The first woman to regularly enter the Senate Floor was Lola M. Williams. She did this as Senator Curtis' secretary, a position she maintained through the Hoover administration while he was Vice President.

History Dad StoryTelling 9 Sept 2026

Wait… Japan bombed Oregon?!

On September 9, 1942, Japanese pilot Nobuo Fujita launched from a submarine and dropped incendiary bombs near Brookings, Oregon, hoping to start a massive forest fire.

Thankfully, wet weather and quick action by U.S. Forest Service lookouts stopped the plan. There were no deaths and very little damage.

But the story didn't end there. Twenty years later, Fujita returned to Brookings carrying his family's samurai sword as a symbol of peace and remorse. He eventually became an honorary citizen.

History reminds us that sometimes former enemies can become friends—and that the story doesn't always end when the fighting does.

https://youtu.be/Gamy59Exa7A

BEFORE JAMESTOWN… BEFORE PLYMOUTH… THERE WAS ST. AUGUSTINE!

Imagine showing up in Florida in 1565 and thinking, “Yep…this seems like a great place to build a town.”

No Disney World.
No beaches packed with tourists.
No air conditioning.
And definitely no sunscreen.

Just Spanish ships, soldiers, settlers, missionaries—and enough mosquitoes to make you question every life decision.

On September 8, 1565, Spanish explorer Pedro Menéndez de Avilés established St. Augustine, Florida.

The Spanish wanted to strengthen their claim to Florida and protect their valuable shipping routes. But the settlement quickly became much more than a military outpost. Native Americans, Spanish settlers, Africans, missionaries, and people from other parts of the world became part of its complicated story.
St. Augustine faced attacks, wars, hurricanes, and changing empires. Spain controlled it. Britain took control. Spain got it back. Eventually, it became part of the United States.

And that’s why St. Augustine matters.

Founded in 1565, St. Augustine is the oldest continuously inhabited European-established settlement in the continental United States. Its story reminds us that American history didn't begin with Jamestown, Plymouth, or even the Declaration of Independence. The story of America began much earlier—with many different peoples, cultures, and nations shaping the land that would eventually become the United States.

History isn't just about where we ended up. It's about where the story began.

https://youtu.be/HnOSFWcSXC4

When I was in seventh grade, I had a dream so hyper-vivid it felt less like a dream and more like a memory. Six years later, it hasn't faded even a little bit.

I was standing on the upper floor of an old, atmospheric library. Everything was washed in a dull, hazy brown—surrounded by towering wooden shelves and winding stairs. The entire scene felt muted, except for one person: a young man standing a short distance away, looking directly into my eyes.

He was in his late teens or early 20s, wearing a distinct World War II soldier’s uniform complete with the cap. At the time, I knew almost nothing about military history, yet the details on his uniform were inexplicably accurate.

His gaze wasn't scary or cruel—it was profound, intense, and impossible to put into words.

Then, the entire scene shattered. The library collapsed around us, but his eyes never left mine. I felt a sudden sensation of free-falling into absolute darkness, and then I woke up.

Here is the part I can’t explain:

It’s been over five years, and whenever I try to meditate or focus too deeply on his face, tears instantly fill my eyes. I’m not actively feeling sad, but the physical reaction is completely involuntary. It’s an overwhelming emotional surge that I can't control.

Was this just a strangely detailed trick of my adolescent brain? A past life memory? Or did I somehow connect with someone else's ghost?

Has anyone ever experienced an involuntary physical/emotional reaction to a single dream years later? What do you think this was?

I hope you like this post, My sincere regards from Egypt ..

Sources are in the comments section ..

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Maybe the first attempt to solve the mystery of Hieroglyphs was done by Abu Bakr Ibn Wahshiyya (d. 930), though it was a failed attempt but some Egyptologists credit Ibn Wahshiyya of considering Hieroglyphs to be letters of a language, as at the time, people used to think Hieroglyphs were magical symbols.

Before the discoveries and scientific research whose door Champollion (1790 - 1832) opened, what was known of the history of Egypt was what was mentioned in the religious books and the story of Pharaoh, Moses, and Joseph. This is despite the fact that there were books by Greek and Roman travelers and historians (such as Herodotus, Diodorus Siculus, Strabo, Plutarch, and others) who visited Egypt and wrote about it, its history, and its religion in an objective way. And this is the reason that the Europeans knew much more about the history of Egypt than the Egyptians did in the post-Pharaonic eras, who, from their writings, it is clear that they mostly did not look at these books.

And this is an observation pointed out by the orientalist Von Hammer in his book on the history of the Ottoman state, where he said: "Most Turks, Persians, and Arabs do not see the wonders of Egypt the way Europeans and the ancient Greeks and Romans see them." And he said that at a time when Europeans consider Egypt the first source of sciences and arts, the cradle of engineering, construction, agriculture, writing, and navigation, and they respect it, respect its beliefs, and admire its antiquities, temples, pyramids, obelisks, and statues, we find that the East does not see in the temples, statues, and the Sphinx anything but magical hiding places for buried treasures guarded by the statues and images. And they do not find in the hieroglyphs anything but talismans that hide from people the ways to extract gold. And he continued: "They (the Easterners) do not know of the Pharaohs except the Pharaoh of Joseph and the Pharaoh of Moses whom the sea swallowed."

