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

Peter Pan

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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History of the Liberation of Auschwitz: January 27, 1945

Auschwitz

HISTORY OF THE LIBERATION OF AUSCHWITZ: JANUARY 27, 1945 January 27, 1945, was the liberation of the Auschwitz Concentration Camp, one of the most notorious camps of World War II, by the Soviet Red Army. This date is now known by the United Nations and the European Union as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. In America,…

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History of New Year’s Eve

TimesSquare

HISTORY OF NEW YEAR’S EVE New Year’s Eve is the last day of the year, according to the Gregorian Calendar, and is known as Old Year’s Day or St. Sylvester’s Day. You may remember reading that Emperor Constantine was considered the first “Christian” Roman Emperor. St. Sylvester is responsible for Constantine’s conversion in the 4th…

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History of Christmas Eve and the Battle of the Bulge: 78 Years Ago

Snow Fighters

HISTORY OF CHRISTMAS EVE AND THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE: 78 YEARS AGO On Christmas Eve, 1944, my father, Staff Sergeant John Petro, arrived in Strasbourg with the 42nd “Rainbow” Infantry Division. Eight days earlier, the Battle of the Bulge had begun. The 42nd Division and others supplied much-needed reinforcements to the most extensive and…

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History of the First American Christmas: 1776

Washington Crossing the Delaware, Emanuel Leutze

HISTORY OF THE FIRST AMERICAN CHRISTMAS: 1776 It is called the first “American” Christmas because the Declaration of Independence was created the previous summer, essentially “divorcing” America from England and declaring our country an independent nation. Admittedly, the country had not yet created a solid form of government. The Articles of Confederation had not yet…

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History of The Nutcracker: the Ballet That’s a Christmas Tradition

TheNutcracker

HISTORY OF THE NUTCRACKER: THE BALLET THAT’S A CHRISTMAS TRADITION On December 18, 1892, The Nutcracker premiered at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, a week before Christmas.   Nutcracker Popularity The Nutcracker has had such an enduring influence on the celebration of Christmas for over a century that no one even notices…

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History of the World Cup

FIFA World Cup

HISTORY OF THE WORLD CUP The World Cup 2022 Tournament takes place in Doha, Qatar starting Sunday, November 20, and running until December 18. It is starting in November rather than the usual June or July to avoid Qatar’s summer heat. Thirty-two teams will compete in eight groups. It begins with the host country team…

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History of Veterans Day: Lest We Forget

Veterans Day Poppy

HISTORY OF VETERANS DAY A professor once commented, “We write things down so we can forget them.” Now, of course, this is true in the sense of writing down appointments so we don’t have to worry about missing meetings. But that’s just it; we do forget things. As individuals, we forget things that are important…

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History of Daylight Saving Time – Fall Back

Daylight Saving

HISTORY OF DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME – ENDING Daylight Saving Time, or DST, is a brilliant campaign to convince us that we’re getting more daylight each day when in reality, we’ve simply changed our clocks and then forgotten about it within two weeks. DST begins each year at 2:00 A.M. on the second Sunday in March…

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History of Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus

HISTORY OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS The man who sailed from Spain to discover America was neither Spanish nor did he discover America, at least not the mainland. But it was true that:   In fourteen hundred and ninety-two Columbus sailed the ocean blue

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History of James Bond: Dr. No – 60 Years Ago

Dr. No

HISTORY OF JAMES BOND: DR. NO – 60 YEARS AGO You’ve no doubt heard that it’s the 60th anniversary of James Bond. It was featured at this year’s Academy Award. But the actual 60th anniversary of the films is today: October 5, 1962, was the premiere of the first James Bond film, Dr. No. For…

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