In 2018 a group of Harvard scholars (historians, geologists, and climatologists) concluded that the worst year ever was the year 536 AD. Not the years of the bubonic plague (1347-1352)? Not the years of World War 2 (1939-1945)? Nope. They…

From time to time historians are able to uncover, or recover, true stories that have faded from memory. Fortunately, in the past 20 years ago historians have recovered the story of Abraham Galloway: spy, abolitionist, and legislator. Galloway was born…

As I am reading through books by William Edward Burghardt DuBois and Booker Taliaferro Washington, I am struck by the earnestness with which both men value and pursue education as a main avenue to improve their own lives and the…

As I am reading both Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois, I came across this comment from Mr. DuBois regarding the pursuit of constitutional rights. Please note the balance between his support and criticism of Washington’s “Atlanta Exposition Address”: “So…

I am currently reading two books, and both are fascinating. I am reading Booker T. Washington’s “Up From Slavery”, and W.E.B. DuBois’ “The Souls of Black Folk.” Both men wrote in a time when black Americans were enormously oppressed by…

I remember waking up the morning of April 25, 1980 to the horrible news that an American special forces rescue team had had a terrible collision in the Iranian desert, and eight U.S. servicemen had been killed. The rescue attempt,…

From November 4, 1979 to January 20, 1981, the Islamic Republic of Iran held 52 Americans (mostly diplomats) hostage. It lasted 444 days. Islamists who supported the agenda of the Ayatollah Khomeini, attacked the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and captured…

How did Iran become a theocratic Islamic republic, governed by their version of Sharia, and the world’s largest exporter of terrorism? Iran for most of the 20th century was a peaceful, yet backwards nation. Persia/Iran was a nation that was…

Way back in 1990 I clipped an article from Parade Magazine (the little magazine that was found in many editions of the Sunday paper a long time ago). The article was entitled “It’s Such a Pleasure to Learn” and it…