Rome, as the saying goes, wasn’t built in a day. But how was it built? The origins of the Eternal City have long been shrouded in myth and legendry, but archaeological investigations over the last couple of centuries have shed light on how a collection of fortified hilltop villages
Richard Fulmer fee.org Richard Fulmer worked as an engineer and a systems analyst, and is now retired and a freelance writer. He has published some 30 articles and book reviews in free market magazines and blogs. With Robert L Bradley Jr, Richard wrote the book, Energy: The Master Resource,
Jenefer Metcalfe mercatornet.com Jenefer Metcalfe is a Lecturer in Biomedical Egyptology, University of Manchester One hundred years ago, our understanding of ancient Egypt changed forever when the tomb of King Tutankhamun was found on November 4, 1922 in the Valley of Kings. Born around 1305BC, Tutankhamun only ruled Egypt
Joe Perry Georgia State University In 1921, in a Munich beer hall, newly appointed Nazi party leader Adolf Hitler gave a Christmas speech to an excited crowd. According to undercover police observers, 4,000 supporters cheered when Hitler condemned “the cowardly Jews for breaking the world-liberator on the cross” and
Joan Fitzpatrick Loughborough University Charles Dickens popularised the traditional, English Christmas in 1843 in his novel A Christmas Carol, when Bob Cratchit and his family sit down on Christmas Day to eat a dinner of goose with mashed potatoes and apple sauce accompanied by sage and onion stuffing and followed
William Keylor Boston University The Christmas Truce is no stranger to popular entertainment – 2014 more than any other as its 100th anniversary is marked. The famous moment when British and German soldiers climbed out of the trenches in peace on Christmas Day 1914 has been replicated and ruminated upon in
Diane Winston USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism Tinseled trees and snowy landscapes are not the only signs of the upcoming holiday season. Red kettles, staffed by men and women in street clothes, Santa suits and Salvation Army uniforms, also telegraph Christmastime. The Salvation Army is among America’s
François Lévêque Mines ParisTech A few hundred years ago, who would have dreamed that the humble Christmas tree would one day be an immense global success? Certainly not Martin Luther, who is said to have decorated a tree with candles to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Nor Prince Albert,
William Norman Grigg (1963-2017) was Managing Editor of the Libertarian Institute and an award-winning investigative journalist and author. He was the author of five books, most recently Liberty in Eclipse: The War on Terror and the Rise of the Homeland Security State. Mr. Grigg wrote and published the Pro Libertate
Peter Doyle London South Bank University Professor, London South Bank University; PhD geology; geology, military geoscience and military history research background; Secretary of the All Party Parliamentary War Heritage Group; British Commission on Military History member; author of 41 books (military history, geoscience) and numerous papers on geology, military geology,
Thomas Adam University of Arkansas Thomas Adam, PhD, is an associate professor of international and global studies in the Department of Political Science at the University of Arkansas. He also serves as associate director of the International and Global Studies Program at the University of Arkansas. Each season, the celebration
Anne Lawrence-Mathers University of Reading The idea of hanging up decorations in the middle of winter is older than Christmas itself. Decorations are mentioned in ancient descriptions of the Roman feast of Saturnalia, which is thought to have originated in the 5th century BC. Some 900 years later, a Christian
Giles Gasper Durham University Giles Gasper’s main fields are in the history of medieval culture and religion: medieval science and natural phenomena; the making of medieval theology and the understanding of creation; monastic life; the influence of classical and patristic thinkers on later centuries; and medieval food and drink.
Daniel Merino Associate Science Editor & Co-Host of The Conversation Weekly Podcast Nehal El-Hadi Science + Technology Editor The Conversation If you want to know what happened in the earliest years of the universe, you are going to need a very big, very specialized telescope. Much to the joy of astronomers
Kurt Mahlburg mercatornet.com Kurt Mahlburg is a writer and author, and an emerging Australian voice on culture and the Christian faith. He has a passion for both the philosophical and the personal, drawing on his background as a graduate architect, a primary school teacher, a missionary and a young
