Bill Petro

History of the Holidays

Bill Petro — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 11:30:10 +0000

Welcome to this year’s edition of the History of the Holidays. I’m Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian. From now through the Spring or vernal equinox, most of the major secular and sacred holidays are celebrated. This is a series that recounts the history behind the major American holidays, and some of the minor ones as well.

Many of the sacred holidays in our American “Judeo-Christian” heritage have secular associations, as many of the seemingly secular holidays actually have religious roots.

One example of the mixture of sacred and secular was that — historically, in ancient Rome the death and resurrection of Attis, the god of vegetation, was celebrated on March 24 and 25, corresponding to the vernal equinox.

Sir James Frazer in his book The Golden Bough points out an interesting coincidence. Among certain Christians in places where the worship of Attis was known, the death of Jesus Christ was also celebrated on March 25, though there was little historical evidence supporting that date. A controversy is said to have raged between the pagan and Christian advocates, each attesting that they had prior claim.

Many Americans, even religious ones, are unaware of the history behind the holidays. If you are interested in Halloween, and how trick or treat became involved in it, you’ll like this series on the history of the holidays.

If you have ever wondered what the historical events are behind Chanukah, stay tuned.

Was there a Christmas star, were there really three wise men, was there actually an historical Santa Claus? Yes Virginia, this is for you.

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian
www.billpetro.com

Audio version

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Reports from the Left Coast: VMworld in San Francisco

Bill Petro — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 23:27:03 +0000

I’m in San Francisco for the seventh VMworld event. It would be unfair to call it a “geek fest” as there are so many business people here. Rather, it would be more accurate to call it a “nerd-o-rama” as there are so many cool technologies being discussed relating to Cloud Computing that you’ll want to see my series of articles over on my TechTrends blog. Head over here.

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood cloud historian
www.billpetro.com

Concert Review: James Taylor and Carole King in Denver for Troubadour Reunion Tour

Bill Petro — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 23:09:27 +0000

Come see my concert review at my concert review at my Culture Vulture blog. I’ve been going to James Taylor concerts for over 30 years. This was the best in so many ways.

UPDATE: YouTube has an interview of James Taylor and Carole King from Denver here.

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood culturevulture
www.billpetro.com

History of Ben Franklin

Bill Petro — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 11:30:08 +0000

HISTORY OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

We know this polymath as a writer, publisher, printer, merchant, scientist, moral philosopher, international diplomat, and inventor. Musically he invented the glass harmonica, but he also invented the Franklin stove, and started the first lending library and fire brigade in Philadelphia.

He did experiments in electricity and developed the lightning rod.

As one of the earliest and oldest of the Founding Father, he served as lobbyist to England.

He was one of the five drafters of the American Declaration of Independence, along with John Adams and primary drafter Thomas Jefferson. Franklin was 70. At 81 he served as the oldest delegate at the Constitutional Convention, recommending a bi-cameral legislature.

During the Revolutionary War, he served as Minister to France and managed, with his sagacity and salon celebrity, to convince the French King Louis XVI to support the American cause financially and militarily. He dazzled the salon crowd with his notoriety and flirtation, much to John Adam’s chagrin.

He was the most famous private citizen in America and the most celebrated American in Europe.

As a moral philosopher he was a personal mystery. Though he believed that the new Republic could survive only if its citizens were virtuous and he wrote pithy and wise sayings in “Poor Richards’ Almanac” — he did not live by all of them himself. He is usually considered a deist, at least in the early part of his life, nevertheless he proposed clergy-led prayer each morning during the Constitutional Convention in June of 1787. He said “God governs the affairs of men” yet he also said, “I have some doubts as to [Jesus'] divinity.” He was a huge fan and supporter of the international evangelist George Whitfield and would go on to publish all his sermons, though he did not ascribe to Whitfield’s theology.

Puritan Ezra Stiles, president of Yale, knew of Franklin’s deist leanings, but wanted, if possible, to pin down the nimble-footed freethinker to some basics. In friendship Stiles asked for some kind of creedal confession, however limited. Franklin, who said that this was the first time he had ever been asked, on March 9, 1790, readily obliged:

“Here is my creed. I believe in one God, Creator of the universe: that he governs the world by his providence. That he ought to be worshiped. That the most acceptable service we can render to him is doing good to his other children. That the soul of man is immortal and will be treated with justice in another life respect[ing] its conduct in this. These I take to be the fundamental principles of all sound religion, and I regard them as you do, in whatever sect I meet with them.”

