Posts Tagged ‘movies’
History of Amazing Grace, part 1
HISTORY OF AMAZING GRACE, part 1 On February 23, 1807, the British parliament passed a bill banning the nation’s slave trade. In these two articles, we’ll explore the lives of two men and one song that played a significant role in that effort. John Newton‘s devoted Christian mother dreamed that her only son would grow…
Read MoreHistory of the Super Bowl: Just another Religious Holiday?
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…
Read MoreHistory of Peter Pan: the Story Behind the 70-Year-Old Disney Classic
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…
Read MoreHistory of The Day The Music Died
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,…
Read MoreHistory of Groundhog Day
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…
Read MoreHistory of Australia Day: Ties to the American Revolutionary War?
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…
Read MoreHistory of the Christmas Truce of 1914: Peace in the WWI Trenches
History of the Christmas Truce of 1914: The Surprising Peace in the WWI Trenches
Read MoreHistory of the Santa Tracker: How a Typo began Christmas tracking at NORAD
History of the NORAD Santa Tracker: How a typo began Christmas tracking at NORAD
Read MoreHistory of J.R.R. Tolkien: A 100-Year Love Affair
HISTORY OF J.R.R. TOLKIEN: A 100-YEAR LOVE AFFAIR Tonight begins the Amazon Prime TV series “Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” which depicts the Second Age of Tolkien’s legendarium, set over three thousand of years before the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. This is expected to be the most expensive TV series in…
Read MoreHistory of Towel Day: Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
HISTORY OF TOWEL DAY May 25 celebrates Towel Day as a day to honor Douglas Adams, the author of the five (or six) book trilogy Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Created in May of 2001 to mark the passing of English science fiction humor author Douglas Adams, the day is set aside for fans of his…
Read MoreHistory of The Olympics
HISTORY OF THE OLYMPICS While the modern Olympic Games go back to 1896, the ancient Olympic Games reach back as far as 776 B.C. and before. Though historians hang the beginning on that date, it seems the Games had been going on for several centuries before the 8th century B.C. Held initially in Olympia, Greece, the…
Read MoreHistory of Star Trek: Over Half a Century
HISTORY OF STAR TREK Star Trek premiered on NBC TV September 8, 1966, 52 years ago. It is my favorite show; I was glued to the TV for the first episode and every one after that. It had a major influence on my life in my career in technology. It represented an optimistic vision of…
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