There’s a comic from DC/Vertigo I’m really enjoying right now — Brian Woods’ Northlanders. It’s about Vikings, and it’s told in story arcs. The first trade paperback, Sven the Returned collects the first eight-issue story arc (for the budget price of ten dollars!), and it’s a pretty involving tale of a young man who leftContinue reading “On Offering Praise to Odin”
Category Archives: History
On Today’s Birthdays
Today, two hundred years ago, Charles Darwin was born. The man who formulated the theory of natural selection. Also, two hundred years ago today, across an ocean, Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, was born. When I was growing up in the Shenandoah Valley, my schoolbus carried me every day past theContinue reading “On Today’s Birthdays”
On the Feast Day of St. Cedd
Today, the seventh of January, is celebrated in the Catholic Church as the feast day of Saint Cedd, who was built a number of monasteries and spread the Christian faith throughout Mercia and Essex in the seventh century. (Curiously, Cedd’s feast day is also celebrated on October 26th.) Cedd, of course, is the namesake forContinue reading “On the Feast Day of St. Cedd”
On the End of America
Here’s a cheery Christmas present for us all.A Russian professor predicts that the United States has eighteen months of life left to it. “There’s a 55-45% chance right now that disintegration will occur,” [Igor Panarin]. “One could rejoice in that process,” he adds, poker-faced. “But if we’re talking reasonably, it’s not the best scenario —Continue reading “On the End of America”
On Veterans’ Day
Ninety years ago today, in the fields of Flanders, the guns of the First World War fell silent. In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. ShortContinue reading “On Veterans’ Day”
On Teddy Roosevelt’s Birthday
As long time readers know, there’s probably no President I admire more than T.R. himself, Teddy Roosevelt. From his military career to his historical writings, from his tireless dedication as the Police Commissioner of New York to his unceasing championing of progressive ideals, Teddy Roosevelt was truly one of America’s greatest presidents, and I oftenContinue reading “On Teddy Roosevelt’s Birthday”
On Nelson’s Birthday
Two-hundred and fifty years ago today — September 29, 1758 — Horatio Nelson was born in Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk. The hero of the Nile and Trafalgar, Nelson and his fleets kept Napoleon’s navy at bay.
On Rating the Fictional Presidents
Historians like to create lists. Which presidents were best? Which were worst? So on, and so forth. My brother called. He mentioned that a television station was showing Dave, that wonderful film about a man called upon to impersonate the president when he suffered a stroke, and his transformation from the tool of the imperiousContinue reading “On Rating the Fictional Presidents”
On the Restoration of the Knights Templar
A successor order to the Knights Templar has filed suit in Spain against Pope Benedict XVI to restore the name and assets of the disgraced military and religious order. The Knights Templar were one of the monastic military orders to emerge from the Crusades in the eleventh century. With the end of the Crusades, theContinue reading “On the Restoration of the Knights Templar”
On Tartan Day
Three weeks ago we celebrated St. Patrick’s Day — the one day a year when everyone is Irish. 😉 Today we celebrate Tartan Day — a day where we look back upon the great things that the Scots have done for civilization. If that means hitting the back nine of a golf course, then rockContinue reading “On Tartan Day”