In addition, Stiles wanted to know specifically what Franklin thought of Jesus: Was Franklin really a Christian or not? Franklin responded that Jesus had taught the best system of morals and religion that “the world ever saw.” But on the troublesome question of the divinity of Jesus, he had along with other deists “some doubts.” It was an issue, he said, that he had never carefully studied and, writing only five weeks before his death, he thought it “needless to busy myself with it now, when I expect soon an opport[unity] of know[ing]the truth with less trouble.” It would be difficult to burn a heretic like that.

For his own epitaph, Franklin wrote at the age of 22:

“The body of Benjamin Franklin, printer, like the cover of an old book, its contents torn out, stripped of its lettering, and gilding, lies here, food for worms. But the work shall not be lost; for it will, as he believed, appear once more in a new and more elegant edition, revised and corrected by the Author.”

After he died though, his will stipulated that on his gravestone appear only “BENJAMIN And DEBORAH FRANKLIN 1790.” His funeral in Philadelphia attracted the largest crowd of mourners ever known, an estimated 20,000 mourners.

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian
www.billpetro.com

History of the 4th of July: Thomas Jefferson

Bill Petro — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 11:30:28 +0000

HISTORY OF THE 4th OF JULY: THOMAS JEFFERSON

Perhaps no one person is more associated with the 4th of July in American History than Thomas Jefferson, probably because it was his hand that penned the immortal Declaration of Independence.

As my friend Clay Jenkinson — who has been portraying Jefferson for over 20 years — says in his book Thomas Jefferson: The Man of Light:

“The Third President is the Muse of American life, the chief articulator of our national value system and our national self-identity. Jefferson was a man of almost unbelievable achievement: statesman, man of letters, architect, scientist, book collector, political strategist, and utopian visionary. But he is also a man of paradox: liberty-loving slaveholder, Indian-loving relocationist, publicly frugal and privately bankrupt, a constitutional conservative who bought the Louisiana Territory in 1803.”

Even by 1782, as an admiring French visitor observed, Jefferson, “without having quitted his own country,” had become “an American who … is a musician, draftsman, astronomer, natural philosopher, jurist and a statesman.” He knew about crop rotation, Renaissance architecture, could dance a jig, play the fiddle, or tie an artery.

Though friends in their youth, disagreements separated Thomas Jefferson and our second President John Adams in later years. They were eventually reconciled toward their twilight years and though they never saw each other again after Adams left the White House to be replaced by Jefferson, in the last 14 years of their lives they exchanged 156 letters, some of them quite warm. This correspondence is generally regarded as the intellectual capstone to the achievements of the revolutionary generation and the most impressive correspondence between prominent statesmen.

They both died on the same day, July 4th, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, two of the last three signers. At the age of 91 John Adams collapsed in his favorite reading chair and died that afternoon, his last words are often reported to have been, “Thomas Jefferson still lives.” However, though this story appears even in contemporaneous obituaries, eulogies, and biographies — even as recently as David McCullough’s popular biography of John Adams — his spinster niece and adopted daughter Louisa Smith recalls only that Adams mentioned the name Jefferson. Adams died at about 6:20.

But Jefferson might have said “Wrong, as usual,” if he had still been alive. However, in his last days his health had failed and he passed in and out of consciousness. Shortly before midnight on the 3rd of July, 1826 Jefferson asked his doctor one last time “Is it the 4th?” with his doctor replying “It soon will be.” Later around 1 pm on the 4th just a few hours before Adams died — in his home in Monticello, Virginia — surrounded by his daughter and some special slaves, at the age of 83, Thomas Jefferson died.

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian
www.billpetro.com

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History of Independence Day: Was the Declaration of Independence really signed on July 4, 1776?

Bill Petro — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 11:30:39 +0000

HISTORY OF INDEPENDENCE DAY

Independence Day, or the Fourth of July celebrates the adoption by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, of the Declaration of Independence, proclaiming the severance of the allegiance of the American colonies to Great Britain. It is the greatest secular holiday of the United States, observed in all the states, territories and dependencies.

Although it is assumed that the Continental Congress unanimously signed the document on the 4th of July, in fact not all delegates were present and there were no signers at all. Here is what really happened.

The congressional delegate from Virginia, Richard Henry Lee, introduced in the Continental Congress, on June 7, 1776, a resolution

“that…body declare the United Colonies free and independent States, absolved from allegiance to or dependence on the Crown or Parliament of Great Britain…”

On June 10 a committee of five, featuring Thomas Jefferson (the actual scribe), was appointed to prepare a declaration suitable to the occasion in the event that the Virginia resolution was adopted. Jefferson’s version was revised by Benjamin Franklin and John Adams before it went to the Congress where they did some editing of their own.