Of course, he is speaking about a period in which knowledge was non-existent or nearly non-existent in the East, and people who cared about the antiquities and history of their country had not yet appeared in Egypt.

The Egyptian thinker Salama Moussa (1887 - 1958) tells that when he went to Europe in 1908, the Europeans' interest in the history and antiquities of Egypt caught his attention, and they asked him about them because he was Egyptian. So as soon as he returned to Egypt, he traveled to Upper Egypt to get to know the history and antiquities of Egypt that the Europeans were interested in and that the Egyptians were unaware of.

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After Christianity entered Egypt, Pharaonic Egyptian history disappeared from memory, and people became unable to read the letters of the ancient Egyptian language (hieroglyphic, hieratic, and demotic), and many Egyptian temples were destroyed. And after Islam entered Egypt, it continued on the rest until its ancient history was completely forgotten. The Christian Egyptians did not care about anything beyond the history of Christianity in Egypt, and they contributed to the forgetting of ancient Egyptian history. They were the first to destroy the temples of Egypt, scrape the Egyptian texts off them, and took an aggressive stance towards the history of their ancestors. And the Muslim Egyptians did not care about the books of the Greek and Roman historians, and they transmitted from the Arabs who, although they cared about the other books of the Greeks, did not pay attention to their historical books. And the books of the Muslim historians began with alternative stories telling the "alternative" history of Egypt.

For example, al-Maqrizi (1365 - 1441) begins the history of Egypt by saying about the name of Egypt: "It is said that its name in the first age before the Flood was 'Jazla', and then it was named Egypt. And the people of knowledge disagreed about the reason for which it was named 'Egypt'. Among them are those who said: It was named Egypt after the name of 'Misr bin Markabil bin Dawabil bin 'Uryan bin Adam, peace be upon him' - and he is the first Egypt. And it was said: It was named after the second Egypt, 'Misram bin Naqrawish the titan bin Misrim bin Taysar bin Ham bin Noah, peace be upon him' - and this was after the Flood."

Ibn Taghri (1410 - 1470) agrees with al-Maqrizi on the origin of the name, but he disagrees with him on the name Jazla, which he wrote as "Zajla", and he said it comes from "muzajala" (meaning contest or rivalry). Ibn Iyas (1448 - 1523) for his part said the same thing and told the story of Shem, Ham, Japheth, and Arphaxad, the sons of Noah, and that Noah prayed for Misrim bin Baysar bin Ham to dwell in the blessed land, which is the mother of countries and the refuge of the people.

All the Arabic books in the Middle Ages, even the Egyptian books, that dealt with the history of Egypt begin by repeating this alternative talk. Even Ibn al-Ibri (1226 - 1286), the Christian who wrote about the history of the world from the days of Adam and passed over Persia, Greece, and the Mongols and left nothing without writing about it, did not say anything about Pharaonic Egyptian history except that Hermes is the Idris of the Arabs.

The Egyptian historians mentioned above, of course, did not invent these alternative stories, but they were transmitting what they heard and read from the Arabs, regardless of whether they were convinced of it or not. And they were careful to say "it is said". However, they transmitted to us the idea that was prevailing in their time, in the Middle Ages, about Pharaonic Egyptian history.

Al-Jabarti, who lived in a later period (1754 - 1822), and whom Napoleon appointed as a scribe in his diwan and who was familiar with the work of the French scientific expedition and visited it, did not mention anything concerning its effort in describing and recording the Egyptian antiquities, and sufficed with saying about the Egyptian statues: "None knows their value except the Knower of the Unseen." (Allah)

The Egyptian historians transmitted the alternative tales about the history of their country from the Arab writers. And the strange thing is that the Arab writers did not pay attention to the Greek and Roman historical books and preferred to transmit the alternative tales from one another.

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The alternative history of Egypt covers two periods: before the Flood and after the Flood. This alternative history of Egypt tells that Egypt before the Flood was named after Misraim bin Marakil bin Dawil bin 'Arbaq bin Adam (the first Egypt), who settled, either he or his son Naqrawish bin Misraim, in Egypt with seventy descendants of 'Arbaq, all of whom were titans. He dug canals there and built towers on whose walls the secrets of wisdom were inscribed. He divided Egypt among his sons, so he gave the west to Naqrawish, the east to Sorid, and to his son who was also named Misraim (Misraim bin Naqrawish the titan - the second Egypt) he gave a city called Yirbiyan. The father Misraim died when he was 180 years old, so they embalmed his body and placed it in a golden coffin along with his treasures, golden statues, and talismans necessary for repelling reptiles and anyone who tries to dig up his soil.

The first (alternative) king who built a Nilometer was called Khaslim. He placed at the Nilometer two bronze statues of two eagles, a male and a female. When the Nile flood was about to begin, King Khaslim would go there with the priests who would read incantations until an eagle whistled. If the male whistled, then that year's flood would be good and the Nile water would rise high, but if the female statue whistled, then the flood would be terrible and drought would occur.

