Word: offing
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1960-1969
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
What was Ulbricht up to? Some diplomats in Bonn thought that he was cynically offering West Germany the kind of negotiations it could not agree to. More likely, however, the old Stalinist had been under some pressure from Moscow to adopt a more flexible approach and had responded by changing...
"Great Britain is that peculiar country in Europe," Arthur Koestler once wrote, "where people drive on the left side of the road, measure in inches and yards, and hang people by the neck until dead." Hanging has indeed been a peculiarly British institution. During the 18th century, while capital punishment...
The gallows and the gibbet were almost as commonplace as the village church, and "hanging days" were occasions for revelry. In London at the "Tyburn tree" (the present location of Marble Arch), crowds of 100,000 or more assembled to watch the festivities. Distinguished visitors to the ceremonies at Newgate...
Reform came surprisingly late. Not until 1908 was the death penalty abolished for children under 16, and not until 1931 for expectant mothers. In 1957, a new homicide act sought to limit the use of capital punishment in murder cases to hardened criminals. Harold Wilson's newly elected Labor...
Final Debate. As the trial period nears its end, a nationwide debate has gone on over whether or not to make the abolition permanent. Police and prison officers lobbied for a return to hanging. Most Britons seemed to side with them; polls showed that as many as 84% of the...