Bill Petro, technology sales enablement executive:
writes on History, Popular Culture, Tech Trends, and Travel

History of October 31: What’s Martin Luther got to do with it?

October 31, 2020

HISTORY OF OCTOBER 31 See my mini-series here on the life of Martin Luther. On October 31, 1517, the story goes, an Augustinian monk named Martin Luther nailed to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany 95 propositions or theses and marked the beginning of the Reformation. Of course, the Reformation began long…

Read More

History of Halloween

October 30, 2020

HISTORY OF HALLOWEEN Halloween (Allhallows Even) is the evening of October 31. In its strictly religious aspect, this occasion is known as the vigil of Hallowmas or All Saints’ Day, November 1, observed by the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches. In the fourth decade of the 8th century, Pope Gregory III moved this holiday to the…

Read More

History of the Internet

October 29, 2020

HISTORY OF THE INTERNET: OVER 50 YEARS AGO On October 29, 1969, at 10:30 PM, a computer grad student at UCLA named Charley Kline sent a message to SRI (Stanford Research Institute.) It was the first connection between computer networks. The Internet began!   We set up a telephone connection between us and the guys…

Read More

History of the World Series

October 24, 2020

HISTORY OF THE WORLD SERIES The World Series is over a hundred years old, starting in 1903 as a contest between the National League and the American League. This sporting event, held in October and sometimes called the Fall Classic, has already infringed upon the territory of the next athletic contest run-up with the football…

Read More

History of the Midnight Justices: Who Appoints the Supreme Court?

October 17, 2020

HISTORY OF THE MIDNIGHT JUSTICES: WHO APPOINTS THE SUPREME COURT In the news recently, you’ve seen the topic of “court-packing” as it relates to the US Supreme Court. Is this a new thing, and what does it mean? Court packing involves one branch of the government proposing to change the courts’ structure by either expanding…

Read More

History of the Holidays

What is the history behind the holidays we celebrate, both sacred and secular? Many of the sacred holidays in our American “Judeo-Christian” heritage have secular associations, while many of the seemingly secular holidays actually have religious roots. This covers all major U.S. holidays, and some international ones.

Read Articles

Popular Culture

Featuring reviews of movies, concerts, and theatre. I write movie reviews as soon as I see them, which is usually the day they come out (or before). Reviews of Star Wars, Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, Hobbit, and Harry Potter films; rock and jazz concerts; London and Broadway theatre reviews.

Read Articles

Tech Trends

Articles about current and future technologies and their possible implications. Topics include Apple iPhone, Apple Watch and some innovative technologies from other companies: internet, social media, email, virtualization, cloud, payment systems, personal data backup, geek holidays, nerd stuff, etc.

Read Articles

Travel

After traveling 2 million miles to 46 countries, I've written some articles on the US, Peru, Ireland, France, Italy... wherein I share my adventures in cultural ignorance and education the hard way. You’ll find some differences that are fascinating and intriguing, humorous, or irritating — the last two need not be mutually exclusive.

Read Articles