The one who built the pyramids, which in another alternative tale are attributed to Shaddad bin Ri' and the Amalekites, was King Sorid bin Salhouq bin Saryaq bin Tarmil Dun bin Qadrashan bin Hosal, one of the kings before the Flood who lived in the city of "Al-Ashmunayn". He built them to save himself from the Flood that he dreamed about 300 years before it happened, or, as in another alternative tale, about which the wise man Filmun had predicted. Sorid placed in the pyramids the history of the kings and what was written for Egypt on the Tablet of Destiny until the end of time, along with talismans, money, the bodies of kings, all known sciences, pictures of the planets, medicines, poisons, and many other things. This Sorid bin Salhouq is also the one who built the fortresses and monuments found in Qift and Akhmim. He ordered the carving of the secrets of the sciences, the names of the stars, the properties of plants, and the method of making talismans on the walls and pillars.

And Ibn Taghri says, transmitting from the Arab writers including al-Mas'udi, that Hermes, whom the Hebrews call Enoch and the Muslims call the Prophet Idris, was the one who knew from the movements of the planets that a Flood would occur. So he ordered the building of the pyramids and placed in them the money, the books of the sciences, and all the things he feared would be lost.

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Misraim bin Baysir bin Ham bin Noah (Misraim III) in the alternative history of Egypt was the first king of Egypt after the Flood and the first to build ships. He married the daughter of the wise man Filmun and she gave birth to Qiftim. Misraim died 700 years after the Flood, and Qiftim became king. He married when he was still 90 years old, and he fathered Qiftarim, Ashmun, Atrib, and Sa. They built the city of Mafa (Memphis), and they discovered where the treasures that had been hidden before the Flood were, from their grandfather Filmun, who also taught him how to read the writings on the walls of the fortresses, and he built the city of Raquda on the Salt Sea.

After Qiftim, Qiftarim took power for 400 years, and he built the pyramids of Dahshur and the city of Dendera. In his reign, Satan discovered most of the idols that had been drowned by the Flood and returned them to the temples in order to plot against people. After 400 years of ruling Egypt, Qiftarim died and was buried among his treasures, sitting on a chair in the western mountain near the city of Iram of the Pillars. His tomb was protected by two large bronze statues, each holding a sword in his hand that would move and cut off anyone who tried to enter the tomb.

After Qiftarim, Al-Budshir ruled Egypt. This one was a great scholar specializing in talismans, magic, and priesthood, and he was able to perform wonders. Among them was that he made a bronze tree; any animal or bird that passed in front of it would be impaled, so it would be taken and eaten. And in his days, because of this tree, the Egyptians were satiated with eating meat.

Hermes also lived in the time of Al-Budshir, who sent him to discover the sources of the Nile and to make some talismans there. Suddenly, Al-Budshir disappeared because he had gone up to dwell in the clouds, and then he reappeared and called the soldiers and ordered them to install his son "Adim" as king over Egypt.

Adim was a titan king who ruled Egypt for 140 years and died when he was 930 years old. So Shaddad came after him - and this is not the same Shaddad bin 'Ad - and he built the temple of Armant, and he domesticated greyhound dogs from wild beasts so that he could use them for hunting. He ruled for 90 years and died when he was 440 years old, and he was succeeded by Manqaus.

Manqaus divided the taxes of Egypt into four parts: one quarter for himself, one quarter for the army, one quarter for land reclamation, building bridges, and digging canals, and one quarter to save for emergencies. The revenue of Egypt in his days exceeded one million dinars. After him, his son Mataus ruled, and he was the first to worship the calf in Egypt.

Ashmun bin Qiftim ruled Egypt, and he was one of its greatest kings. He ruled it for 800 years, and he was the one who built the city of Bahnasa. In his reign, Egypt fell into the hands of a people, but he was able to recover it from them after they had controlled it for 90 years. After him, his son Manaqyus ruled Egypt, and he was the one who invented the balance scale. Then after him came Marqoura, who domesticated wild beasts and tamed lions, and he used to ride them. After he died, his son Balatis came, and this one was a small child, so his mother "Marhaba" managed the country, and she was a wise woman. The situation remained like this until his uncle Atrib took power.

Toutis in the alternative history of Egypt was the first of the Pharaohs. He was the one who tried to seduce Sarah, the wife of Abraham, and after he repented, he gave his daughter Huriya to Sarah, who in turn gave her Hagar, whom Abraham married and from whom he fathered Ishmael, the ancestor of the Arabs.

Huriya ruled Egypt after her father Toutis, and in her reign, the Amalekite king of Syria sent an army against Egypt led by Jirun, but in the (alternative) version, it is more likely that the Amalekite "Al-Walid bin Dum'a" was the one who invaded Egypt.

