St. John’s Eve

On St. John’s Eve, bonfires are built to repel witches and evil spirits and to attract moths and firemen… Salome caused the death of John the Baptist by dancing for him and then, in lieu of a tip, asked for the Saint’s head to be delivered to her on a platter. Of all of the […]

Ancient Wonders that were Utter Failures

Great Pyramid: It was meant to be a palace, but the builders noticed the walls sloping inwards and just continued building anyway. When it was completed, the Pharaoh looked it over and remarked, “I’ll die before I get into that thing”… Colossus of Rhodes: A stunning sight, the bronze giant standing astride the harbor’s entrance […]

And, at Last, We End This

Last day of my “vacation” from writing. Oddly enough, I’ve been writing this whole time but at least at my own pace. New stuff will be forthcoming on Monday and backgoing by Wednesday. Because I know you all like essays on saints, here’s… The Unsparing Perspicuity of St Jerome

This Day in History: October 12th

Eastern State House, first insane asylum in what is now the United States, began taking patients on this date in 1773, solving the problem of what to do with all those crazy people that had been running around. The institution, located in Williamsburg, Virginia, specialized in state of the art treatments of the day, […]

This Day in History: October 8th

The Great Chicago Fire started on this day in 1871, as if just being in Chicago wasn’t disaster enough. The fire, encouraged by dry conditions and supported financially by high winds, grew out of control in the forty minutes it took fire-fighters to arrive. Ultimately, dozens of urban blocks were burned to the ground, which […]

This Day in History: November 11th

On this day in 1999, the House of Lords Act entered into force in the United Kingdom. Essentially, the act stated that members of that house could not inherit their positions…except for some of them…92 of them to be exact…or 89 to be less precise. If you want to be way off-base…a million. […]

This Day in History: October 13th

Rock vocalist Sammy Hagar was born on this day in 1947, despite neighbors’ complaints about the noise. As front man for the group Van Halen, Hagar was often compared to the group’s former vocalist, David Lee Roth…usually by height. Hagar was less flamboyant than Roth; moreover, his sense of self-worth was contained to the point […]