A Brief History On April 20, 1657, the Dutch masters of the colony of New Amsterdam, later to become New York City, made the historic move of granting religious freedom to two dozen Jewish refugees that had fled oppression in Recife, New Holland, in 1654 when the Portuguese conquered that city. Digging Deeper This humble beginnings of the New York Jewish population was opposed by Peter Stuyvesant, the Director of New Amsterdam. Fortunately for the refugees, the Dutch West India Company headquartered back in Amsterdam saw otherwise and ordered the Jewish refugees be given sanctuary. By 1661 the first Jew…
Author: Major Dan
Major Dan
Major Daniel Zar is a retired veteran of the United States Marine Corps. He served during the Cold War and has traveled to many countries around the world. Prior to his military service, he graduated from Cleveland State University, having majored in sociology. Following his military service, he worked as a police officer eventually earning the rank of captain prior to his retirement.
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A Brief History On April 19, 1927, vaudevillian and stage actress Mae West was sentenced to 10 days in jail for “corrupting the morals of youth!” Digging Deeper Mae West, star of stage, movies and radio, started her performing career at age 5. Obviously meant for entertainment, West also wrote the play, Sex, for which she was jailed. The arrest and jail time only gave her more good publicity which helped propel her to stardom, eventually being ranked the 15th biggest female star of all time. Known for her hourglass figure and sultry ways, she played the role of sexy…
A Brief History On April 19, 1956, the fairy tale came true for American actress Grace Kelly when she married Prince Rainier and became Princess Grace! Digging Deeper Grace Kelly, already a famous movie star before meeting Prince Rainier of Monaco in 1955, was the product of a 3 time Olympic Gold winning oarsman and the first female head of the physical education department at Penn State. With bloodlines like that, it was no surprise when her short acting career (age 20 to 26) earned her an Academy Award (Oscar) and Golden Globe awards, among others. Starring with A-list leading…
A Brief History Religious reformer Martin Luther refused to recant during his trial for heresy on April 18, 1521, but what might you not know about him? Digging Deeper 10. Luther received a Doctor of Theology degree from the University of Wittenberg in 1512. He had earlier earned two bachelor’s degrees. He received a bachelor’s degree in Biblical studies in 1508 and another bachelor’s degree in the Sentences by Peter Lombard in 1509. 9. Although Luther believed that “holy war” or religious wars were against God’s will, the same war fought for secular reasons were permissible, or even desirable! Meanwhile, Luther’s…
A Brief History On Good Friday, possibly April 3, 33 AD, Jesus of Nazareth, prophet to Islam and Judaism, the Christ and Savior to Christians, was crucified by the Romans in Jerusalem. Crucifixion was a particularly brutal and drawn out process of execution often reserved for “dangerous” criminals, ones that threatened the status quo. Here we list 10 notable cases where a person was crucified. Note: In April of 2019, the government of Saudi Arabia announced the execution of 37 suspected terrorists, one of those executions coming in the form of crucifixion! Thus, it is logical to conclude that crucifixion…