Barbarossa – The Surprise German Attack on Russia
On June 22,1941 Germany launched a surprise attack on Russia. Hitler announced “Soldiers of the eastern front an assembly of strength on a size and scale such as the world has never seen in now [...]
Paperclips: Attempt to Understand the Holocaust
The recently released documentary, Paperclips, provides another compelling Holocaust project that seeks to create a legacy of tolerance through examination of the Nazi extermination of 6 million Jews, including some 1.5 million children below the [...]
Edward VII (1841-1910), King of the United Kingdom
Edward VII might have been the son of Queen Victoria, but in this case the apple fell very far from the tree. He truly relished his role as the leader of the social life [...]
Cortes: The Conquest of Mexico
In 1519 Hermando Cortes sailed from Cuba to Mexico with one hundred ten mariners, five hundred and fifty-three soldiers, ten canon and sixteen horses. Over the next three years, he defeated an empire composed [...]
Charles Schulz “Peanuts Creator”
Charles Schulz was the creator of “Peanuts” and 355 million people around the world read the tender and sage comic strip starring Charlie Brown. Mr. Schulz recognized his responsibility for his comic characters. He [...]
Chief Joseph (1840-1904): An American Tragedy
The treatment of Chief Joseph, known to his followers as Thunder Rolling Down, was disgraceful both personally and to his tribe, the Nez Perce. The chief of a peaceful tribe, many of whose members [...]
Buck Compton, Band of Brothers
As the green light suddenly glowed the young second lieutenant shuffled up to the door of the C-47 and leapt out into the darkness. Other troopers tumbled out behind him. Parachutes unfurled and clapped [...]
Bannister Stuns World with 4-Minute Mile
On May 6,1954, Sir Roger Bannister, a twenty-five year old medical student, accomplished one of the greatest feats in sports history when he became the first person to run a sub-four minute mile. I [...]
Vending Machines: Twenty-Two Hundred Year History
With the advent of modern technology, the vending machine has taken on ever increasing functionality. Over the past decade, nationwide vending sales have risen some 40%, to $24.3 Billion. Recently a machine carrying 130 items [...]
The Cultural Revolution: The Great Leap into Madness
1966-1976 Mao Zedong launched the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) during his last decade in power to renew the spirit of the Chinese revolution. Perhaps never before in human history has a political leader unleashed such massive [...]
Role of Canada in the American Revolution
Today, Canada and the United States are peacefully neighboring states with well-defined boundaries. However, the future course of these countries was determined during the American Revolution. That is, Americans unsuccessfully invaded Canada, thwarted by British [...]
Foreign Diplomacy, Ultimate Chess Game
“War is another form of Diplomacy” is a paraphrase of the activities undertaken by sovereign states striving to develop a temporary balance in their relationships. In rereading one of my favorite books, The Deadly [...]
The Trial of Galileo
In the 1633 trial of Galileo Galilei, two worlds come into cosmic conflict. Galileo’s world of science and humanism collides with the world of Scholasticism and absolutism that held power in the Catholic Church. The [...]
Brief History of The Maginot Line
A series of fortifications designed to keep Germany “the beast that sleeps on the other side of the Rhine” violate French territory. The Maginot Line was built between 1929 and 1940. It was built to [...]
Battle of Britain July-Oct 1940
Although I have read endless accounts of the Battle of Britain, I can never fully accept that four years before I was born a battle for the survival of civilization was fought where the “side [...]
Black Confederate Soldiers: A Surprising Fact
The existence of Black Confederate soldiers almost sounds like an historical contradiction. Given that the South initiated the Civil War to preserve slavery, it is hard to imagine that (1) Southern leaders would utilize black [...]
Eugenics: Psuedoscience Designed to Eliminate “Inferior” Human Beings
I am always troubled when our country does not live up to its wonderful ideals. Fortunately, over time we have confronted our errors and terminated errant policies; however, mistaken policies have caused needless hardships for [...]
Some Universities Fraudulently Use Federal Grants
On August 16, 2005, the Wall Street Journal reported that since 2003, Northwestern University, Harvard University, John Hopkins University, the Mayo Clinic and the University of Alabama at Birmingham have agreed to civil settlements. [...]
Nationalism: Nothing is More Powerful Than an Idea Whose Time has come
There are many different definitions of nationalism. From the perspective of an individual, nationalism is a feeling of identification with and dedication to a particular nation-state to the exclusion of all other nation-state. Nationalism is [...]
