Pop Culture

Jesus Revolution

Movie Review: Jesus Revolution

By billpetro / March 8, 2023 /

Movie Review: Jesus Revolution Growing up in California during the ’60s and ’70s allowed me to be both an observer of and a participant in the Jesus Revolution.   Historical Synopsis: The Jesus Revolution — alternately known as the Jesus Movement, Jesus People, or the somewhat pejorative Jesus Freaks — was a spiritual awakening with…

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st valentine

History of St. Valentine’s Day

By billpetro / February 14, 2023 /

HISTORY OF ST. VALENTINE’S DAY The day we associate with love and romance has a history that traces back almost three millennia to ancient Rome but winds through Roman North Africa, England, and the United States. St. Valentine was martyred on February 14. However, Valentine or Valentinus is the name of at least three martyred saints.…

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Super Bowl Avocados

History of the Avocado: The Super Bowl Food

By billpetro / February 11, 2023 /

HISTORY OF THE AVOCADO: THE SUPER BOWL FOOD   Why are avocados, especially guacamole dip, considered a required food for Super Bowl Parties? What’s the background?   Californian Avocados California, which has 60,000 acres of avocado orchards, has an avocado growing season running from March through August… not exactly friendly to the date of the…

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Super Bowl LVII logo

History of the Super Bowl: Just another Religious Holiday?

By billpetro / February 10, 2023 /

The Super Bowl™ is a territory acquisition athletic contest played on a fixed agrarian grid using, as a token, an inflated porcine prolate spheroid. Some will say it is the most important holiday of the year in America. While it is ostensibly a secular holiday, others argue it is truly a religious holiday. And there…

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History of Charles Dickens: 211 years Ago

By billpetro / February 7, 2023 / Comments Off on History of Charles Dickens: 211 years Ago

HISTORY OF CHARLES DICKENS Today marks the 211th birthdate of Charles Dickens, considered by many the greatest English writer since Shakespeare — at least he was during his lifetime in the Victorian age. He enjoyed the distinction of fame and a measure of financial success during his lifetime, starting in his 20s. Many of his…

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The Beatles

History of The Beatles: Coming to America February 7, 1964

By billpetro / February 7, 2023 /

HISTORY OF THE BEATLES On February 7, 1964, The Beatles landed at JFK Airport in New York. The airport was recently renamed by a mourning country in honor of President Kennedy, who had been assassinated just 77 days earlier. The airport was now full of 4,000 greeters. Not realizing why there was such a crowd,…

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Peter Pan

History of Peter Pan: the Story Behind the 70-Year-Old Disney Classic

By billpetro / February 5, 2023 /

HISTORY OF PETER PAN All of this has happened before, and it will all happen again.   So begins my favorite Walt Disney animated movie, Peter Pan, which debuted 70 years ago today on February 5, 1953. The original movie poster said: “It will live in your heart forever!” …and indeed, it has. Why was…

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American Pie

History of The Day The Music Died

By billpetro / February 3, 2023 /

HISTORY OF THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED On February 3, 1959, a plane crash occurred in Iowa during a snowstorm shortly after 1:00 AM, killing three young rock and roll singers who would go down in history: Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson. Their story would later be captured as “long,…

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Apple Lisa Computer

History of Apple Lisa at 40: The Flop that Influenced Macintosh

By billpetro / February 2, 2023 /

HISTORY OF APPLE LISA AT 40: THE FLOP THAT INFLUENCED MACINTOSH Forty years ago, on January 19, 1983, Apple Computer introduced Lisa. It has well been called Apple’s biggest flop, but it’s accurate to say that without the Lisa computer, there would have been no Macintosh, and it is likely Microsoft Windows would not look…

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History of Groundhog Day

By billpetro / February 2, 2023 /

HISTORY OF GROUNDHOG DAY Groundhog Day comes from Candlemas Day, observed for centuries in parts of Europe on February 2. The custom was to have the clergy bless candles — representing how long winter would be — and distribute them to the people. Pagan Roots This seems to have derived from the pagan celebration of Imbolc…

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Mozart

History of Mozart: today’s his birthday

By billpetro / January 27, 2023 /

HISTORY OF MOZART Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on January 27, 1756, but he was baptized under the name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart.   What’s In A Name? When he was an adult, he referred to himself as “Wolfgang Amadè Mozart,” signing his marriage certificate that way. His baptismal name was Latinized, as was…

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AustraliaFlag

History of Australia Day: Ties to the American Revolutionary War?

By billpetro / January 26, 2023 /

HISTORY OF AUSTRALIA DAY Did you know that the history of European Australia has ties to the American Revolutionary War? When the 13 American Colonies were part of the British Commonwealth, it was convenient for England to transport its convicts to the Colonies. Indeed, it was considered more humane to “transport” prisoners than to execute…

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