A Brief History On January 10, 2020, the latest World War I combat epic film, simply titled 1917, makes its widespread opening across the United States. Though the film deals with British, rather than American main characters, the incredible levels of tension, tragedy, terror, and heart pounding action combine to make this film a certain contender for the Best Picture Oscar. Digging Deeper Set in the year, 1917, the movie captures the drudgery and crushingly oppressiveness of 3 long years of war seemingly without end. Set designers made elaborate trenches and battlefield depictions to capture the surreal mien of that…
Browsing: January 10
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A Brief History On January 10, 1927, Austrian/German filmmaking legend Fritz Lang released his movie based on a story by Thea von Harbou called Metropolis, a dystopian view of the future in which enormous differences exist between social classes. Despite lukewarm initial critical reaction, the film has gone on to achieve status as one of the greatest silent era films of all time and is considered a groundbreaking film in the genre of Science Fiction. Today we use the occasion of the release of Metropolis to list our “10 Greatest Films About the Future,” a subjective list we admit, and…
A Brief History On January 10, 1776, the pamphlet Common Sense by American patriot Thomas Paine was published. This persuasive document was widely read by Americans, encouraged to declare independence from an overbearing British colonial government. Some books, pamphlets, manifestos, essays, and other written documents over the years have helped mold History. Today, we list 12 of those important works. Digging Deeper 1. Common Sense, Thomas Paine, 1776. Paine was a radical with little patience of tolerance of those that disagreed with him, and his forceful writings helped convince Americans to finally revolt against British rule. Common Sense is perhaps…
A Brief History On January 10, 49 B.C., Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon River as he marched toward the city of Rome with his legions. Since it was forbidden to cross the Rubicon with an army, it was seen as a threat to the Republic, and by doing so, Caesar made a bold statement about his intentions to seize power. Ever since, when we say someone has “crossed the Rubicon,” we are talking about someone who has taken a fateful and irreversible step, such as when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. A point of no return if you will, what aviators call the “Bingo”…
A Brief History On January 10, 1810, Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of the French, divorced Josephine, Empress of the French, the only woman Napoleon ever really loved. Digging Deeper Digging deeper, we find Napoleon and Josephine married on March 9, 1796, beginning a love and lust-filled marriage marred by indiscretions on both sides! Napoleon, arguably the most important mortal man in history (the subject of more books than any other man, except for Jesus) married Josephine and later crowned her Empress, a title he refused to strip her of even when they divorced. Josephine, actually born Marie Josephe Rose Tascher de La Pagerie…