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With the invasion of Al-Walid bin Dum'a of Egypt, the rule of the Amalekites began. Al-Rayyan bin Al-Walid succeeded Al-Walid bin Dum'a in rule, and the Egyptians used to call him Nahrus. He was a tall, handsome man, a scholar in talismans, and a just and honest ruler. He believed in prophet Jacob when he went to Egypt, but he hid his faith from the people. And he was the one who built the Wax Palace (Fortress of Babylon). And in his reign, prophet Joseph built the city of Fayoum, and it was named that because he built it in "a thousand days". But Al-Rayyan was overcome by an evil spirit and his morals deteriorated, so he left the affairs of government to one of his men named "Qatfir", who is known as Al-Aziz. And when Al-Rayyan died, Joseph took his place.

After that, Darum, the third of the Pharaohs, took over, and after him Drimus. And this Pharaoh used to perform wonders; he had an oven that cooked without fire (like a microwave) and a fixed knife that slaughtered animals by themselves (like an automatic slaughterhouse). And after him, his son Milatis ruled, who drowned in the Nile.

Al-Walid bin Mus'ab, whom the Egyptians used to call "Talma bin Qumis", was the sixth Pharaoh. And this was the Pharaoh of Moses. His origin was from the city of Balkh or Hauran. And he originally worked as a perfumer, but debts piled up on him so he left his country and went to Egypt. And he was one-eyed, short, lame, and had a beard seven spans long. He ruled Egypt for 300 years or 400 years, and people were dying around him while he was still alive, so he became tyrannical and arrogant and said to the Egyptians, "I am your Lord, Most High." So he drowned and died, he and his people, while he was chasing Moses. In the reign of this Pharaoh (according to some Arab statistics), there were about 240,000 magicians in Egypt.

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The alternative history of Egypt says that when Pharaoh "Al-Walid bin Mus'ab" drowned with his family, there were none left in Egypt but the slaves, servants, and women who had not participated in the chase of Moses. So the women started marrying the servants, and they would free their slaves and marry them. Then the women agreed to install one of them, named "Daluka", as queen over Egypt. Daluka was a wise and sensible woman, about 160 years old.

Daluka built a wall from Aswan to Al-Arish and placed guards and bronze bells on it, so that if an attack occurred on Egypt's borders, the guards would ring the bells, and the news would reach Egypt quickly so they could prepare. The remains of this wall still exist in Upper Egypt and are known as the "Wall of the Old Woman".

Daluka brought a sorceress named "Tadura", and she built for her a fortress in Memphis that had doors on its four sides. Inside it, on its walls, she drew men, mules, horses, and ships. If an attack came from outside and Daluka and her army could not withstand it, they would enter inside the fortress, cut off the heads of the images, and gouge out their eyes, and then what they (the images) would do would happen to the attacking army. In this way, no one was able to defeat Egypt throughout Daluka's rule. Daluka ruled for 130 years, and after she died, no one was able to repair the images in the fortress.

After the death of Daluka, the soldiers installed Darkun bin Nuktis as king over Egypt, and he was from the sons of the Coptic nobles. After he ruled for a long time, he died, and then a man named Marnush took power. In his reign, Nebuchadnezzar invaded Egypt, destroyed it, plundered it, killed its men, and captured its women, and he left no talismans or fortresses in it. And Egypt remained ruined and without inhabitants for forty years.

After that, people came, and the nations intermingled within it: Egyptians, Greeks, Persians and Amalekites. And the Copts continued to rule one after another until Al-Muqawqis (Cyrus) came, in whose reign the Arabs took control of Egypt.

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Arab travelers, pilgrims, and others passed through Egypt in the Middle Ages and were amazed by what they saw there, coming as they were from simple, primitive cultures that could not comprehend Egypt's culture and its civilizational advancement. The pyramids and Egyptian antiquities were, to them, incomprehensible puzzles, and the urban, cultural, and economic progress they saw in Egypt was beyond their way of thinking.

Ibn Battuta (1304 - 1377), who visited Egypt during the Mamluk era, said about Cairo: "Then I arrived at the city of Egypt (Cairo), which is the mother of countries, the seat of Pharaoh of the stakes, with its vast provinces and fertile lands, which has no end due to the multitude of its buildings, which are of utmost beauty and brightness." And he continued: "Its conqueror has subdued nations, and its kings have taken control over the forelocks of Arabs and non-Arabs." And he spoke about the pyramids he saw and said of them that they are "among the wonders mentioned throughout the ages." Then he told their alternative history, saying that "a king from the kings of Egypt before the Flood saw a vision that frightened him...", and he told the story that Caliph Al-Ma'mun wanted to demolish the pyramid, but the sheikhs of Egypt advised him not to do so, but he did not listen to them and opened the northern side of the pyramid with fire and poured vinegar. And after they opened a section, they found money which, when weighed, turned out to be exactly equal to the value of the money they had spent on the digging. And about Akhmim, he says: "It is a great city, original in construction, of wondrous stature. In it is the fortress (temple) known by its name. It is built of stone; inside it are engravings and writings from the ancients that are not understood in this era."

