A Brief History On October 24, 2018, Americans have just two days to wait for the latest action-adventure movie showcasing brave and capable American heroes saving the world, a submarine based thriller featuring almost super-hero-like Navy Seals. Oddly enough, Hunter Killer has a high profile cast of Hollywood stars that are not even American! Gerard Butler (Scottish, as the captain of the USS Arkansas), Gary Oldman (English, as the American Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff), Caroline Goodall (English, as the American President), David Gyasi (British, as Chief of the Boat on the Arkansas), Troy Stephens (English as the…
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A Brief History On October 21, 1096, a Seljuk Turk army led by Sultan Kilij Arslan I massacred a Christian army from Europe, known as the People’s Army, ending the first of the religious wars known as the Crusades. This particular “Crusade” is not considered an “official Crusade,” a distinction reserved for the Catholic Church sanctioned invasion of the Middle East (i.e., Holy Land) a year later. Digging Deeper The so called “People’s Crusade,” “Popular Crusade,” “Peasants’ Crusade” or “Paupers’ Crusade” was the work of a charismatic French monk called Peter the Hermit. In keeping with the multiple names theme,…
A Brief History On October 19, 1864, military forces of the Confederate States of America invaded Vermont from a staging area in Quebec, Canada. Although we have long been taught in school that the Gettysburg campaign was the last invasion of the North by the Confederate States, the St. Albans Raid proves that premise false. Although not a “real” invasion by a large military force, the 21 cavalry soldiers involved on the side of the Rebels were in fact real soldiers of the CSA, men who had evaded capture in other campaigns and made their way North to Canada to…
A Brief History On October 15, 1888, George Lusk, the chairman of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee, received a letter purporting to be from the infamous mass murderer known as “Jack the Ripper.” Known through history as the “From Hell Letter,” this bit of mail remains one of the most famous letters of all time. Perhaps because the letter included a piece of human kidney from a murder victim? Today we look at 5 letters that remain of either great historical importance or of great human interest and/or amusement. As always, please nominate the fascinating letters you would include on such…
A Brief History On October 9, 2006, the “Hermit Kingdom” of North Korea conducted its first test of a nuclear bomb, an event that has led to this rogue nation that is run by a blatantly deranged dictator to develop an arsenal of nuclear weapons. The finger pointing among American politicians and American political parties over exactly who “allowed” North Korea to gain nuclear weapon status has been going on ever since and continues today. Digging Deeper When World War II ended there was a land grab going on around the world, with some former colonies demanding independence, others being…