Video Games in the 2010's relied on new game consoles, smartphones, and VR devices too. In almost everyone's smartphones, there is a video game or a form of entertainment apps. One of the most popular video games of all time is Minecraft from 2010. This game was built by the Swedish developer Markus Persson. In 2011, Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure became the first augmented reality hit by letting players place plastic figures on a Portal of Power to zap characters into the game. In 2013, Disney Infinity joined the ranks of toy video game hybrids. In 2012, the Crowdfunding site Kickstarter gave game creators to raise millions of dollars to produce new and experimental play platforms like the OUYA console and the Oculus Rift. By 2013, more adult mature types of video games existed like Gone Home, The Last of Us and Papers, Please with emotional choices in ethically complex worlds. There are free-to-play systems with games like CrossFire, World of Tanks, etc. Many people use microtransaction payments for in-game items and premium content. In 2015, the online video streaming service of Twitch grew. eSports had 36 million viewers watch The League of Legends World Championship. That rivals and surpassing viewership of some of the most popular athletic events in the world. The Niantic's free to play hit was the game of Pokémon Go. Players have to look for virtual creatures in the game like Pikachu and Horsea. It was very popular during the summer of 2016. In 2017, smartphones and tablets are more popular as gaming platforms. So, Nintendo's Switch exists as a hybrid that merges mobile and console experiences. This innovative system allows players to take hit gams like Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and SUper Mario Odyssey with them whereever they go. In 2018, there was the Mircosoft Xbox Adaptive Controller making gaming on Xbox One consoles and Windows 10 PCs more accessible for players with limited moblity. It has 2 large programmable buttons and 10 jacks empower players to connect additional switches, joysticks, and other assistive devices to customize the way they play their favorite games. In 2019, millions of players watch a virtual asteroid destroy the map of Epic Games' massively popular online battle royale game Fortnite. The game earned a a large $2 billion in 2019. Later, there was a new map called Fortnite: Chapter 2. In the year of 2020, we had the start of the global pandemic, starting in November of 2020 and spreading worldwide by early 2021. Many people played games like Crossing: New Horizons, Among Us, and Fall Guys. These games allow people to connect with friends and others via mobile phones, computers, consoles. In 2021, the first video game to win a prestigious Hugo Award for science fiction is called hades. In 2022, The New York Times buys Wordie after the five-letter guessing game goes viral.
The John Brown raid took a lot of planning to create the raid. John Brown rented the Kennedy Farmhouse with a small cabin nearby. This place was 4 miles north of Harpers Ferry in Washington County, Maryland. He took up residence under the name of Isaac Smith. Brown worked with a small group of men for military action. This group grew to include 21 men besides himself. There were 16 white men and five black men. A Northern abolitionist group sent 198 breech-loading .52-caliber Sharps carbines ("Beecher's Bibles"). He ordered from a blacksmith in Connecticut 950 pikes, for use by black people untrained in the use of firearms, as few were. John Brown told curious neighbors that they were tools for mining, which aroused no suspicion as for years the possibility of local mining for metals had been explored. Brown "frequently took home with him parcels of earth, which he pretended to analyze in search of minerals. Often his neighbors would visit him when he was making his chemical experiments and so well did he act his part that he was looked upon as one of profound learning and calculated to be a most useful man to the neighborhood."
The pikes were never used; a few black people in the engine house carried one, but none used it. After the action was over and most of the principals dead or imprisoned, they were sold at high prices as souvenirs. Harriet Tubman had one, and Abby Hopper Gibbons another; the Marines returning to base each had one. When all had been taken or sold, an enterprising mechanic started making and selling new ones. "It is estimated that enough of these have been sold as genuine to supply a large army." Virginian Fire-Eater Edmund Ruffin had them sent to the governors of every slave state, with a label that said "Sample of the favors designed for us by our Northern Brethren." He also carried one around in Washington D.C., showing it to every one he could, "so as to create fear and terror of slave insurrection."
