A Brief History On March 10, 483, the Bishop of Rome, Pope Simplicius, died after a 15 year reign on “the Throne of St. Peter.” While we do not know a lot about Simplicius, we do know he succeeded Pope Hilarius as the Bishop of Rome. Digging Deeper With the seeming adjective birth names of these 2 Popes, we find future Popes, starting in the 6th Century, beginning to take a new name to serve under when elected. By the 10th Century, virtually all new Popes chose a new name. Since 1555, every new Pope has chosen a new name.…
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A Brief History On March 9, 1796, Napoleon Bonaparte, said to have more books written about him than any mortal man, married the love of his life, Joséphine de Beauharnais. Later, after Napoleon became Emperor of the French and Josephine was crowned Empress, her failure to bear Napoleon a male heir caused the great man to ditch her in favor of Marie-Louise, whom he did not love, but bore him the son he so craved. Digging Deeper Other marriages of major celebrities that did not last include that of Prince Charles, now King Charles III of the UK, and Lady…
A Brief History On March 8, 1889, the anniversary date of the Battle of Hampton Roads, the clash of ironclad warships USS Monitor and CSS Virginia, the inventor of the Monitor died. John Ericsson, born in Sweden as Johan Ericsson, showed early brilliance in surveying and engineering, and moved to England in 1826 where he invented ways to improve steam engines. Digging Deeper Ericsson is best known for inventing America’s first screw propeller driven ship system, and of course, the USS Monitor, a revolutionary ironclad that boasted the first rotating gun turret, a design that has lasted through the years…
A Brief History On March 7, 1799, French General Napoleon Bonaparte successfully captured the city of Jaffa in Palestine, then part of the Ottoman Empire. Although considered one of the all-time military geniuses, Bonaparte blundered when he allowed his men to massacre more than 2000 Albanians that had surrendered. Digging Deeper Napoleon then encouraged civilians to leave the city in the hope that these refugees would spread the word of French terror and cause other cities in the area to surrender without a fight. He was wrong! News of the massacre steeled the resolve of the Ottoman defenders and forced…
A Brief History On March 6, 1943, the Battle of Fardykambos was fought between the Greek Resistance and the invading Italian Army. The Resistance won the battle, with nearly an entire Italian battalion surrendering. Digging Deeper In the past we have talked about odd named wars and battles, but despite the funny sounding names, these conflicts are not funny. The Greeks suffered 4 dead with another 13 wounded and the Italians lost 565 captured, 96 dead, and 79 wounded. Italy was on a path of conquest, and part of their plan was to seize Greece, which they invaded in 1940. …