David “Davy” Crockett (August 17, 1786 – March 6, 1836) was an American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier, and three-time Congressman. He represented Tennessee in the U.S. House of Representatives and took part in the Texas Revolution. During the Battle of the Alamo 49-year-old Crockett remained there as the Mexican army advanced, boosting the spirits of… Read More Davy Crockett
“Older men declare war. But it is youth that must fight and die.” (H. Hoover) Herbert Hoover (August 10, 1874 –-1964), America’s 31st president, took office in 1929, the year the U.S. economy fell into the Great Depression. Even though his predecessors’ policies contributed to the crisis, Hoover bore much of the blame in the… Read More Herbert Hoover
On 22 July 1916 George Bernard Shaw’s letter protesting the execution of Sir Roger Casement was published in the “Manchester Guardian”. The playwright had already sent that letter to “The Times” newspaper, but it had been rejected. Following the passing of Roger Casement’s death sentence, there had been a campaign to commute it: several people… Read More (Sir) Roger Casement
Each year on 15 July, the feast day of the Dioscuri, the Roman equestrians used to parade through the streets of Rome in an elaborate spectacle, called “Transvectio equitum” (review of the cavalry). The procession began at the temple of Mars, then stopped at the Temple of Castor and Pollux in the Forum Romanum and… Read More The Dioscuri
Julius Caesar was born on 13 July 100 BC and died on the Ides of March (15 March) of 44 BC. He was a Roman general and statesman who played a critical role in the events that led to the end of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire. He was… Read More Julius Caesar and the Caesarean section
Today, April 4, 2018, is the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” “La nostra vita comincia a finire il giorno che diventiamo silenziosi sulle cose che contano” “Notre vie commence à s’arrêter le jour où… Read More Martin Luther King, Jr.
On 15 March 44 BC, Julius Caesar, dictator of Rome, was stabbed to death in the Roman Senate house by 60 conspirators led by Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus. A haruspex, Spurinna, on Ferbrary 15 had warned him that his life would be in danger for a period of 30 days, which… Read More The Ides of March
In the film “Allied” there are many references to the film “Casablanca” : World War II, spies, Vichy France, Nazis, “La Marseillaise,” a piano, romance, an airport scene. And Casablanca itself, celebrated at the intersection of love and war. World War II was still far from its conclusion and Morocco was under the control of… Read More From “Allied” to “Casablanca”
“Mutiny on the Bounty” – the 1962 American historical drama film starring Marlon Brando – and “The Bounty” – the 1984 British film starring Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins – are two films dealing with the story of a sailing ship crew that is fed up with their captain’s harsh discipline and decides to take… Read More HMS Bounty
Son of Saul is a Hungarian drama film directed by László Nemes. It is set in the Auschwitz -Birkenau concentration camp in 1944 and follows a day-and-a-half in the life of Saul , a Jewish- Hungarian prisoner, member of the Sonderkommando, a group of prisoners with a macabre task: they have to burn the corpses… Read More Sonderkommando
