Author: Dr. Zar

A Brief History On October 13, 54 A.D., Roman Emperor Claudius was poisoned to death, possibly by his wife, via tainted mushrooms! Digging Deeper Claudius is most famous for being Roman Emperor when the Roman Empire added Britain to its territory.  As such, he is generally remembered for his expansion of Roman control over a territory that would remain in Roman possession for centuries.  Yet it is with his personal life, particularly in his marriages, that we find all sorts of less impressive accomplishments. His first marriage was to Plautia Urgulanilla (try saying that five times fast!).  This marriage ended…

A Brief History On October 12, 1216, King John of England (r. 1199–1216) lost his crown jewels! Digging Deeper England has had only one king named John for a good reason: their only king who had that name was quite possibly the country’s worst monarch in its entire over 1000-year-long history! John “Lackland” or “Softsword” reigned as England’s king from April 6, 1199 until his death on October 19, 1216.  He succeeded the famed crusader-king Richard the Lionheart (r. 1189–1199) on England’s throne and experienced one debacle after another.  Even before John’s reign officially began, he tried and failed to…

A Brief History On October 11, 1972, a race riot took place not in a city, but at sea! Digging Deeper From the 1950s on into the 1970s, tensions among American whites and blacks were appallingly high.  While we Americans commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr.’s peaceful efforts at integration with a holiday, the March on Washington and “I have a dream” speech are but part of the story of the long and arguably still ongoing effort at promoting racial equality in our country. By the end of the 1960s, another more violent part of that story came into play.  Nationwide…

A Brief History On either October 10th or November 10th, 1580, after a three-day siege, a papal army surrendered to the English in Ireland, only to be massacred. Digging Deeper In the decades following the religious turmoil brought about by the Protestant Reformation, the various Christian groups of Europe battled each other in wars to either assert their religious independence or to forcibly convert their enemies. One of the most infamous examples of religious violence occurred in the British isles where King Henry VIII founded the Anglican Church primarily to divorce one wife so as to marry another.  Henry’s reign…

A Brief History On October 9, 2013, American Horror Story: Coven debuted on FX with at least three characters based on real life infamous Americans! Digging Deeper First off, yes, most of the show’s plot and characters are the inventions of the show’s creative writers, but the story does have elements based in our country’s history.  This approach is actually consistent with previous incarnations of the show as the original series did, after all, include notorious bisected murder victim Elizabeth Short a.k.a. The Black Dahlia in a memorable episode. This series (yes, series, not season, because for some reason when…