A Brief History On March 13, 222, the Roman army hailed Severus Alexander as emperor, following the assassination two days earlier of his cousin Elagabalus. Digging Deeper In at least two excerpts from the biography of Alexander in the Historia Augusta, the emperor is described as having a disdain for jewelry. In the first, the biographer says, “All the jewels that he had he sold and the proceeds he deposited in the public treasury, saying that men had no need of jewels, and that the women of the royal household should be content with one hair-net, a pair of earrings,…
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A Brief History On March 13, 1825, Pope Leo XII published an apostolic constitution called Quo graviora, a church law that forbade Catholics from becoming Freemasons. His order confirmed earlier papal edicts and was confirmed again in 2023. Digging Deeper The current status for any Catholic joining the Freemasons is that those “who enroll in Masonic associations are in a state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion.” Apparently the secret rites of Freemasonry are what Catholics object to. Freemasonry goes back to perhaps 1599 or as recently as the 1700s and is an organization of people that…
A Brief History On March 12, 1938, German troops marched into Austria and the absorption of Austria into Germany became a fact. Other countries have either merged or absorbed independent lands, either voluntarily or involuntarily, and today we look at some of those mergers. Digging Deeper A long lasting, but tenuous merger is the United Kingdom of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. This union was a work in progress from 1535 to 1801, until most of Ireland became independent in 1922. The USSR, which resulted from Russia transforming into a giant communist state in 1922, incorporated 21 “republics” and…
A Brief History On March 11, 222, Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, known better as Elagabalus, was assassinated by the Praetorian Guard and replaced by his 14-year-old cousin. Digging Deeper Elagabalus served four years as Emperor and died at age 18, after a depraved reign of murder, torture, and perversity. Some of the other Roman Emperors that vie for the title of “Worst” include: Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, known as Caligula, who was so awful that a major motion picture was made about his bizarre reign. Nero, although not guilty of fiddling while Rome burned, was pretty bad, murderous,…
A Brief History On March 9, 1987, Chrysler Corporation, then maker of Chrysler, Dodge, and Plymouth cars and trucks, announced the absorption of American Motors under the Chrysler banner. American Motors itself was formed in 1954 when Nash-Kelvinator and Hudson Motor Car Company merged. Digging Deeper Try to follow this corporate puzzle when also in 1954, Packard merged with Studebaker, forming Studebaker-Packard Corporation. Meanwhile, Kaiser Motors and Willys-Overland, makers of the Jeep brand, had merged in 1953 to create Kaiser Jeep. Then in 1970, American Motors bought up Kaiser Jeep. American Motors stumbled along until being acquired by Chrysler in…