The Riot Act was passed by the British Parliament in 1714, the first year of the reign of George I, and came into effect in August 1715. This was a time of widespread social disturbance, as the preamble describes; the Act sought to put an end to this. A group of twelve or more people, “being unlawfully, riotously and tumultuously assembled”, would be read a proclamation; they must disperse within an hour, on pain of death. The same fate would befall anyone preventing the reading of the proclamation, or damaging buildings while on a riot. If the law enforcement officers happened to injure or kill a rioter, they were immune from prosecution. The reading of the proclamation, the wording o...
Eighteen short nonfiction works in the public domain, independently chosen by the readers. Topics include the discovery of X-rays, earthquakes, Hegel, Sir William Osler, Charles William Eliot, Oscar Wilde, Charles Sumner, Monica Lewinsky, and Anita Loos; the Lincoln highway, joys of gardening, goldfish, skunk raising, and the cultivation of tobacco.
"Earthquakes" was co-authored by Louis Pakiser.
The book chronicles and vilifies its targets in three parts: “National Delusions”, “Peculiar Follies”, and “Philosophical Delusions”.
The subjects of Mackay’s debunking include alchemy, beards (influence of politics and religion on), witch-hunts, crusades and duels. Present day writers on economics, such as Andrew Tobias, laud the three chapters on economic bubbles.