Posts Tagged ‘WWII’
History of Christmas Eve and the Battle of the Bulge: 81 Years Ago
Reading Time: 5 minutesHISTORY OF CHRISTMAS EVE AND THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE: 81 YEARS AGO Podcast version n Christmas Eve, 1944, my father, Staff Sergeant John Petro, entered the frontline at Strasbourg with the 42nd “Rainbow” Infantry Division in 20-degree weather. He was part of three regiments – hurried from training in the U.S. – to…
Read MoreHistory of The Nutcracker: the Ballet That’s a Christmas Tradition
Reading Time: 4 minutesHISTORY OF THE NUTCRACKER: THE BALLET THAT’S A CHRISTMAS TRADITION n December 18, 1892, The Nutcracker premiered at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, a week before Christmas. How did a ballet that doesn’t mention the Nativity become a Christmas favorite?
Read MoreHistory of Veterans Day: Lest We Forget
Reading Time: 3 minutesVeterans Day used to be called Armistice Day, commemorating the ending of hostilities on the western front of World War I on November 11, 1918, the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. At 5:45 am on that day, Germany signed the Armistice (truce) in the Forest of Compiegne, and the order was given for a cease-fire later that morning, after four years of war.
Read MoreHistory of Daylight Saving Time – Fall Back
Reading Time: 3 minutesHISTORY OF DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME – ENDING Daylight Saving Time, or DST, is a clever 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…
Read MoreHistory of Christopher Columbus: Hero or Heel?
Reading Time: 5 minutesHISTORY OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS The man who sailed from Spain to discover America was neither Spanish nor did he actually discover America, at least not the mainland. But it was true that: In fourteen hundred and ninety-two Columbus sailed the ocean blue Where was he from, where did he go, who paid for…
Read MoreHistory of The Olympics: Ancient and Modern
Reading Time: 8 minutesHISTORY OF THE OLYMPICS: ANCIENT AND MODERN The Summer Olympic Games open on July 26, 2024, in Paris, France. While the modern Olympic Games date back to 1896, the ancient Olympic Games date back as far as 776 B.C. and before. We will examine the Olympics in terms of religion, politics, war, nationalism, and internationalism.…
Read MoreHistory of Christmas Eve: Polish Christmas Wafer
Reading Time: 2 minutesHistory of Christmas Eve: Polish Christmas Wafer, its tradition and background
Read MoreParis Tour: Paris in a Day, part 3 – Monuments
Reading Time: 3 minutesParis 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…
Read MoreHistory of Veterans Day: Lest We Forget
Reading Time: 3 minutesHISTORY 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…
Read MoreThe Passing of Queen Elizabeth II
Reading Time: 3 minutesTHE PASSING OF QUEEN ELIZABETH II BALMORAL, Scotland, Sept 8 (Reuters) – Queen Elizabeth, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, the nation’s figurehead and a towering presence on the world stage for seven decades, died peacefully at her home in Scotland on Thursday aged 96. “The death of my beloved Mother, Her Majesty The Queen, is a moment…
Read MoreItaly Tour: Venice in a Day
Reading Time: 4 minutesITALY TOUR: VENICE IN A DAY Can you visit the major sites of Venice on an Italy Tour in a single day? It is quite doable; “Venezia” is a smallish island.
Read MoreHistory of the Summer of Love — 1967: Part 2, Sex
Reading Time: 5 minutesHISTORY OF THE SUMMER OF LOVE — 1967: PART 2, SEX “Make love, not war” and the call for “free love” represented a cultural shift in mores in 1967. Even The Beatles sang “All You Need Is Love.” If the ’60s was the time of the “sexual revolution,” the natural question is: who won? There were…
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