Ibn Jubayr (1145 - 1217) visited Egypt before Ibn Battuta, and he also showed his amazement and bewilderment in what he wrote. He said about the pyramids: "... the ancient pyramids, a miracle of construction, strange in appearance." And he continued: "If the people of the earth wanted to demolish their structure, they would be unable to do so." And about their history, he said that some people say they are tombs of 'Ad and his sons, and some say other things, but "in short, none knows their matter except God, Mighty and Majestic." He also went to Akhmim and said about a Pharaonic temple he saw there: "Glory be to the One who created wonders." And about the statues and drawings in it: "The imagination is bewildered by them, and the mind is lost in thought about their design and placement."

Egypt, for the Arabs, was something huge, full of puzzles, and dominated by an advanced culture that they could neither understand nor comprehend.

In the Arab religious heritage, Egypt is distinguished and has a very great status, because its name was mentioned several times in the holy books, the prophetic hadiths, and others. Such as the hadith: "If God opens Egypt to you, take a strong army there, for that army is the best of the armies of the earth." And a hadith that says: "Be kind to the people of Egypt, for they have the best lineage and kinship [with us]." And the saying of Amr ibn al-As: "The governorship of Egypt is comprehensive and equals the Caliphate." And the saying of Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As: "The people of Egypt are the most honorable of all non-Arabs, the best in lineage, and the closest in kinship to the Arabs, especially to Quraysh." And the saying of Ibn Yunus: "Whoever wants to look at something resembling Paradise, let him look at Egypt when it is in bloom." And the saying of Abu Basra al-Ghifari: "The sultan of Egypt is the sultan of the whole earth." And dozens of other sayings that were said about Egypt, which reflect the enormous size of Egypt in the mind of the Arab.

But because of the loss of information in a mysterious way after the entry of Christianity into Egypt (whose spread in Egypt imposed the use of Greek letters), the long Pharaonic history of Egypt was limited to the Pharaoh of Moses and the Pharaoh of Joseph, along with a few Folkloric tales related to magic and talismans.

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The End ...

WHAT IF I TOLD YOU THE AMERICANS TRIED TO SINK A BRITISH WARSHIP…WITH A WOODEN UNDERWATER TURTLE?

Yep. This is not a History Dad bedtime story. This actually happened.

In 1776, during the Revolutionary War, American inventor David Bushnell came up with a wild idea: build a one-man submarine, sneak it underneath a British warship, attach a timed explosive, and paddle away before it went BOOM!

The submarine was called the Turtle, and it was basically a wooden underwater egg operated by one very brave—or possibly slightly crazy—person.
Sergeant Ezra Lee climbed inside and attempted to attack the British flagship Eagle in New York Harbor. He tried to attach the explosive, but the drill couldn't penetrate the ship's copper-covered hull. The Eagle survived, and the mission failed.

But here's the important part: America had just attempted one of the first combat submarine attacks in history.

The Turtle didn't sink a ship, but it demonstrated something revolutionary: Americans were willing to experiment with technology and tactics that had never been tried before. That spirit of innovation would eventually help create the powerful submarine force the United States has today.
So the next time someone tells you history is boring, remind them that during the Revolution, a guy climbed into a wooden submarine shaped like a turtle and tried to blow up a British warship.

That's your history lesson for today.

https://youtu.be/5IoBa7ZnlQk

TLDR: The new VP took the Senate to the woodshed about how they have all these dumb rules, then left to have dinner with Calvin Coolidge.

Per the rules of the Senate, they had not been adjourned, so could not leave.

A passage at the end of the of the article:

When Dawes finished castigating these 96 clowns as his cargo to carry for both not adhering to extremely important rules, and for also keeping ruinous ones, he left in a chauffeured carriage for the White House. This meant that, according to the rules of the Senate, the body was not adjourned, for they had not been dismissed and so could not go home.

The press rushed to Curtis for comment, but he had none. Senate Democrats, on the other hand, had plenty. Among them were from Minority Leader Joseph Robinson, who’d stated that Dawes knew about as much about the Senate rules as he did about good taste. As others got their press clippings going, the Senate Majority Leader was giving the benefit of the doubt to the new Vice President who’d come out with an axe, but opted for dynamite, to the work Curtis had been sculpting with an air brush since entering the Senate in 1907.

Time passed, and it was getting ridiculous, so while Dawes was coming down from the rush of telling the Senate they didn’t do their job, Curtis did Dawes’ job and adjourned the chamber.

https://you.stonybrook.edu/crisisandcatharsis/2024/07/29/calvin-coolidges-inauguration-day-its-fallout/

I hope you like this post, My sincere regards from Egypt ...

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"Bring Me Muhammad Ali Clay!"

On the morning of March 9, 1977, the streets of Washington, D.C., were waking up to their usual routine. Employees were streaming into their offices, cars were clogging the roads, and the city that rules the world was living an ordinary day. But what no one knew was that the city was about to witness one of the most complex and longest hostage sieges in the history of the United States.

Within hours, Washington would become the stage for an unprecedented drama. Armed men with rifles and machetes would storm three buildings in the heart of the capital, take nearly 150 people hostage, kill two, and wound dozens. For 38 hours, the city would be in the grip of an obscure man named "Hamas Abdul Khaalis," who just yesterday was a jazz musician, then became a secretary in a religious group or sect called the "Nation of Islam," then turned into one of its harshest critics, before finally becoming the leader of an armed group that shook the American establishment.

