Author: Dr. Zar

A Brief History Despite being known for their formidable military, Sparta has actually suffered as many if not more famous defeats as they have won victories in battle.  Therefore, we ask, “Is Sparta’s much celebrated military actually overrated?”  Please examine the list of their battle record below and let us know your thoughts in the comments using Disqus! Digging Deeper: 22 Spartan Defeats In 669/8 BC, the Argives defeated Sparta in the First Battle of Hysiae. In c. 550 BC, the Arcadians defeated Sparta in the Battle of the Fetters. On either August 20 or September 8-10, 480 BC, the Persians…

A Brief History On September 9, 2015, a new record was broken!  On this historic date, Queen Elizabeth II (r. 1952-present) became Britain’s longest-reigning monarch.  She has now reigned for 63 years and seven months, surpassing the record set by her great-great grandmother, Queen Victoria (r. 1837-1901). Digging Deeper Queen Elizabeth II (born 1926) became Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms on February 6, 1952.  You may be asking, “Dr. Zar, just how many other Commonwealth realms is she queen of?”  Well, let me tell you: the 89-year-old monarch is actually queen of sixteen member states…

A Brief History The ‘Slot machine’ was a name formerly used for all automatic vending machines and gambling devices. You can play slots today in a little more of a modern setting over at 666Casino, they have numerous fruit machine games to play. It was in the 20th century that the term was restricted to gambling. There are other terms for slot machines. These include “fruit machine” which is a term popular in Britain and one-armed bandit. Digging Deeper The First Slot Machine: Liberty Bell from Charles Fey The Liberty Bell slot machine was first invented in 1895 by a car…

A Brief History This article present a chronological history of Jerusalem! Digging Deeper On Good Friday, somewhere around 33 A.D., 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.   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…

A Brief History This article presents a timeline of The Dark Ages! Prologue On September 28, 235, Pope Pontian became the first pope to resign his office, only to live out his days exiled to the mines of Sardinia! On September 25th, Catholics remember the death of Spanish Saint Fermin, the first bishop of Pamplona, in 303 A.D…and the miracles that followed! On October 27, 312, the night before the Battle of Milvian Bridge against the Roman Emperor Maxentius, the Emperor Constantine the Great adopted as his motto the Greek phrase “ἐν τούτῳ νίκα” after having a vision of a…