Author: Dr. Zar

A Brief History This article serves as chronological listing of key bizarre events in the history of Great Britain and Ireland during the Tudor and Stuart dynasties that ruled over these islands and England’s colonies from 1485 through 1688.  This article also provides a sort of table of contents to our other articles concerning these eras in British and Irish history. Digging Deeper On June 26, 1483, Richard Plantagenet, Duke of Gloucester, proclaimed himself King Richard III of England.  Just a couple of years later, Henry Tudor would defeat Richard III in 1485 at the Battle of Bosworth where Richard died…

A Brief History This article provides a timeline in the life of Vlad the Impaler and his “rebirth” as the Dracula of modern popular culture! Digging Deeper On June 17, 1462, Vlad Tepes, also known as Vlad III The Impaler, or simply Dracula, conducted a night raid against his Turkish enemy, Mehmed II who had invaded Vlad’s land of Wallachia (part of modern Romania). On November 26, 1476, Vlad the Impaler declared his third reign as ruler of Wallachia. On May 26, 1896, Bram Stoker’s horror novel, Dracula, was published.   On October 5 and 7, 2017, Kent State University at Stark’s History Club and…

A Brief History This article presents a timeline of music history. Digging Deeper On January 1, 1773, the first use of the all familiar hymn, “Amazing Grace“, was performed at a church service in England. On May 23, 1829, Austrian maker of keyboard instruments, Cyrill Demian, a man of Armenian descent, was granted a patent for his new musical instrument, the Accordion. On March 31, 1923, the first U.S. dance marathon ended in New York City but began a strange fad with sometimes fatal consequences! On October 11, 1932, in the heart of Depression Era Tennessee, little Dorothy Marie Marsh,…

A Brief History On June 16, 1586, Mary, Queen of Scots, named her heir and successor, Phillip II of Spain.  Since Mary was imprisoned at the time and not on any throne to give, this move was sure to irritate her jailer, Queen Elizabeth I of England.  Plus, Phillip II was Catholic as was Mary, something the Protestant Elizabeth would certainly not tolerate. Digging Deeper Mary had become Queen at age 6 days upon the death of her father, King James V of Scotland.  Raised in France while adults ran Scotland, she was married to the heir (Dauphin) to the…

A Brief History Today, June 13, 2014, the latest cinematic version of Godzilla is being released in China after having already been released throughout Europe and the Americas in May 2014.  In less than half of a month, the film grossed over $300 million around the world and its release in China is sure to add to this incredible profit.  In celebration of this film’s success, our sister site, Fact Fiend, has produced several intriguing articles concerning various fascinating facts about Godzilla’s long cinematic journey.  The outstanding author of these fun articles, Karl Smallwood, has also produced a couple similar entries for our parent…