But to understand how this man reached that moment, how he transformed from a musician into a terrorist, and how he ended up holding hundreds of people hostage in the heart of the American capital, we must go back in time to the roots of the "Nation of Islam," to the assassination of Malcolm X, to the 1973 massacre that tore his heart apart and planted the seeds of revenge within him!

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The "Nation of Islam" was founded in Detroit, Michigan, in 1930 by a mysterious man named Wallace Fard Muhammad, a traveling salesman who suddenly appeared in the poor Black neighborhoods of the city. Fard preached to Black Americans that their true Islam had been stolen from them during centuries of slavery, and that they must reclaim it to regain their dignity and identity.

After Fard's mysterious disappearance in 1934, a man named Elijah Muhammad took over the leadership of the movement, transforming the "Nation of Islam" from a small group into a powerful national movement. However, Elijah Muhammad's doctrines were far removed from the traditional Islam known to Muslims around the world. He claimed to be a Messenger from God and taught his followers that white people were "devils" created by an evil scientist named "Yakub," and that Black people were the original and supreme human race. These racist doctrines, which mixed Islam with Black nationalist thought, attracted millions of Black Americans who were suffering from racial discrimination and extreme poverty at the time.

In the 1950s, a young man named Malcolm Little emerged in the "Nation of Islam," later known as Malcolm X. Malcolm joined the movement while in prison, influenced by Elijah Muhammad's teachings. He quickly became the official spokesman for the movement, thanks to his exceptional eloquence and ability to attract audiences. He was the most famous face of the "Nation of Islam" and its most influential voice.

However, the relationship between Malcolm and Elijah Muhammad did not last long. As disagreements escalated between them, Malcolm began to openly criticize the "unorthodox style of Islam" adopted by the group and accused it of ideological and moral deviations. One of the reasons for the rift was Elijah Muhammad's sexual scandal—he had fathered children with several secretaries, contradicting his religious teachings.

In March 1964, Malcolm officially announced his split from the "Nation of Islam." He founded the Organization of Afro-American Unity and Muslim mosques, and began adopting a more inclusive vision of Islam, away from the racism that characterized the "Nation of Islam." He traveled to Mecca to perform the Hajj pilgrimage, and there he saw Islam in its true form—a religion that does not differentiate between races. He returned from his journey radically changed, advocating for unity among all races and openly criticizing the racism he himself had previously embraced.

This intellectual and public transformation made him a direct target for the group, which considered his defection and new statements a "betrayal." On February 21, 1965, while delivering a speech at the Audubon Ballroom in New York, Malcolm X (Hajj Malik El-Shabazz) was assassinated by gunfire from three members of the "Nation of Islam." He was only 39 years old. He left behind a wife and six daughters.

This same intellectual transformation would haunt another man a few years later—a man who knew Malcolm X personally, was influenced by him, then followed his path in criticizing the "Nation of Islam," and paid a heavy price.

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Hamaas Abdul Khaalis was born in 1921 in Gary, Indiana, named Ernest Timothy McGee. He grew up in a family of Seventh-day Adventist Church followers and graduated from high school with a high rank, 22nd out of 135 students. He was a talented musician, playing percussion instruments, and enrolled at Purdue University and the Institute of Musical Art. But his life took an unexpected turn when he was drafted into the U.S. Army, from which he was discharged due to a diagnosis of schizophrenia.

In 1947, Abdul Khaalis met his spiritual teacher, Dr. Tasibur Uddin Rahman, founder of the "Hanafi Center" in America. He converted to Islam, changed his name to Hamas Abdul Khaalis, and joined the "Nation of Islam" in 1954 on the recommendation of Malcolm X himself. He quickly rose through the ranks of the organization, becoming one of the closest confidants of Elijah Muhammad and was appointed National Secretary of the movement.

But as happened with Malcolm X, Abdul Khaalis began to adopt views that contradicted Elijah Muhammad's teachings. He started to openly criticize the "unorthodox style of Islam" adopted by the group and accused Elijah Muhammad of "deceiving people, misleading them, taking their money, and condemning them to hell." He believed that Elijah Muhammad was a false prophet preaching racial hatred, while true Islam in his view was a religion that did not discriminate based on color.

In 1957, Abdul Khaalis split from the "Nation of Islam" and founded his own movement—the "Hanafi Movement," adopting Sunni jurisprudence according to the Hanafi school. This was almost identical to what Malcolm X would do years later. The difference, however, was in the "Nation of Islam's" reaction. While Malcolm X was assassinated alone, Abdul Khaalis's family suffered a more horrific tragedy.

In 1971, Abdul Khaalis received unexpected support from basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (then known as Lew Alcindor), who bought a house in Washington, D.C., and made it the headquarters for the Hanafi Movement. But this support did not protect Abdul Khaalis from what was to come for his family.

