A Brief History On April 7, 30 AD, Jesus Christ of Nazareth was crucified in Jerusalem and died on that same day. Or did He? Digging Deeper The exact date of the crucifixion and death of Christ has been debated as long as there have been followers of Christianity. Tradition used to claim 33 AD as the year of the death of Jesus, but this year does not reconcile with the timing of the death of Herod the Great, which is historically known, placing the death of Jesus in 30 AD instead of 33 AD. This information also means the…
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A Brief History On March 21, 630, Emperor Heraclius of the Byzantine Empire returned what he believed to be the “True Cross” (the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified) to Jerusalem to its current place in the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre. Digging Deeper According to legend (or history), the mother of Emperor Constantine went on a holy mission to the Middle East, establishing Christian churches and aid stations for the poor along the way, searching for the Holy Sepulchre, the tomb of Jesus Christ and the True Cross. Coincidentally, in the immediate vicinity of the Holy Sepulchre is the…
A Brief History On March 7, 321, Roman Emperor Constantine I decreed that dies Solis Invicti (‘sun-day,’ or Day of Sol Invictus, Roman God of the Sun) would be the Roman day of rest throughout the Roman Empire. Digging Deeper Constantine I became Emperor in 306 AD upon the death of his father, the reigning Emperor of the Western Roman Empire, Constantius I. Constantine had somewhere along the way adopted the Christianity practiced by his mother, Helena, though History is not clear exactly when this conversion took place. In 313, Constantine had removed all penalties for practicing Christianity and restored…
A Brief History On February 7, 1497, the followers of Dominican priest Girolamo Savonarola of Florence, Italy, gathered and burned a large quantity of objects they referred to as “vanities,” objects such as cosmetics, books, artwork, mirrors, fancy clothes, playing cards, and musical instruments, any objects these religious zealots thought could lead people to sin. Digging Deeper Misguided people have engaged in burning books and other articles that they have seen as contrary to their view of what is “proper,” “right,” or “moral” throughout history, and of course the Florence incident was not the first or largest of these burnings,…
A Brief History On January 31, 2017, we at History and Headlines recognize those people who, during this month, not necessarily in the past, have either done some disreputable thing or their disreputable past has come to light. Whether you call them villains, jerks, creeps, idiots or whatever, these people have brought shame upon themselves, at least for this month if not for their lives or careers. By including a person and their action in this list we do not condemn that person to a lifetime label as an idiot, just labeling them an idiot for this specific month. Digging…