Congress approved the resolution July 2; the declaration composed by Jefferson and amended by his committee was adopted July 4. That evening John Hancock ordered Philadelphia printer John Dunlap to print 200 broadside copies of the agreed upon Declaration that was signed by him as President and Charles Thomson as Secretary. These were distributed to members of the Congress and distributed to the 13 colonies and elsewhere. The Declaration was read in the yard of the state house July 8. New York did not even vote on it until July 9. The signing was even more gradual, and it is somewhat misleading to speak of the “fifty-six original signers of the Declaration of Independence”.

By August 6, most of those whose names are on the document had signed, but at least six signatures were attached later. One signer, Thomas McKean did not attach his name until 1781! Some of those who signed were not even in Congress when the Declaration was adopted, and some who voted for it in Congress never did get around to signing it. Robert R. Livingston was one of the original committee of five; he helped to frame it; he voted for it; and he never signed it.

The first anniversary of the declaration was observed only in Philadelphia, PA, by the adjournment of Congress, a ceremonial dinner, bonfires, the ringing of bells and fireworks. In 1788, after the requisite number of states had adopted the constitution, Philadelphia celebrated July 4 by elaborate festivities, including a grand procession.

Boston, Massachusetts first observed the day in 1783, and thereafter this celebration replaced that of the Boston Massacre, March 5. The custom spread to other cities and states, where the day was marked by parades, patriotic oratory, military displays and fireworks. In the present day, games and athletic contests, picnics, patriotic programs and pageants, and community fireworks of pyrotechnic expertise are characteristic of the 4th of July.

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian
www.billpetro.com

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History of July: Where do we get that name?

Bill Petro — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 11:30:22 +0000

HISTORY OF JULY

The month of July was renamed for Julius Caesar, who was born in that month. Prior to that, it was called Quintilis in Latin meaning the fifth month in the ancient Roman calendar. This was before January became the first month of the calendar year about the year 450 BC. We currently use the more recent Gregorian calendar — recent as in AD 1582 — which makes use of Anno Domini, meaning “in the year of our Lord” counting from the birth of Jesus. As we’ve previously discussed, in this calendar Jesus was born curiously 4 to 6 years BC or “Before Christ.”

The Gregorian calendar was a reform of the Julian calendar which was itself a reform of the previous Roman calendar. The Julian calendar was introduced by Julius Caesar himself in 46 BC, where he added — probably after returning from an African military campaign in late Quntilis (July) — an additional 67 days by putting two intercalary months between November and December, as Cicero tells us at the time. This took care of some of the leap year problems. The Romans, after his death, renamed Quintilis to Iulius (July) in honor of his birth month.

Though Julius Caesar is often called the first Emperor of Rome, that honor actually goes to Octavian, or Augustus Caesar to whom Julius was great uncle. Julius did, nevertheless, play an important part in Rome’s transformation from a Republic to an Empire. He rose to the position of “perpetual dictator” and his conquest of Gaul and his invasion of Britain extended the Roman world to the North Sea. His family Julia was the beginning, at the very height of Roman government, of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty that lasted until the demise of Nero in AD 68. His family claimed ancient roots from Iulus, who was the son of the Trojan price Aeneas of legend, the son of Venus, as described by the epic Latin poem The Aeneid which tells of the origin of Rome, and is named earlier in Homer’s Iliad.

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian
www.billpetro.com

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Science of the Summer Solstice

Bill Petro — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 04:30:02 +0000

SCIENCE OF THE SUMMER SOLSTICE

The word Solstice comes from the Latin solstitium meaning “Sun, standing-still.” This year the Summer Solstice occurs on June 21 at 11:28 UTC, or Coordinated Universal Time, or Zulu Time, or roughly Greenwich Mean Time.

This is also known as the Northern Solstice as the Sun is positioned directly above the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere. This time of year is known as Midsummer, though the official Midsummer Day is actually celebrated on June 24, thanks to differences between the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Christian festivals during this time of year are related to the Birth of St. John the Baptist. In Bolivia and Peru it’s called the Festival of San Juan.

Earth enjoys different seasons because the planet is tilted 23 degrees and 27 minutes off the perpendicular to the plane of orbit. This means that the earth revolves like a tilted spinning top. The Summer Solstice is the longest day of sunlight as the Sun is at its highest arc in the sky, at least in the Northern Hemisphere. The farther north one is from the Equator, the more pronounced this is in Summer. However, as the Earth continues its orbit, the hemisphere that is angled closest to the sun changes, and the seasons are reversed.

In the Northern Hemisphere the sun appears at its highest point in the sky, and its noontime elevation appears to be the same for several days before and after the solstice, so that it looks like the Sun is “standing still” until following the Summer Solstice, the days begin to grow shorter and the nights longer.

