The incredible life of Robert Smalls is a story of courage and daring. Smalls was born into slavery in the South in the 1800s. He rose from humble beginnings to become a naval hero, a political pioneer, and a champion for civil rights. But it was his incredible escape from the chains of enslavement that […]
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Evaluating generalship is often a practice of choosing arbitrary values to rank. Military historians will argue infinitely over the relative merits of one leader over another. Ranking Roman generals is not immune to this kind of controversy. Sun Tzu provides us with some guidance: “Therefore the skillful leader subdues the enemy’s troops without any fighting;
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In 2008, some of the unfinished manuscripts of Cuban anthropologist, historian, and musicologist, Fernando Ortiz were published posthumously as La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre. Historia y etnografía. This work, which deals with Cuba’s patron saint, was devoured by readers all over the island. The book flew off the shelves of bookstores – a
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In the long and storied history of France, the year 1789 is a demarcation line between the Old Order and what we now know as the modern country. It was a year marked by widespread hunger, protests, violence, and change. It was a year in which centuries-old concepts of social and political institutions were destroyed
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Part myth, part legend, the African warrior-chief known as Shaka Zulu transformed the Zulu people. This was a relatively small and insignificant tribe. And he turned them into one of the most savage and well-trained war machines in African history. To some, Shaka was a nation-builder. He was a uniter of Black people. A bringer
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Social scientists and philosophers have long argued that “god” is nothing more than a construct of the primitive human mind. A result of the fundamental need to explain the unexplainable. But could it be that a specific area of the brain is responsible for triggering spiritual and religious thoughts? Could humankind’s relationship with “god” be
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World War II was a period of intense espionage and covert operations. Both the Allied and Axis powers employed thousands of spies to gather critical information, sabotage enemy efforts, and gain an advantage. The world of intelligence has always been shrouded in mystery and intrigue, and the stories of World War II spies are no
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One of the most legendary pitchers to ever throw a baseball would have rather spent his time fishing, and often did. Rube Waddell was an eccentric person, had an interesting and varied career, and pitched some of the most record-breaking games of baseball ever. A Rocky Start Waddell began his career in 1897 when the Louisville Colonels
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Morpheus is one of the lesser-known Greek gods. He was associated with sleep and dreams. Ovid The first surviving literary reference to Morpheus is found in Metamorphoses, the magnum opus of the Roman poet Ovid. The title translates to Transformations. Born Publius Ovidius Naso in the year 43 BC, Ovid dedicated decades of his life
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Ares is the Greek god of war. Battle personified, Ares represented many of the more gruesome aspects of warfare. Unlike his sister Athena, who was associated with calm strategy, Ares was all battle frenzy and violence. He wasn’t particularly popular with the Greeks, and even his family disliked him. He found much more success with
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