At their last supper together, Jesus Christ and his disciples shared a sip of wine from a cup in what became a communal ritual for the Christian Church. The ritual continues to this day, but whatever happened to the cup and where it currently resides remains the subject of a vast amount of (mostly) medieval […]
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At no time during the American Revolution were the American Colonies able to match the British Royal Navy at sea. However, with only a modest navy the Continental Congress resorted to commissioning private citizens to arm vessels and attack British shipping for profit. The results put a positive tilt on the war in the American
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In September of 31 BC, Octavian defeated the naval forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium. Shortly thereafter he became Caesar Augustus, the first Roman Emperor. For the next 211 years the Roman Empire enjoyed an unprecedented period of peace and prosperity that became known as Pax Romana. It encompassed the
PAX ROMANA—ANCIENT ROME’S GREATEST ERA OF PROSPERITY Read More »
In September of 1973, the Chilean Army marched on the Presidential Palace in Santiago and ousted the popularly elected socialist president, Salvador Allende. What followed was brutal repression, murder and torture, as General Augusto Pinochet seized control and ruled with an iron fist for the next seventeen years. At the time democracy was lost in
THE 1973 COUP IN CHILE–FIFTY YEARS AFTER Read More »
In 1883 the small volcanic island of Krakatoa in Indonesia, exploded with a force 13,000 times greater than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, during World War II. Although not considered the deadliest eruption in recorded history, it was the first natural disaster that was felt worldwide and whose cause was known. The majority
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Rhodes, the largest of the Greek Islands, is known today for its beach resorts, old fortresses, ancient ruins, and remnants of its occupation by the Knights of St. John during the Crusades. But during ancient times it had one of the world’s tallest statues at about 108 feet high that became known as the Colossus
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In New York’s harbor stands one of the most famous symbols of American democracy, the Statue of Liberty. The colossal copper statue is a gift from the people of France as a monument to freedom in America. It became a dominant figure to immigrants who passed by it on their way to Ellis Island for
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Every year on July 4th, this country celebrates its independence from Great Britain. It took a long war to achieve this end, but the events that led up to the Declaration of Independence provide an interesting story in their own right. The Seven Years War, Ending February 10, 1763: From 1756 to 1763 the British
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Much has been written and re-enacted about the wreck of R.M.S. Titanic on April 14, 1912, off the coast of Newfoundland. Several movies have been made attempting to capture the drama of the ill-fated ship. But relatively little has been made known about the relief effort that swung into action after the ship was stricken.
THE TITANIC PART III: THE RESCUE EFFORT Read More »
When the first week of June as it relates to World War II is mentioned, most of the time the reference is to the D-Day Invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944. This event was arguably the most significant event in the European Theater of the war. But an equally important event took place June
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