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

History of the Fall of the Roman Empire: the Short Version

September 4, 2023

HISTORY OF THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE On 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? Related posts: History of Erasing Unpopular Leaders: Damnatio Memoriae History of Christmas: Caesar Augustus Italy…

Read More

History of September: The Start of Fall

September 1, 2023

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,…

Read More

History of Labor Day: What’s Work Got To Do With It?

August 31, 2023

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…

Read More

History of Blue Moon

August 30, 2023

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…

Read More

History of St Augustine

August 28, 2023

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:…

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