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Xmas Heroes – Christmas Truce On June 28th of 1914, a Bosnian Serb nationalist assassinated the presumptive heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Due to a mad web of international treaties and cultural obligations, this began a horrendous … Continue readingXmas Heroes – Christmas Truce
Xmas Heroes – Francis Pharcellus Church A child asked a question that is of concern to so many children at one time or another. Virginia O’Hanlon asked her father, who referred her to their favorite newspaper. The family had often … Continue readingXmas Heroes – Francis Pharcellus Church
Xmas Heroes – Charles Dickens In 1843, Charles Dickens published a novella that has never been out of print at any time from then until today. The story has also been presented in virtually every other form of media. … Continue readingXmas Heroes – Charles Dickens
Xmas Heroes – Clement Clarke Moore After a sleigh ride from Greenwich Village in 1822 and struck with the holiday spirit, the staid professor of classics and religious studies at the General Theological Seminary of the Protestant Episcopal Church was … Continue readingXmas Heroes – Clement Clarke Moore
Xmas Heroes – Franz Xaver Gruber Franz Gruber was the son of linen weavers, Josef and Maria Gruber. He worked in their employ until he was 18, when he began training as a school teacher. In 1807, he completed his … Continue readingXmas Heroes – Franz Xaver Gruber
Historical Grinches – Political Correctness We’ve seen ruthless kings and emperors. We’ve seen wild-eyed revolutionaries. Now we’re looking at something altogether worse. Madness usually ends with the madman. A bad idea spreads like a virus and kills like the slow, … Continue readingHistorical Grinches – Political Correctness
Historical Grinches – Nazis Yesterday, we spoke about how the German Empire funded Lenin’s return to Russia in order to get them out of WWI. As we mentioned, it did work. The Russian Empire left the fight and freed up … Continue readingHistorical Grinches – Nazis
Historical Grinches – Soviets Like the French before them, the Russians were being brutally repressed by a long-standing monarchy and its willing partners in the clergy. Revolutionary fervor was sweeping the empire from the late Nineteenth Century into the early … Continue readingHistorical Grinches – Soviets
Historical Grinches – Revolutionary France The last decade of the Eighteenth Century saw a massive upheaval in France. The monarchy was abolished and the monarchs were decapitated. A republic was declared and extended periods of violent tumult shook the country. … Continue readingHistorical Grinches – Revolutionary France
Historical Grinches – The Puritans In 1533, King Henry VIII of England sought divorce from his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. This set things in motion that led to a massive religious schism. The king broke ties with the Catholic … Continue readingHistorical Grinches – The Puritans