The United States Armory was a large complex of buildings that manufactured small arms for the U.S. Army (1801–1861), with an Arsenal (weapons storehouse) that was thought to contain at the time 100,000 muskets and rifles. However, Brown, who had his own stock of weapons, did not seek to capture those of the Arsenal. John Brown wanted to attract more black American recruits. There was a lack of tons of people supporting this raid. He tried to recruit Frederick Douglass as liaison officer to the slaves in a meeting held (for safety) in an abandoned quarry in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. It was at this meeting that ex-slave "Emperor" Shields Green, rather than return home with Douglass (in whose house Green was living), decided to join with John Brown in his attack on the United States Armory, Green stating to Douglass "I believe I will go with the old man." Douglass declined, indicating to Brown that he believed the raid was a suicide mission. The plan was "an attack on the federal government" that "would array the whole country against us. ...You will never get out alive", he warned. According to Osborne Anderson, "the Old Captain told us, we stood nine chances to one to be killed; but, said the Captain at the same time[,] 'there are moments when men can do more dead than alive.'"
The Kennedy Farmhouse served as "barracks, arsenal, supply depot, mess hall, debate club, and home." It was very crowded, and life there was tedious. Brown was worried about arousing neighbors' suspicions. As a result, the raiders had to stay indoors during the daytime, without much to do but study (Brown recommended Plutarch's Lives), drill, argue politics, discuss religion, and play cards and checkers. Brown's daughter-in-law Martha served as cook and housekeeper. His daughter Annie served as a lookout. She remarked later that these were the most important months of her life. John Brown wanted women at the farm, to prevent suspicions of a large all-male group. The raiders went outside at night to drill and get fresh air. Thunderstorms were welcome since they concealed noise from Brown's neighbors. John Brown didn't plan to make a quick raid and escape to the mountains. He wanted to arm the rebellious slaves to strike terror in the slaveholders in Virginia. Believing that on the first night of action, 200 to 500 slaves would join his line, Brown ridiculed the militia and the regular army that might oppose him. He planned to send agents to nearby plantations, rallying the slaves, and to hold Harpers Ferry for a short time, with the expectation that as many volunteers, white and black, would join him as would form against him. He would then move rapidly southward, sending out armed bands along the way that would free more slaves, obtain food, horses, and hostages, and destroy slaveholders' morale. Brown intended to follow the Appalachian Mountains south into Tennessee and even Alabama, the heart of the South, making forays into the plains on either side.
Hugh Forbes had advanced knowledge of the raid. There were at least 80 people who knew about Brown's planned raid in advance. Brown didn't reveal his total plan to anyone. Hugh Forbes was paid $100 per month to be a drillmaster in a total of $600. Forbes was an English mercenary who served Giuseppe Garibaldi (a revolutionary person) in Italy. Forbes's Manual for the Patriotic Volunteer was found in Brown's papers after the raid. Brown and Forbes argued over strategy and money. Forbes wanted more money so that his family in Europe could join him. Forbes sent threatening letters to Brown's backers in an attempt to get money. Failing in this effort, Forbes traveled to Washington, DC, and met with U.S. Senators William H. Seward and Henry Wilson. He denounced Brown to Seward as a "vicious man" who needed to be restrained but did not disclose any plans for the raid. Forbes partially exposed the plan to Senator Wilson and others. Wilson wrote to Samuel Gridley Howe, a Brown backer, advising him to get Brown's backers to retrieve the weapons intended for use in Kansas. Brown's backers told him that the weapons should not be used "for other purposes, as rumor says they may be." In response to warnings, Brown had to return to Kansas to shore up support and discredit Forbes. Some historians believe that this trip cost Brown valuable time and momentum. Mary Ellen Pleasent donated $30,000 (or 1.1 million dollars in 2023) to help pay for the raid, saying it was "most important and significant act of her life."
