Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's "Obnoxious Order" To Expel Jews

As a General in the Civil War, Ulysses S. Grant ordered that all Jews be expelled from the Department of Tennessee. President Lincoln canceled the order before it could be implemented.

Later in life, Grant tried to make up for the misjudgment, protesting against oppression of Jews in Russia, and becoming the first sitting US President to attend a synagogue dedication and service:


https://www.jhsgw.org/history/presidential-visit

The Last Jew of...

Interior of Kabul's sparse synagogue

There are a few stories like this I've noticed, so I though I'd collect the ones I could find in one place:

• The Last Jew in Asmara, Eritrea
• The Last Jew in Afghanistan (Kabul)
• Escape of the Last Jews in Syria (2015)
• As of 2011 there were seven Jews left in Iraq. (Warning: Daily Mail has inappropriate ads)

Perhaps the following anecdote (from Wikipedia) is symbolic of the quality of the US State Department's understanding of Russia, considering they couldn't even translate a one-word motto correctly:

Symbolic reset On 6 March 2009 in Geneva, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton presented Sergei Lavrov with a red button with the Russian text "перегрузка". It was intended that this would be the Russian word for "reset". Clinton explained that she wanted to reset relations between Russia and the United States. However, Lavrov explained to Clinton that "перегрузка" actually means "overcharge". The two pressed the button anyway. Clinton explained that the American side meant it; they wanted a new era of better ties.

Incidentally, a simple Google Translate of "перегрузка" yields the definition "overload" and various other synonyms, not reset.

Famous. Last. Words.

From a National Geographic article of March 6, 2014:

Geography may also serve as a constraint. Maria Lipman, an analyst with the Carnegie Moscow Center, says that "geographically speaking" the [Crimean] peninsula has some interesting challenges. For example, in the north "it has a narrow strip of land that connects it to Ukraine. The peninsula itself is very dry, with almost no source of fresh water," and thus relies on mainland Ukraine for water. "Crimea cannot simply be severed from Ukraine."

 (Emphasis added.)

Postscript: 12 days later, on March 18, Russia annexed Crimea, severing it from Ukraine....

pwned

Советский Союз все еще жив!

Apparently, some people in Russia would like to see the reconstitution of the Soviet Union... or rather, recognition that it was never legally dissolved. In 2014, 33-year-old Dmitry Tretyakov filed a petition with the Russian Supreme Court seeking recognition that the USSR is still a legal entity and has never been dissolved. The Court refused to consider the question, saying it did not affect the rights and freedoms or legitimate interests of the applicant....

Google-Translated to English

No, Not That Socrates...

While looking up Socrates recently as I was writing, all of a sudden I had a flashback to an educational video game console I had as a kid. Thanks to the magic of Wikipedia, I was able to track it down again!

It was called VTech Socrates, and was released in 1988. It featured a wireless (infrared) keyboard and a console that connected to the TV. According to Wikipedia it was quite expensive when it came out, selling for about $130.

I had many, many hours of enjoyment from this and I remember learning math-type stuff from the games. Hey, thanks mom and dad! :-)

Supercentenarians

As of right now there are two living people in the world left who are verified to have been born in the 19th century. The link will be valid only while they're alive, after which some committed Wikipedian will no doubt update the entry within minutes.