor, and the state’s mining industry saw numerous deadly coal mining accidents. The … Continue reading
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