One of those who knew was David J. Gue of Springdale, Iowa, where Brown had spent time. Gue was a Quaker who believed that Brown and his men would be killed. Gue decided to warn the government "to protect Brown from the consequences of his own rashness." He sent an anonymous letter to Secretary of War John B. Floyd. Gue wanted Floyd to send soldiers to Harpers Ferry to make Brown to call off his plans. Even though President Buchanan offered a $250 reward for Brown, Floyd did not connect the John Brown of Gue's letter to the John Brown of Pottawatomie, Kansas, fame. He knew that Maryland did not have an armory (Harpers Ferry is in Virginia, today West Virginia, just across the Potomac River from Maryland.) Floyd concluded that the letter writer was a crackpot and disregarded it. He later said that "a scheme of such wickedness and outrage could not be entertained by any citizen of the United States." Brown's second in command John Henry Kagi wrote to a friend on October 15, the day before the attack, that they had heard there was a search warrant for the Kennedy farmhouse, and therefore they had to start eight days sooner than planned. The time was soon to come. The raid started on October 16, 1859, on Sunday.
The historic Department of Justice report on Ferguson was very detailed. The report didn't charge Wilson with murdering Michael Brown. It did give a searing report in criticizing the policing and court practices of Ferguson, Missouri law enforcement authorities. Investigators proved that nearly every aspect of Ferguson's law enforcement system harmed African Americans in a severely disproportionate amount. The report documented racist emails sent by the police and municipal court supervisors. This proved the bias in law enforcement and a system that wanted to use arrest warrants to economically exploit black and poor residents of Ferguson. The report found that 67% of African Americans in Ferguson accounted for 93% of the arrests made from 2012-2014. The report cited a story of a 32-year-old black man playing basketball and unjustly arrested by a police officer. A Ferguson woman parked her car illegally once in 2007. She was fined more than 1,000 dollars and spent 6 days in jail. The report found that the disproportionate number of arrests, tickets, and use of force are from unlawful bias, not crime-related issues. The report found that arrest warrants are heavily used as threats to push for payments and quotas made by the officers. The DOJ report mentioned how officers used a dog to attack an unarmed 14-year-old black teenager and struck him while he was lying on the ground. This teen was waiting for his friends in an abandoned house. The report concluded that in every dog bite incident reported, the person bitten was a black American. There are other parts of the reports documenting the racism, corruption, and economic exploitation from the Ferguson police Department.
Fashion changed massively from 500 to 1500 A.D. during the Middle Ages. After the end of the Roman Empire, the many Chinese dynasties, and the growth of the Mound cultures of America, fashion also changed. People wore more clothes that dealt with the bliaud, which was a dress worn by people. There was the hennin in the 14th and 15th centuries. The hennin is a cone-like hate that looks similar to the spires of the cathedral spire. Tunics were won by businesspeople and the wealthy during the Medieval period too. Many middle-class and poor people wore certain people too. More elaborate pieces of armor were worn too by solders in Europe, Africa, Asia, and in the Middle East (where much of the Crusades existed). By this time of world history, we saw the expansion of the religion of Islam, the spread of the Black Plague, and the Spanish development of culture by many Muslims. There were the ruff and farthingale wore by many human beings during that era of time. In Africa, there were diverse fabrics and fashion filled with gold, hats, and elaborate clothing too.
In 1915, massive developments happened in World War One. In response to a North Sea military blockade that Britain imposed the previous November, on Feb 4, something happened. Germany declared a war zone in the waters around the U.K., beginning a campaign of submarine warfare. This would lead to the May 7 sinking of the British ocean liner Lusitania by a German U-boat. In Europe, Allied forces gained momentum by attacking the Ottoman Empire twice where the Sea of Marmara meets the Aegean Sea. Both the Dardanelles Campaign in February and the Battle of Gallipoli in April proved costly failures. On April 22, the Second Battle of Ypres began. It was during this battle that the Germans first used poison gas. Soon, both sides were engaged in chemical warfare, using chlorine, mustard, and phosgene gasses that injured more than 1 million men by the war's end. Russia, meanwhile, was fighting not just on the battlefield but at home as the government of Tsar Nicholas II faced the threat of internal revolution. That fall, the tsar would take personal control over Russia's army in a last-ditch attempt to shore up his military and domestic power.
