History Articles
HISTORY OF TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY
HISTORY OF TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAYThe International Talk Like A Pirate Day began not back in the “Golden Age of Pirates” in days of yore but in 2002. It is celebrated each year on September 19; though it started in the United States, it is now celebrated internationally across the Seven Seas.
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HISTORY OF ROSH HASHANAH
Rosh HaShanah designates the beginning of the Jewish new year, starting tonight – which, according to the Jewish calendar, begins at sundown tonight.
“Rosh” is Hebrew for “head,” and Rosh HaShanah, or Rosh HaShana, refers to the head of the year on the 1st day of Tishri, the seventh month of the Jewish ecclesiastical calendar. It marks the beginning of the civil year. Judaism has a solar/lunar calendar system in which the lunar reckoning predominates. The first in the cycle of months is Nissan (which has nothing to do with the automobile manufacturer), the month in which Passover occurs. However, solar years are reckoned to begin at Rosh HaShanah.
Oktoberfest waitress serving Hacker-Pschorr beer
HISTORY OF OKTOBERFEST
Why is the famous German beer festival held in September if it’s called Oktoberfest? Officially, the beer festival starts on the third Saturday in September and lasts 16 to 18 days through early October.
Oktoberfest 2020 and 2021 were canceled due to the Coronavirus pandemic. It’s back again this year, starting tomorrow.
Let’s look back at the origin of what is now the world’s largest folk festival.
HISTORY OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES
On September 17, 1787, the U.S. Constitution was created. Though it would take until
- June 21, 1788, to be ratified and until
- March 4, 1789, to be effective
In a very real sense, it was the founding document of the federal governmental system of the United States of America. Even to a greater extent than the Declaration of Independence, which was more of a “bill of divorcement” from England, the Constitution described how the United States would operate as a nation.
HISTORY OF PATRIOT DAY: 9/11
HISTORY OF PATRIOT DAY: 9/11On 9/11, twenty-two years ago, more Americans were killed on American soil in one day than in any attack since Pearl Harbor in 1941. A series of terrorist airplane highjacking attacks occurred in New York City, Pennsylvania, and the Pentagon… and the world changed. As the events of December 7, 1941, led to war, so too did the events of September 11, 2001.
HISTORY OF STAR TREK
HISTORY OF STAR TREKStar Trek premiered on NBC TV on September 8, 1966… 57 years ago. It is my favorite show; I was glued to the TV for the first episode and for every one after that. It significantly influenced my life and my choice of a career in technology.
HISTORY OF THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE
HISTORY OF THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIREOn this date, September 4, 476 AD, Odoacer captured the city of Ravenna and deposed Emperor Romulus Augustus, marking the Fall of the Roman Empire. What do we mean by the Fall of the Roman Empire?
What do we mean by Roman Empire?
This part of the statement needs clarification first. When we say Roman Empire, we’re really only talking about the “Western Roman Empire.”
There was another Roman Empire?
Correct. Kind of.
HISTORY OF SEPTEMBER
You may have noticed that September sounds like the Latin word for Seven. And you’d be perceptive — septem is the Latin word for seven, and this month used to be the seventh month of the ancient Roman calendar.
This Latin numbering follows with the year’s remaining months, as highlighted below: eight/oct, nine/nov, ten/dec.
HISTORY OF LABOR DAY
Labor Day is when we celebrate the process our mothers went through to deliver us at birth. Sorry, wrong holiday.
Labor Day in the U.S. is the day we celebrate the achievements of the American labor movement.
While it is still disputed whether Peter J. McGuire first proposed the holiday, the general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters, or Matthew Maguire, a machinist, and secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York — observances of the holiday go back over a century in the U.S.
HISTORY OF BLUE MOON
HISTORY OF BLUE MOON“Do you see that full moon in the sky tonight? That happens once in a blue moon.”
Scientifically, this happens 7 times in 19 years or about once in 3 years.
I first wrote about this on July 31, 2015. We had blue moons in January and March 2018 and October and November 2020. Blue moons never occur in February, which has only 28 days. The time between two successive full moons is approximately 29.5 days.
We had a full moon earlier this month, on August 1. Like the prior full moon, this is also considered a supermoon. This occurs when a full moon’s orbit is closest to Earth, as in August, in its elliptical orbit around the Earth.
You won’t see a blue moon again until August 2024; the last time was October 31, 2020. Technically, the full moon occurred at 8:43 AM ET today, about 20 minutes after it set for the U.S. East Coast, but it can still be again when the moon rises at 8:23 PM ET.
Augustine of Hippo
HISTORY OF ST AUGUSTINE
The Feast of Saint Augustine is August 28, the date of his death in 430 A.D. Augustine is the most influential bishop in history. He is the patron saint of brewers, printers, theologians, and several cities and dioceses worldwide.
Most of what we know about him is from his own writings: his Retractions in 428 A.D, which discusses his mental struggles in coming to faith, but more importantly, his Confessions (397 A.D.), an autobiography written to God in the form of a prayer about his spiritual struggles.
HISTORY OF THE I HAVE A DREAM SPEECH
HISTORY OF THE I HAVE A DREAM SPEECHIt was 60 years ago that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. It continues to echo down the halls of history six decades later.
On August 28, 1963, the occasion for his speech was the March on Washington at the height of the Civil Rights Movement. Over a quarter of a million supporters gathered at the Mall in Washington D.C., where King delivered his public speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, looking over the Reflecting Pool.
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