A Brief History On an unknown date, about the mid 2nd Millennium BC, the ancient world was rocked by one of the largest volcanic eruptions and explosions in Human history. Digging Deeper The Island of Thera, also known as Santorini was populated by people of the Minoan culture, located in the Aegean Sea north of Crete.  The volcanic event was so large, that much of the island collapsed into the sea, killing virtually all inhabitants in that area and devastating nearby islands as well. This gigantic event was calculated in 1991 to have displaced over 39 cubic kilometers of dense…

A Brief History On February 1, 2016, candidate for the Republican Party nomination for President of the United States, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, won the Iowa caucus.  Although Donald Trump is still leading in most polls of each state and in the national poll, Cruz’s win in Iowa makes the possibility of his gaining the Republican nomination much more likely than it was a few days ago. Digging Deeper Which begs the question, is Ted Cruz eligible to run for President of the United States?  Article II of the constitution of the United States says that to be President,…

A Brief History Between January and July 332 BC, Alexander the Great of Macedon, perhaps the greatest general in the history of warfare, besieged the Phoenician island city of Tyre, a jewel in the war between the Macedonians and the Persian Empire.  Located in what is now Lebanon, Tyre had defensive walls right up to the sea, making a forced landing almost impossible, especially on the landward side (East) where the wall soared 200 feet above the sea. Digging Deeper Alexander tried to negotiate a surrender of the city, to no avail, and settled in for a long blockade and…

A Brief History On January 2016, on the occasion of political satirist Bill Maher’s 60th birthday, the people, especially viewers of Real Time with Bill Maher, respectfully requested here that President Barack Obama of the United States of America “appear on Real Time and thereby honor that particular audience (and their support for him), as he has so honored the viewers of so many other TV shows and media outlets; or if not, to please, respectfully, tell us why.” (Note: President Obama did indeed appear on Real Time on November 4, 2016, only 4 days before the 2016 election.) Digging…

A Brief History Doctor Who, a pinball machine designed by Bill Pfutzenreuter (Pfutz) and Barry Oursler, and released by Midway (under the Bally brand name) in September 1992, is based on the television series of the same name.  In January 2016, FarSight Studios created a Kickstarter campaign here in the hopes of raising funds to make a digital version of the table available for their various versions of The Pinball Arcade. Digging Deeper This campaign is the fifth one started by FarSight Studios in order to raise sufficient funds to digitize notable pinball machines.  The previous four campaigns (all of which I have personally contributed…