By 1916, the two sides were largely stalemated, fortified in mile after mile of trenches. On Feb. 21, German troops launched an offensive that would become the longest and bloodiest of the war. The Battle of Verdun would drag on until December with little in the way of territorial gains on either side. Between 700,000 and 900,000 men died on both sides. Undeterred, British and French troops launched their own offensive in July at the Battle of the Somme. Like Verdun, it would prove a costly campaign for all involved. On July 1 alone, the first day of the campaign, the British lost more than 50,000 troops. In another military first, the Somme conflict also saw the first use of armored tanks in battle. At sea, the German and British navies met in the first and largest naval battle of the war on May 31. The two sides fought to a draw, with Britain enduring the most casualties. In 1917, everything will change.
Although the U.S. was still officially neutral at the start of 1917, that would soon change. In late January, British intelligence officers intercepted the Zimmerman Telegram, a German communique to Mexican officials. In the telegram, Germany tried to entice Mexico into attacking the U.S., offering Texas and other states in return. When the contents of the telegram were revealed, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson broke off diplomatic relations with Germany in early February. On April 6, at Wilson's urging, Congress declared war on Germany, and the U.S. officially entered World War I. On Dec. 7, Congress would also declare war against Austria-Hungary. However, it wouldn't be until the following year that U.S. troops began arriving in numbers large enough to make a difference in the battle. In Russia, roiled by domestic revolution, Tsar Nicholas II abdicated on March 15. He and his family would eventually be arrested, detained, and murdered by revolutionaries. That fall, on Nov. 7, the Bolsheviks successfully overthrew the Russian government and quickly withdrew from World War I hostilities.
The United States' entry into World War I proved to be the turning point in 1918. But the first few months didn't seem so promising for Allied troops. With the withdrawal of Russian forces, Germany was able to reinforce the western front and launch an offensive in mid-March. This final German assault would reach its zenith with the Second Battle of the Marne on July 15. Although they inflicted substantial casualties, the Germans could not muster the strength to combat the reinforced Allied troops. A counteroffensive led by the U.S. in August would spell the end of Germany. By November, with morale at home collapsing and troops in retreat, Germany collapsed. On Nov. 9, 1918, German Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated and fled the country. Two days later, Germany signed the armistice at Compiegne, France. Fighting ended on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. In later years, the date would be commemorated in the U.S. first as Armistice Day, and later as Veterans Day. All told, some 11 million military personnel and 7 million civilians died in the conflict.
Las Vegas as a city has a recent history. The settlement of Las Vegas, Nevada was founded in 1905 after the opening of a railroad that linked Los Angeles and Salt Lake City. The stopover attracted some farmers (mostly from Utah) to the area. The freshwater was piped to the settlement. In 1911, the town was incorporated as part of the newly founded Clark County. Urbanization took off in 1931 when work started on the Boulder Dam (now the Hoover Dam), bringing a huge influx of young male workers, for whom theaters and casinos were built, largely by the Mafia. Electricity from the dam also enabled the building of many new hotels along the Strip. The arrival of Howard Hughes in 1966 did much to offset mob influence and helped turn Las Vegas into more of a family tourist center, now classified as a Mega resort.
The name Las Vegas—Spanish for “the meadows”—was given to the area in 1829 by Rafael Rivera, a member of the Spanish explorer Antonio Armijo trading party that was traveling to Los Angeles, and stopped for water there on the Old Spanish Trail from New Mexico. At that time, several parts of the valley contained artesian wells surrounded by extensive green areas. The flows from the wells fed the Las Vegas Wash, which runs to the Colorado River.
The prehistoric landscape of the Las Vegas Valley and most of Southern Nevada was once a marsh with water and vegetation. The rivers that created the marsh eventually went underground, and the marsh receded. The valley then evolved into a parched, arid landscape that only supported the hardiest animals and plants. At some point in the valley's early geologic history, the water resurfaced and flowed into what is now the Colorado River. This created a luxurious plant life, forming a wetland oasis in the Mojave Desert landscape. Evidence of prehistoric life in Las Vegas Valley has been found at the Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument. An abundance of Late Pleistocene fossils has been discovered from this locality, including Columbian mammoths and Camelops hesternus.
By Timothy
