AD 280 The man we’ve come to identify at St. Nicholas was born in the third century in what is now Turkey. He eventually became a bishop in the early church and was known for helping the poor and the sick and for being a protector of sailors and children. Tales of his good works, …
Continue reading “Brief History of Saint Nicholas to Santa Claus”
A new episode of the best history podcast ever is out. This one is about the radical thoughts and ideology of the French Revolution and the American Communist Scares: Using the two 20th Century “Red Scare” eras as case studies, Dan looks at the fear that can be generated by potentially dangerous ideas and examines …
Continue reading “Favorite Podcasts: Hardcore History by Dan Carlin”
“March 11, 1919 put Orange County in the black in more ways than one. On that day Fullerton area citrus grower Charles C. Chapman watched as his gusher came in. Thousands of gallons of crude oil flew into the sky at Chapman No. 1, his Placentia-Ritchfield District well leased to the Union Oil Co. This …
Continue reading “Huntington Beach's Oil Rush from 1919 to 2010”
“March 11, 1919 put Orange County in the black in more ways than one. On that day Fullerton area citrus grower Charles C. Chapman watched as his gusher came in. Thousands of gallons of crude oil flew into the sky at Chapman No. 1, his Placentia-Ritchfield District well leased to the Union Oil Co. This …
Continue reading “Huntington Beach’s Oil Rush from 1919 to 2010”
We took a trip into the Hollywood Hills to find a rare copy of the original screenplay for A Few Good Men. A favorite film of ours written by the legendary Aaron Sorkin. Rumor has it that the American Film Institute (AFI) has over 5,000 scripts in physical form and not available online. Our directions …
Continue reading “Hollywood History: A visit to the American Film Institute”
Would you like to celebrate a new holiday with me? I call it Family History Day, or Ancestors Day. Let’s celebrate it right before Halloween with a variety of fun and somber rituals, pulled from the most popular festivals around the world: Qingming festival from East Asia Día de los Muertos from Mexico The rituals of Shinto …
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Did you know that every year $4 billion is lost due to college dropouts? The number comes from lost income and compounds every year with new dropouts adding to the roll call. It’s an interesting statistic that highlights a problem in education. One that I call the college dropout bubble, but unlike most bubbles this …
Yesterday the water here in Southern California dropped a full ten degrees overnight. It went from a bathing suit 66 to a freezing, it-hurts 56 degrees. According to the lifeguards this is due to the last big-wave swell. It came in with a strong wind and in a few days had blown away the top …
Continue reading “History of the Wetsuit: "I just wanted to be warm"”
Yesterday the water here in Southern California dropped a full ten degrees overnight. It went from a bathing suit 66 to a freezing, it-hurts 56 degrees. According to the lifeguards this is due to the last big-wave swell. It came in with a strong wind and in a few days had blown away the top …
Continue reading “History of the Wetsuit: “I just wanted to be warm””
I’m such a huge fan of podcasts that it’s insane. See I have this eye problem that prevents me from reading too much. My day job is in technology and my hobby is writing so I have no ‘good eyes’ left for everything else. That’s where podcasts come in. I can listen to them while …