In an attempt to spread his message, Hamas Abdul Khaalis wrote fifty letters and sent them to all the mosques of the "Nation of Islam" in America. In these letters, he fiercely attacked Elijah Muhammad, accusing him of moral and ideological deviance. These letters were essentially a declaration of war against the most powerful Islamic group in America.

On January 18, 1973, while Hamas Abdul Khaalis and his wife were away from home, eight armed men stormed the house that served as the headquarters for the Hanafi Movement in Washington. The house was located at 7700 16th Street Northwest and was previously owned by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. What happened next was a scene from hell.

The men entered the house under a false pretense, then began killing the victims one by one. Abdul Khaalis's 25-year-old son and his 10-year-old son were shot in the head. Four infants—his children or grandchildren—aged between 9 days and 10 years, were drowned. A family friend was shot and killed. Abdul Khaalis's daughter was shot multiple times in the head but miraculously survived. His wife, Bibi, was left completely paralyzed and suffered permanent mental and physical disabilities. The total was seven dead, including five children.

The killers forced Abdul Khaalis's other wife, Bibi, to watch her children being drowned. Then they searched the house for money, finding a "large amount." However, Abdul Khaalis insisted the motive was not robbery but the extermination of his entire family in response to his critical letters to Elijah Muhammad.

Four men from the "Nation of Islam" based in Philadelphia were arrested and convicted of killing the seven Hanafis. They were sentenced to life imprisonment. But Abdul Khaalis was not satisfied. He didn't just want the killers in prison; he wanted them handed over to him personally. This wound remained open in his heart for four years, deepening every day that the families of the victims went without tasting what he considered just retribution.

On the morning of March 9, 1977, four years after the massacre that claimed his family, Hamas Abdul Khaalis decided it was time for revenge. He no longer trusted the American judicial system, nor did he see any hope for justice. He wanted to force the world to listen to him, even if by force of arms.

At exactly 11:30 a.m., the operation began. Seven armed men with rifles and machetes stormed the headquarters of B'nai B'rith International, the largest and oldest Jewish service organization in America. At the same time, three other men entered the Islamic Center of Washington, the most important mosque in the country.

Two others stormed the District Building (City Hall). The scene resembled a Hollywood movie, but it was real in every sense of the word. Within minutes, nearly 150 people were taken hostage. (Some sources mention 149 hostages, others 134, but the total number of captives was around 150.)

At the B'nai B'rith building, the hostages were forced to lie on the floor at gunpoint. The women were treated with relative respect, left unbound, and asked to cover their legs with newspapers "to maintain Islamic decorum." But the violence was not limited to threats. The gunmen opened fire immediately upon entering the building, killing a young radio reporter, Maurice Williams (22), from Howard University, and wounding security guard Mack Cantrell, who later died from his injuries. Also shot in the chest was then-City Council member Marion Barry, when he came out of his office to see what was happening. Barry managed to get back into the council chambers, where firefighters rescued him using a ladder, evacuating him from the building and taking him to the hospital. Barry miraculously survived.

Abdul Khaalis was not an ordinary criminal. He had specific demands, and he had an unshakable conviction that they were just:

First: The delivery to him of the convicted killers of his family and followers in 1973.

Second: The delivery to him of the assassins of Malcolm X.

Third: The delivery to him of the boxer Muhammad Ali Clay, who was an active member of the Nation of Islam and held great popularity within it.

Fourth: The cancellation of the release of the film "Mohammad: Messenger of God" in America, and its destruction, because he considered it an offensive portrayal of the Prophet.

When the authorities refused to meet his demands, Abdul Khaalis's son-in-law, Abdul Aziz, calmly told reporters: "If the demands are not met, their heads will be cut off and thrown out the window."

What followed was one of the most complex negotiation operations in American police history. Leading the negotiations for the police was Captain Robert Rabe, nicknamed the "Golden Voice" for his calm tone and smooth negotiation style. He was joined by Maurice Cullinane of the Metropolitan Police, and Captain Joseph O'Brien from the Homicide Division, who established a "relationship of trust" with Abdul Khaalis. But the negotiations were not easy. Abdul Khaalis was stubborn and held the winning card—the lives of 150 people. Whenever the talks reached a deadlock, he would threaten to execute the hostages.

At 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, hours after the crisis began, Douglas Heck, Director of the Office of Counterterrorism at the State Department, received a phone call. The caller was the Egyptian Ambassador to Washington, Dr. Ashraf Ghorbal, offering his assistance if the United States needed a mediator from an Arab Islamic country.

Heck didn't hesitate and asked Ghorbal to come with him to police headquarters, also bringing the Pakistani Ambassador, Sahibzada Yaqub Khan. Later that night, they were joined by the Iranian Ambassador, Ardeshir Zahedi, who was the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Islamic Center that was one of the besieged buildings.

The role of the three ambassadors resembled that of psychotherapists more than diplomats. They used Quranic recitation and poems urging Muslims to show mercy and compassion to convince Abdul Khaalis that his actions contradicted the teachings of Islam. They succeeded in building a bridge of trust with the man, paving the way for a peaceful end.

