Author Dr. Zar

Dr. Zar

Dr. Zar graduated with a B.A. in French and history, a Master’s in History, and a Ph.D. in History. He currently teaches history in Ohio.

The Fascinating Early History of Slot Machines

By Dr. Zar on January 18, 2019 Arts & Entertainment, January 17, Society

A Brief History On January 17, 2010, Stephanie Peatling, writing for The Sydney Morning Herald, reported that there “is now one poker machine for every 110 people in Australia, putting the nation in the top 10 of international gambling meccas, alongside Monaco and Macau.” Anyone alive and using the internet today can attest to the fact that slot machines are advertised practically everywhere. Hugely popular across the web, they are played by people of all demographics and seem to enjoy a mass appeal. Given that we are so familiar with seeing them online, however, it can be easy to forget…

A Video Timeline of The Modern Supernatural: From Gods to Monsters in Western History (History 296)

By Dr. Zar on December 28, 2018 The Paranormal, Timelines

A Brief History This article presents a video timeline for students of The Modern Supernatural: From Gods to Monsters in Western History (History 296) at John Carroll University. For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to a video covering that date’s event. After watching that video, please post a one or two sentence comment in the comments section for the video that demonstrates that you watched the video. These comments or “thesis statements” are 1-2 sentence summaries of the video. They should include the most important aspects of each video. In other words, the thesis…

A Timeline of The Modern Supernatural: From Gods to Monsters in Western History (History 296)

By Dr. Zar on December 28, 2018 The Paranormal, Timelines

A Brief History This article presents a timeline for students of The Modern Supernatural: From Gods to Monsters in Western History (History 296) at John Carroll University. For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event. After reading that article, please post a one or two sentence comment in the comments section for the article that demonstrates that you read the article. These comments or “thesis statements” are 1-2 sentence summaries of the article. They should include the most important aspects of each article. In other words, the thesis statement…

A Video Timeline of Western Civilization (History 112)

By Dr. Zar on December 25, 2018 Timelines

A Brief History This article presents a video timeline for students of Western Civilization (History 112) at Ashland University. For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to a video covering that date’s event. After watching that video, please post a one or two sentence comment in the comments section for the video that demonstrates that you watched the video. These comments or “thesis statements” are 1-2 sentence summaries of the video. They should include the most important aspects of each video. In other words, the thesis statement should include the individuals involved, the time period,…

The Long and Storied Evolution of Card Games

By Dr. Zar on December 4, 2018 Arts & Entertainment, December 31

A Brief History On December 31, 1771, a future President of the United States of America and an avid card player named George Washington visited Alexandria, Virginia, where he purchased two new packs of cards at a cost of two shillings and played cards at night (he lost). Back in the ‘olden’ days, people had to amuse themselves in ways that did not involve the super sleek and shiny tech that we have come to know and love. No games consoles, no social media, no Blu-Rays…just the simple pleasures of an altogether more innocent era. One of the key pastimes…