Historical
It's Who You Know
Having the right drinking buddy can be good for your career. The third century AD Roman Empire was in trouble. A fifty-year period saw 26 claimants to the Imperial throne, barbarian invasions, economic contraction, plague, natural disasters, and a split of the Empire into three separate territories. Not for nothing was this historical period called “The Crisis of the Third Century.”
By Stacey Roberts5 years ago in FYI
Keep Your Pants On
One privilege of rank is getting to keep your pants on. Major General Mark Clark was on a top-secret mission in Algiers in 1942. A British submarine had brought him and several other Allied officers to meet with the commander of the French army in North Africa. Clark was there to persuade General Charles Mast, the French commander, not to resist the planned American invasion of North Africa, codenamed Operation Torch. French forces had been under German authority since the Nazis had invaded France two years earlier, so it wasn’t clear whose side they were on. They met in an isolated villa, and General Mast agreed to Clark’s plan. If Mast’s cooperation was found out by the Germans, he would have been executed for treason.
By Stacey Roberts5 years ago in FYI
Stick In The Mud
Sometimes a Republic on its way to becoming an empire could really use an intractable stick-in-the-mud to run things. Cato the Elder was a simple fellow of simple tastes. He farmed his estate with his own field hands, dressing and eating the way they did. His penchant for tough living gained the admiration of his neighbors, who often enlisted his support to settle disputes, which sparked his career as an orator.
By Stacey Roberts5 years ago in FYI
Temper, Temper
If one more bad thing happened today, Mary Todd Lincoln was going to lose it. She had invited herself along on Abraham Lincoln’s trip to Union army headquarters at City Point, Virginia. Julia Grant, wife of commanding general Ulysses S. Grant, had suggested to her husband that he invite the President to come visit. She had been “struck by constant newspaper reports of the exhausted appearance of the President” and thought a break from Washington would do him good. Grant worried about the protocol involved in sending an invitation when the President could go where he liked whenever he wanted, but he sent a note to Lincoln in March, 1865 suggesting that “the rest would do you good.”
By Stacey Roberts5 years ago in FYI
I'll Go When I'm Good And Ready
General George McClellan was outnumbered. At age thirty-four, he was an internationally-respected military thinker and strategist (except where the cavalry was concerned; he only wanted them for guards and advance patrols. However, his invention—the McClellan saddle--was in continuous use from 1859 until the horse cavalry was disbanded in World War II. The Confederate cavalry made widespread use of it after 1863. Thanks, George).
By Stacey Roberts5 years ago in FYI
Why Civilization is the cause of discontent?
At an early stage of development, the actions of an infant are controlled by its instinct. Try snatching a rattle from its hand, and it will come at you with force to take it back. A one-year-old toddler does not think twice to latch at its mother's breast when hungry. It cannot differentiate between the self and the outer world as it is driven by pure ego and wants. Freud defines this phenomenon as infantile narcissism.
By Vaibhav Bhosle5 years ago in FYI
How The Work, and Thus The Legacy, of Kathleen Collins Resurfaced
One afternoon in 2013, Dennis Doros received a call. The call was from a young woman wanting to pitch a movie of her mother’s to Milestone Films. Dennis, along with Amy Heller, co-founded the distribution company in 1990 and became world-renowned for their efforts. At first, the call didn’t particularly excite Dennis. However, as the woman explained what the film was, he realized they had just found the cinematic equivalent of gold.
By Jamie Lammers5 years ago in FYI
The Truth About King Richard and His Devoted Minstrel
King Richard I, also known as Richard the Lionheart, was one of England’s most popular monarchs, so it’s not surprising that much of what people write about him is absolute nonsense. He may or may not have been gay. The body of his father Henry II most assuredly did not begin to bleed when he approached it (indicating that Richard was his murderer). He was not best buddies with Robin Hood since Robin Hood probably never existed in the first place.
By Denise Shelton5 years ago in FYI
Achilles and his heel
The name Achilles is remembered today mainly because everyone has two Achilles tendons, which connect the calf muscle to the heel, and many people have suffered considerable pain, discomfort and inconvenience when one of these has been strained or torn.
By John Welford5 years ago in FYI
