Browsing: April 25

A Brief History On April 25, 2019, the national basketball league and basketball fans everywhere, especially in Boston, were saddened by the death of legendary Boston Celtic John Havlicek.  An inducted member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Havlicek played on 8 NBA Championship Boston Celtics teams, one of 4 NBA players that played on that many Championship teams, along with the 2 players that played on even more top teams.  Guess who is not on the list?  Michael Jordan!  While His Airness was certainly one of the greatest players of all time, worthy of consideration as the…

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A Brief History On April 25, 1644, the last of the Ming Dynasty Emperors, Zhu Youjian, known as The Chongzhen Emperor, committed suicide when his armies were unable to contain a peasant rebellion.  Over the centuries, many leaders of countries, kingdoms, etc. have for one reason or another committed suicide, an ignoble end to the glory of leading a country or kingdom.  Today we list 10 such leaders and former leaders that killed themselves. Digging Deeper 1. Zhu Youjian, “The Chongzhen Emperor,” China, 1644. The Ming Dynasty reigned in China from 1368 to 1644, with 17 emperors in the line,…

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A Brief History On April 25, 799, Pope Leo III was leading a procession honoring St. Mark in Rome, chanting prayers and responses with the crowd, a practice called the Greater Litanies. During this exercise of his sacred duties, supporters of his predecessor, Pope Adrian I, including the former Pope’s nephew attacked Leo in an attempt to poke out the pontiff’s eyes and cut off his tongue!  (Note: In 2018 the cable news giant CNN is airing a 6 part mini-series called Pope: The Most Powerful Man in History, starring Liam Neeson. The show airs on Sundays at 10 pm…

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A Brief History On April 25, 404 B.C., during the Peloponnesian War (431-404 B.C.), Lysander’s Spartan armies defeated the Athenians and the war finally ended. Digging Deeper The Peloponnesian War was an ancient Greek war fought by Athens and its empire against the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta.  The war dragged on for nearly three decades and expanded beyond Greece to as far away as Sicily with neither side apparently able to win a decisive, war-ending battle, at least until the skillful Spartan general Lysander (died 395 B.C.) entered the fray. Unlike some of his predecessors, the new Spartan general, Lysander,…

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A Brief History On April 25, 1792, the guillotine was served its first victim.  Meant to be a humane form of capital punishment, other modern forms have also attempted to achieve a quick and painless death for the condemned.  Other methods have been purposely designed to cause pain and terror, both to the condemned and to potential violators. H ere are 10 methods of execution that are not very humane, even if they were intended to be. Obviously, there are many more interesting methods of execution, so stay tuned for a sequel list on this website. 10. Smashing the Head.…

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