History of Bastille Day: Its Relation to the French Revolution

Bastille Day

HISTORY OF BASTILLE DAY Each year on July 14, Bastille Day is celebrated to commemorate the Storming of the Bastille in Paris on this date in 1789, an important date in the French Revolution. Also known as French National Day, it features feasting, fireworks, public dancing, and an address by the French President. However, the…

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Paris Tour: Paris in a Day, part 3 – Monuments

eiffel tower

Paris in a Day – Monuments: Day Three While you can’t do all of Paris in a day, you can visit a few Museums, Cathedrals, or Monuments. The two most famous monuments in Paris are within walking distance of each other. First:   The Eiffel Tower La Tour Eiffel is France’s most popular tourist destination…

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History of D-Day: 79 Years Ago

D-Day

HISTORY OF D-DAY Why has D-Day captured the imagination of American consciousness for over three-quarters of a century? Seventy-nine years ago, on June 6, 1944, the Allies launched an offensive on the Normandy coast of France to liberate continental Europe from the Nazi German occupation. On Twitter, the hashtag is #DDay79     D-Day was the…

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History of Memorial Day: Why We Fight

John Petro, S.Sgt

HISTORY OF MEMORIAL DAY: WHY WE FIGHT The world is different from two decades ago as we celebrate Memorial Day. We have troops in countries that we didn’t have then, and after 9/11, we now remember why we fight. The History Channel often re-runs the HBO series Band of Brothers, the T.V. adaptation of the…

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History of Memorial Day: Which War?

Arlington

HISTORY OF MEMORIAL DAY: WHICH WAR? Memorial Day was not universally recognized as a shared American Holiday until after World War I. But that’s not how it started in the United States. When did it begin?   Civil War and Memorial Day Following the American Civil War, or the “War Between the States,” as it…

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History of VE-Day: End of WWII in Europe 78 Years Ago

front page ve day

HISTORY OF VE-DAY Seventy-eight years ago today, World War II ended in Europe with the acceptance by the Allies of unconditional surrender from Germany on VE-Day.   Or did it?   May 7, 1945, VE-Day Adolf Hitler had committed suicide in his Berlin bunker a week earlier, on April 30, 1945, as I describe in…

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History of the Liberation of Dachau, Part 2: April 30, 1945

Dachau gate

HISTORY OF THE LIBERATION OF DACHAU, Part 2: APRIL 30, 1945 In Part 1, I discussed the Nazi Concentration Camps and the initial movement of US Army divisions into Dachau.   Dachau: The Camp As my father and the 42nd “Rainbow” Division moved into the Dachau Concentration Camp, of the 32,000 survivors still alive in…

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History of the Liberation of Dachau: April 29, 1945

History of the Liberation of Dachau

HISTORY OF THE LIBERATION OF DACHAU: APRIL 29, 1945 My father told me of his involvement in the liberation of Dachau shortly before he died in 1976. Some of his war buddies discovered the tribute site I later created for him and called or emailed me to recount stories I’d not known previously, or only…

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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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