No doubt about it, we live in a world of rapid change. Whereas a century ago, our grandparents and great grandparents were still getting around in a horse and buggy, and reading newspapers as their only source of information and entertainment, today we fly in supersonic transports and get our news and entertainment from the…
Author: Jeff Danelek
America is not a perfect country. Like all nations, it is a collection of human beings, and human beings are notorious for occasionally making bad decisions, being selfish, or otherwise simply blowing it. However, there is a lot right about this country, though often we get so caught up in the rhetoric, that we miss…
I grew up as a kid watching Abbott and Costello movies which, though terribly corny by modern standards, were hilarious to me at the time. I especially enjoyed the interplay between straight man and comic, and marveled at how they could keep up such an amusing banter so effortlessly. Of course, I later learned it…
Standing in the frigid shadows of a superpower is never easy, but Canadians make it look so. Of course, part of the reason may be because they’re bigger than we are (barely) and consider themselves part of a worldwide commonwealth, but who knows. In any case, and despite our miniscule population (about a tenth of…
From Lincoln to JFK and Julius Caesar to Martin Luther King, entire books have been written about famous assassinations and how they changed the course of history. Few people, however, take more than a passing glance at those failed attempts that, had they succeeded, would have transformed history just as much, if not more, than…
Ever since the Moabite King Eglon was stabbed to death on his throne in 1200 BCE (Judges 3:12-30)—and probably long before that—political leaders have been killed for any number of reasons. Usually they are murdered because they are deemed a threat by others in authority, or because of some controversial political stand they have taken,…
While political and military leaders come and go, religious figures seem to endure throughout the ages, which is why millions of people still venerate them hundreds or even thousands of years after they’ve died. What some people might find it enlightening to know, however, is that not everyone who was responsible for starting a religion…
While unfortunate, it cannot be denied that warfare has had a major role in shaping our world. It has defined our history, created and destroyed entire nations, and repeatedly altered society in both major and subtle ways for thousands of years. While history is replete with battles both large and small, there are a few…
While literally millions of ships of all shapes and sizes have been built over the centuries, only a handful have achieved anything approaching fame. Most of those that have done so, however, were warships or vessels that displayed such a degree of innovation that they were considered prototypes in the evolution of ships. Other ships,…
While it’s true that beauty is often in the eye of the beholder, it’s also true that there can be a consensus where beauty is concerned. Few people, for instance, consider a Rembrandt or Michelangelo’s David to be eyesores, so judging beauty is not nearly as subjective as one might imagine. This is as true…
We all believe things to be true that are, in fact, quite wrong. Many of these “facts” we learned in school, while some of them we picked up from friends or on TV—or just “heard somewhere.” Whatever their source, however, they have subsequently proven to be erroneous, demonstrating once again that just because something is…
Say the year 2012 to most people and chances are they will think of doomsday, which is remarkable considering that just ten years ago few people would have assigned any special significance to the date at all. Today, however, all one has to do is type the year into a search engine and they will…
Of course, coincidences happen all the time: we were just thinking of someone when they call us on the phone, or we have this song in mind when it suddenly plays on the radio. Most of the time they don’t mean much, but every once in awhile there is a coincidence that’s outright spooky, or…
Ever since the first caveman figured out that wood floats, the sea has been a part of human history. From hollowed out logs to Roman Triremes, and from ships driven by the wind to the nuclear powered super carriers of today, man has had an impenetrable bond with ships. In fact, until the age of…
It is a fact that literally thousands of people disappear or go missing every year in this country alone; some of these are likely well-covered up homicides, but most are voluntary—either teenage runaways or people who just want to start over again—with a few as yet undiscovered suicides thrown in for good measure. However, there…
Ever since mankind first began building structures out of wood rather than stone, fire has been a part of the learning process. In fact, so common have these infernos been throughout history that nearly every major city in the world has been largely burnt to the ground at one time or another in its history.…
The dictionary defines propaganda as the deliberate spreading of information, ideas, or rumors in an effort to either help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, or nation. Most commonly propaganda is used in the political arena. However, it can take used to convince others to embrace a particular scientific, environmental, religious or even moral…
In war, there are winners and losers. Sometimes an army is defeated because they simply faced a larger and more powerful foe. Other times they lose because of some bizarre set of circumstances no one could have foreseen, or because they were simply outwitted by a cunning adversary. Sometimes an army is even dealt a…
How to determine who the greatest inventors in history were is often a passionate and, at times, even a heated debate. Many men can lay claim to having invented or, at very least, perfecting someone else’s obscure invention, making such a listing problematic at best. Fortunately, I don’t maintain any personal favorites, which will hopefully…
While most human beings enter and leave this planet with little notice, there are those among us whose passing—especially if untimely—captures headlines. Celebrity deaths are not only top news but can, in some cases, create entire cottage industries dedicated to keeping alive the memory of those we deem worthy of our affections. I’ve included individuals…
While most famous historical figures have traditionally been men, there are a few women who managed to reach the rarified air of either notoriety or power usually reserved for their testosterone-prone contemporaries; which, considering the patriarchal nature of society for the last ten thousand years, is no small feat. It was difficult to determine who…
While no doubt vampires, werewolves, and psychotic killers make great movie monsters, as a kid I always enjoyed the big, non-human beasties the best—especially the ones that had a penchant for destroying whole cities or otherwise terrifying a clueless population with their wanton destruction. They also appeared to be indestructible—or, at least they were until…
Usually these lists deal with what was, but after finishing my top ten inventions of the 19th and 20th century lists, I thought it might be fun to do a list of what might be coming down the road as well. Obviously, such a list is purely speculative, but the technologies/discoveries I list here are…
There can be no doubt that the twentieth century is one of the most remarkable in human history for its previously unparalleled rate of technological advances and scientific discoveries, a rate that continues to this day. In fact, there were so many new gadgets invented and discoveries made in the last century that it’s difficult…