Tyrants

2nd December 1547 the Death of Hernán Cortés

Hernán "What a Killer" Cortés

“He came dancing across the water with his galleons and guns, Looking for the new world in that palace in the sun”- from Cortez the Killer by Neil Young Hernán (Hernando) Cortés was a glory-seeking, ruthless murderer capable of barbaric cruelty, who … Continue reading

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30th April 1945 the Suicide of Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler

Today we celebrate with arms outstretched in utterly ecstatic glee the bizarre Berlin suicide sixty-six years ago of that Cosmic Herostratus, World Garbage Mouth and Nihilistic Ruiner of All Things Adolf Hitler, who took his own life with poison even … Continue reading

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17th April 1975 Pol Pot Declares Year Zero

Pol Pot's Gruesome Legacy

Thirty-six years ago today, Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge captured Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh and declared revolutionary Year Zero. After five years of bloody civil war, the conquering Communist guerrillas were welcomed as heroes by a relieved population desperate for peace … Continue reading

Posted in Atrocities, Tyrants, World Events | 1 Comment

11th April 1979 the End of Idi Amin’s Reign of Terror

See ya

Thirty-two years ago today, Idi Amin was deposed as president of Uganda after his attempt to annex part of Tanzania spectacularly backfired. Following a counterattack by the Tanzania People’s Defence Force, the former stooge of Imperial Britain who had in 1971 … Continue reading

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5th March 1953 the Death of Joseph Stalin

“Death is the solution to all problems. No man – no problem.” - J. Stalin

Fifty-eight years ago today, the people of the Soviet Union were finally shown cosmic mercy for their long sufferance, freedom at last from their quarter-century endurance test at the hands of a peripheral mad man. Peripheral? J. Stalin hailed from … Continue reading

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31st October 1961 Stalin’s Corpse Demoted

Worker Sweeping Snow From Stone Marking Josef Stalin's Grave

Fifty years ago today, the Soviet Union’s policy of de-Stalinisation reached its peak when the tyrant’s body was removed from Lenin’s tomb in Red Square and reburied about 300 feet from that mausoleum, among minor leaders of the Revolution. A … Continue reading

Posted in Curiosities, Tyrants | 1 Comment

14th August

On this August day on which no great act occurred worthy of commemorating as an On This Deity entry, let’s take this opportunity to remind ourselves of the two ancient world tyrants – Julius Caesar and Augustus Caesar – both of … Continue reading

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