An interesting historical story.
Gladiators were usually either slaves, criminals, or prisoners of war. Some might even be free men who joined for the adventure and/or fame. New gladiators were called novicius. They were brought to the training school (ludus). The owner was called the lanista. He had to determine what category the Read more…
Today is the anniversary of one of the worst maritime disasters in history. The crew of the heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis would have been proud that they had contributed to the ending of WWII and the saving of many American and Japanese lives, but what they had done was Read more…
Today is the anniversary of the ramming and sinking of John F. Kennedy’s PT-109 in 1943. A PT (patrol torpedo) boat was a wooden, speedy boat used against enemy shipping. Their attacks on Japanese warships were close to suicidal. What follows was my examination of the accuracy of the movie Read more…
Most gladiators were slaves, but some free men joined for the fame and fortune. There were even some female gladiators. They fought in loin cloths without helmets, so people could see they were women. A bestiarus hunted wild animals in the arena. The Romans imported exotic animals from throughout Read more…
How you died was important to gladiators. Part of the training at the gladiator school was how to die appropriately. If you lost, you needed to make eye contact with the victor and offer your neck. You put two fingers in the air in the direction of the editor Read more…
Have you ever survived two extremely unusual life-threatening disasters in one day? Betty Lou Oliver was one of the rare individuals who could have answered yes to that. Betty was on duty as an elevator operator on the morning of July 27, 1945. It was a normal day, until Read more…
Today is the anniversary of the dedication of a memorial to the men and women who served in “The Forgotten War”. The Korean War is sometimes called “The Forgotten War”. As an example of that, the Vietnam War Memorial was dedicated in 1982. The Korean War Memorial was not Read more…
The island of Sumatra had some of the best pepper in the world. In 1832, an American merchant ship named Friendship arrived to trade for it. When the crew were ashore, they were attacked by a rival chieftain. Three Americans were murdered and the ship was ransacked. The crew Read more…
As every American knows, the 13 Colonies could not have gotten their independence without aid from France. That aid came with a price as the newly created United States owed a substantial debt to the French king. One reason Louis XVI was overthrown was because of the damage his Read more…
Today is the anniversary of the day William Clark acquired a slave named York. York went on to become one of the most famous slaves in American History. The most popular member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition was Clark’s black slave York. York was inherited by Clark when Read more…