Freshwater and Foreign Policy: New Challenges
According to the foreign policy association, the United States needs to implement new ideas, technologies, and institutional skills to solve the world’s mounting water problems. The United States currently has no consistent or comprehensive [...]
Apache Chief Geronimo, 1829-1919
Geronimo, one of the most famous, and maybe infamous, Indian chiefs and warriors died in a prison hospital in Fort Sill, Oklahoma. He was both feared and admired by his cavalry adversaries. One of [...]
Al Smith “The Happy Warrior”: Trail Blazer for JFK (1873-1934)
Al Smith, four times Governor of the State of New York, who rose from the sidewalks of New York, was the first Roman Catholic to represent a major political party for the presidency of [...]
Running on Empty: How the Democratic and Republican Parties are Bankrupting Our Future
Peter Peterson, the Former Chairman of the New York Economics Council, Lehman Brothers, and the Blackstone Group, has articulated in his book Running on Empty the growing financial crises that confront the United States. [...]
Firing of General Douglas MacArthur
“Old Soldiers Never Die: They Just Fade Away” On April 11, 1951, President Harry Truman backed by the secretary of defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff relieved Douglas MacArthur, a five-star general who had [...]
Tour de France: The World’s Greatest Bicycle Race
The Tour de France is the world’s greatest bicycle race, currently extends some3500 to 4000 kilometers and is divided into twenty stages. It began as a wild adventure for only the heartiest of riders [...]
Guglielmo Marconi: Inventor of a Political System of Wireless Telegraphy
Today, when Marconi hopefully emerges once again into a great company, we might want to recognize its namesake. Guglielmo Marconi became the inventor of the first practical system of wireless telegraphy. He developed the short [...]
Henry Ford and The Model T: 100th Anniversary
Henry Ford (1863-1947) invented neither the automobile nor the assembly line, but recast each to dominate a new era. Indeed, no other individual in this century so completely transformed the nation’s way of life. By [...]
Henry the Navigator 1394-1460
1394-1460 In the current political environment where we are sensitive to our multi-cultural history, it is difficult, particularly in a short essay, to put in perspective the contributions of the Spanish, Portuguese, and other European [...]
Primo Carnera
“Man Mountain or Tin Man” Born 1906 Sequals, Italy Died 1967, Sequals, Italy He was a phenomenon, the most colossal boxer ever to win the world heavyweight championship. They called him the “Man Mountain, [...]
James Ewell Brown Stuart (1833-1864); Eyes of the Confederate Army
James Stuart (Known as Jeb Stuart) was the dominant cavalry officer of the Civil War until his death. General George Patton appreciated his flamboyance and charisma. Stuart provided invaluable service to the Confederate Army during [...]
John Dewey, Chief Prophet of Progressive Education (1859-1920)
Dr. Dewey was an American philosopher and educator, whose writings and teachings had a profound influence on education in the United States. Dewey’s philosophy of education (pragmatism) focused on learning-by-doing rather than rote learning and [...]
John Marshall, Arguably the Most Important Judicial Figure in American History
Arguably the Most Important Judicial Figure in American History 1755-1835 John Marshall was arguably the most important judicial figure in American history. As the chief justice on the United States Supreme Court, serving from 1801-1835, [...]
Growth and Globalization of the U.S. Fixed Income Markets Summer 2000
When I spoke to Jeff Smith, Managing Director Bank of America Capital Markets, about addressing this group of global fixed income managers, I was reading William Manchester’s biography on Douglas McArthur, an American Caesar. [...]
Justice Hugo Black, A Great Supreme Court Justice (1886-1971)
Justice Black during his long career on the Supreme Court, some 34 years, displayed a lifelong reverence for the Constitution. Perhaps no other man in the history of the Court so revered the Constitution as [...]
Lyndon Johnson: Flawed Giant by Robert Dallek
I recently completed Robert Dallek’s book, Lyndon Johnson, Flawed Giant. The author made the observation that a cross-section of historians rate Johnson an average president despite his incredible achievements in orchestrating the legislation of many [...]
Marco Polo, Italian Traveler and Explorer (1254-1324)
Marco Polo was the first European to cross the entire continent of Asia and leave a record of what he saw and heard. His autobiography “The Travels of Marco Polo” is probably the most famous [...]