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John Reynolds graduated in the middle of his West Point class of 1841.  He first achieved recognition serving under Gen. Zachary Taylor in the Mexican War.  His artillery battery played a key role in the victory at Buena Vista.  He started the Civil War as a Brigadier General and was Read more

In 193 A.D. in Ancient Rome, the Praetorian Guard assassinated the Emperor Pertinax and then auctioned off the throne to the highest bidder.  A wealthy senator named Didius Julianus offered the high bid – the equivalent of $1,000 per guard.  When word arrived of the death of Pertinax, a general Read more

Cambyses was the Persian Emperor who conquered Egypt.  He may have been a great conqueror, but he was a cruel despot.  Once when a judge was found guilty of corruption, he had him flayed alive.  He ordered that the skin be used to cover the judge’s bench and then he Read more

After Becket’s martyrdom, legends grew about him.  Supposedly, he turned water into wine twice while dining with the Pope.  But accidentally since he would not have wanted to be pretentious.  He was known for not only wearing hair shirts to torture himself, but he also wore hair underpants.  In one Read more

A plantation is a large farm that mass produces a cash crop using a large labor force.  The first were the latifundia in the Roman Empire which produced wine and olive oil.  Later, the Spanish and Portuguese created plantations on Atlantic islands.  Most were sugar cane plantations.  It was quickly Read more

         The Malmedy Massacre occurred during the Battle of the Bulge.  Part of the 1st Panzer Division, led by Lt. Col. Joachim Peiper, was the spearhead of the left wing of the German offensive.  There was a lot of pressure to push forward as fast as possible Read more

In his book Utopia, Thomas More wrote that before they married, couples should see each other naked so they would avoid disappointment.  One day, a friend named Sir William Roper asked More for the hand of one of his daughters in marriage.  When Roper mentioned More’s piece of advice about Read more