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian

www.billpetro.com

History of Father’s Day: the Beginning

Bill Petro — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 03:10:57 +0000

HISTORY OF FATHERS DAY

The celebration of Father’s Day goes back all the way to the beginning, actually to the Garden of Eden when Abel gave his father Adam a razor while his brother Cain gave his father a snake-skin tie. This was the beginning of Cain’s downward slide.

Scholars have debated for ages why Mother’s Day seems to be more honored than Father’s Day. A parallel has been drawn between this phenomenon and that of the difference in popularity between the Irish patron saint and the Italian patron saint.

The noted scholar, Father Guido Sarducci, papal legate and gossip columnist for the Vatican Enquirer has pointed out that for St. Patrick’s Day, we have lots of festivities, lots of green, celebrations and major parades. But for St. Joseph , a very good saint, there is nothing. The only thing he is known for is children’s aspirin. Dr. Les Capable of Stanford University confirmed this research by saying “Ditto”. Professor Illinois Smith, of the Department of Redundancy Department at the University of California, Berkeley in Berkeley, California said much the same thing by repeating the same thing over and over again many times in a redundant and repetitive fashion.

The holiday was first canonized by Pope Hallmark in 1582 in the Papal Bull entitled Quando Ipso Facto Volare FTD Que Sera Sera which roughly translated means “When you care enough to send the very best.” This was confirmed years later in the United States when one of the founding matriarchs, Ma Bell ordained and established both Mother’s Day and Father’s Day in an attempt to help bolster the fledgling nation’s telecommunication coffers. It is well known that Mother’s Day generally posts the highest volume of long-distance telephone calls of any single day of the year. It is not as well known that Father’s Day posts the highest volume of long-distance collect calls.

Everyone has had a father, but not everyone can be a father, especially if you are a woman. But there are few challenges in the world that are more rewarding than being a father. It is a special joy and a great honor.

It is noteworthy, as we celebrate Father’s Day, that the Bible refers to the Almighty as Father.

How do you celebrate Father’s Day?

Children’s children are the crown of old men;
and the glory of children are their fathers

Proverbs 17:6

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian
www.billpetro.com

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Memorial Day: Why We Fight

Bill Petro — Fri, 28 May 2010 11:00:40 +0000

MEMORIAL DAY: WHY WE FIGHT

The world is different than it was even a decade ago as we celebrate Memorial Day. We now are fighting a war, and we now remember why we fight. The History Channel re-runs the HBO series “Band of Brothers,” the adaptation of the Stephen Ambrose book about a company of men from the landing at Normandy through the end of the World War II.

During WWII my father crossed paths a couple of times with the Company E mentioned in “Band of Brothers.” Once at the Battle of the Bulge and later while liberating the Dachau Concentration Camp.

My father’s story was originally told in part on HBO’s website during the premier, regarding the episode entitled “Why We Fight” on the liberation of Dachau.

His full story is told in pictures at billpetro.com/johnpetro. He rarely volunteered to me information about the War, but when I did ask specific questions, he would answer. He left me pictures taken during the liberation of Dachau. Ironically, during a recent visit to Dachau, when I told the workers at this modern memorial that my father had participated in the liberation, they all asked me the same question: “Do you have pictures?” I still have these pictures of those who survived, who looked like skeletons. I also have pictures of the skeletons of those who did not survive, of the open boxcars with bodies piled high.

Dachau gate: “Work Makes Free”

My father had seen a lot of action during the war and later was in charge of three P.O.W. camps for German prisoners, but nothing prepared him for what he saw at Dachau. He said that he watched his commanders vomit when they saw the camps. Those who were liberated were like the dead, they could not believe that they were finally being freed.

When I stood before this plaque attached to the tunnel leading up to the gate shown above, even with the school children running around playing in the yard on field day, I wept as I considered the bravery of my father’s group, Rainbow Division, one of three divisions to liberate the camp.

These gruesome images must never be forgotten. It must never be forgotten what barbarism that man is capable of committing toward fellow men. But some may say, “I don’t want to think about it, surely no one believes that these atrocities were justified, that they’d ever be repeated.” But only three decades ago, an organization asked to use University of California conference grounds property for a meeting. This request was later denied when it was learned that the organization requesting the facilities maintained that the Holocaust was a hoax, that it did not really occur. There was also a corresponding outcry that this organizations’ free speech rights were being violated.

A person who remembers the past can be grateful for the freedoms that were purchased at great cost by those who went before them. They can memorialize those who fought and died, they can honor those against whom horrors were committed. A person without this sense of history is a severed person, self-referential, cut off from the past. If you get a chance this weekend, rent Ken Burns’ excellent series The War.

On this Memorial Day, the words of George Santayana, Harvard philosopher and poet are most apt:

“Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it.”

Bill Petro, son of John Petro
www.billpetro.com/johnpetro

www.billpetro.com

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