A Brief History On July 12, AD 70, the army of Titus Caesar Vespasianus, a Roman general that would later become Roman Emperor, finally attacked the walls of the city of Jerusalem after a 6 month siege, succeeding in taking the city 3 days later. Digging Deeper By taking Jerusalem, Titus effectively ended the Jewish revolt and in a punitive measure he had the Second Temple destroyed, a temple that has yet to be rebuilt. The Second Temple, known as Herod’s Temple, had stood for nearly 6 centuries until its destruction. The Jews never recovered from this defeat, and the…
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A Brief History On July 11, 2025, Superman was released in the United States by Warner Bros. Pictures. Digging Deeper The premier superhero in the DC cinematic universe, the alien from Krypton, and believe us, the “alien” part is prominently mentioned repeatedly in the film, is not the sure, confident, unflappable and invincible hero we have come to know from previous Superman movies! More emotional and sensitive than previous iterations, this Kal-El has been accused by some movie goers and critics of being “woke.” We disagree! Just because the character, played by David Corenswet, is more sensitive and vulnerable than…
A Brief History On February 24, 2022, days after recognizing Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states, Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered a full scale invasion of Ukraine. Digging Deeper Russia’s invasion has had five major phases thus far. The first phase covers the period from February 24th, 2022, when Russia launched a military invasion of Ukraine, to April 7th, 2022 when fighting focused away from the northeast and Kyiv and towards the south and east of Ukraine. The second phase covers the period from April 8th, 2022, when the area of heavy fighting shifted to the south and east of…
A Brief History On July 9, 1994, the world suffered the loss of another Bill, this time Bill Mosienko, a Ukrainian-Canadian former pro hockey player. Scoring a “hat trick” in an NHL record 21 seconds and being named “the most gentlemanly player in the league” by winning the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy in 1945 are feats worthy of a song being sung about this Hall of Fame skater. Digging Deeper The name “Bill” appears in many notable songs, which today we list, asking you what “Bill” songs you would add? “Don’t Take Your Guns to Town,” a plea to a…
A Brief History On July 7, 1863, the US instituted its first ever draft of young men to serve in the military, a necessity brought about by the enormous effort needed to prosecute the US Civil War. As usual, rich people were not really in danger of risking their lives, because for $300 a draftee could buy his way out of induction! Digging Deeper The US Civil War draft started a history of controversy over forced military service in the US, and infamous draft riots occurred in New York City and other Northern areas, even before the government started drafting…