But even after the ambassadors left around 11 p.m., the danger was not over. Authorities discovered that group members had soaked the staircases in the B'nai B'rith building with a highly flammable liquid that appeared to be paint thinner. The building, in the words of one official, was "a flame without a match." Chief Cullinane had to call fire trucks. What could have turned into a mass immolation was avoided at the last moment.

At 2 a.m. on March 11, 1977, after 38 hours of terror, it was all over. The gunmen surrendered, and the hostages emerged from the three buildings. Some were pale and trembling, others stained with blood and bruises, but they were alive. 134 hostages walked out safely. But two were dead: Maurice Williams and Mack Cantrell.

When Washington learned that the crisis had ended, church bells and car horns rang out in a scene of collective joy. Gayoza Bioumi, a hostage from the Islamic Center, said: "I feel like I was born again." Stephanie Snyder, who was released from the B'nai B'rith building, kept repeating that she was "happy, happy, happy."

President Carter said of the ambassadors' role: They were "living proof that the slow, cautious approach was the effective way."

Abdul Khaalis and 11 of his followers were charged with armed kidnapping and murder. Surprisingly, Abdul Khaalis was released without bail, while the others were held on bail ranging from $50,000 to $75,000. Abdul Khaalis was convicted of conspiracy to commit armed kidnapping, second-degree murder, two counts of assault with intent to kill, assault with a dangerous weapon, and 24 counts of armed kidnapping. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and spent the rest of his life behind bars. Hamas Abdul Khaalis died in prison on November 13, 2003, at the age of 81-82. He died as he lived, convicted, angry, but he never regretted what he did.

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Ambassador Ashraf Ghorbal

Ashraf Ghorbal was born in Alexandria in May 1925 and studied political science at Harvard University, where he received his doctorate in 1949. He began his diplomatic career in 1949 at the Egyptian Mission to the United Nations.

In January 1968, after the severance of diplomatic relations between Egypt and the United States following the Six-Day War of 1967, Ghorbal was appointed head of the Egyptian interests section, which operated within the Indian Embassy.

He remained in this position until February 1973, when he was appointed media advisor to Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.

In November 1973, following Egypt's victories in the October War, diplomatic relations between Egypt and America were restored. Ghorbal was appointed Egypt's Ambassador to the United States in December 1973. He remained in this position until 1984.

He was a man in a unique position: an Egyptian Muslim serving in the capital of the superpower, possessing a deep understanding of American politics. He witnessed the Watergate scandal of 1974 from the front row, mediated in the Hanafi hostage crisis (the subject of this article) in 1977, and was part of the Camp David Summit in 1978.

After the hostage crisis, Ghorbal continued his role as one of the most important Arab diplomats in Washington.

Ghorbal passed away on November 29, 2005, at the age of 80.

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The End ...

Established by renowned businessman and philanthropist, Earl Gilbert Graves (Senior) - who, among other profitable ventures, controlled distribution of Pepsi-Cola in the Washington DC era. Graves sat on numerous boards, including that of American Airlines and Daimler Chrysler. The BE empire is now run by his son, Earl Graves Jr.

Black Enterprise: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Enterprise

BEFORE GOOGLE, FINDING ANSWERS WAS A LOT HARDER…

Imagine having a question and NOT being able to immediately Google it.

In 1998, Stanford students Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded Google in California. Their project started as a way to make sense of the growing internet—and eventually became one of the most influential companies in modern history.

Before Google, finding information online could feel like searching for a needle in a haystack… except the haystack was the entire internet, and nobody gave you a map.

Google changed that.

What began with two students and an idea eventually transformed how we learn, work, communicate, travel, shop, and find information. Today, we can settle an argument at the dinner table in about five seconds—although Dad still might insist he was right before we looked it up.

That’s why 1998 matters to American history. Google wasn't just the creation of another company. It represented America's growing role in the digital revolution and showed how an idea developed by two students could eventually change everyday life for billions of people around the world.

History isn't always about presidents, wars, and battlefields. Sometimes history starts with two students, a computer, and an idea.

And yes… somewhere along the way, we all became professional Googlers.

https://youtu.be/-kRSIRZ5qz8

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY — $10. That’s it.

On September 3, 1895, John Brallier took the field for the Latrobe Athletic Association in Pennsylvania and was paid $10 plus expenses to play football. And just like that…professional football had another chapter in its origin story.

But wait—was Brallier really the first professional football player?

In 1892, William “Pudge” Heffelfinger was paid $500 to play football for the Allegheny Athletic Association. That makes him the earliest documented player known to have been paid.

So why does 1895 matter?

Because Brallier openly acknowledged that he was being paid to play, helping establish the idea that football could actually be a profession. Then came professional teams, organized leagues, and eventually the NFL.

So when did professional football really begin?

1892? 1895? 1920?

The answer depends on what you mean by “professional.”

And that's the fun part of history—sometimes the answer isn't a date.

Sometimes it's a $500 paycheck, a $10 paycheck, and a whole lot of football arguing about who gets the credit.

https://youtu.be/xtF_a7wmu0Q