More on History
History On the Trail of the Easter Bunny April 5, 2012 It’s a short hop from Egyptian hare god to Easter bunny. Easter is considered one of the oldest and most sacred Christian holidays; thus it would seem that a symbol as iconic as the Easter bunny (or, in some countries, the East
History gives some clear answers related to the mysterious tale of the Easter bunny.
Is the story of the mystical phoenix just an ancient flight of fancy? Its rebirth through Christian writings suggests otherwise.
In Bible history, this year marks the 400th anniversary of the King James Version. A lasting success of the KJV was its committee-based approach to translation, a method that is still used with major Bible translations to this very day.
Two of archaeology’s most fascinating finds are represented by separate museum exhibits currently touring in the United States. Both were emperors of powerful nations: but that is not all they had in common.
In their recent book Resurrection: The Power of God for Christians and Jews Kevin Madigan and Jon D. Levenson explain what the Hebrew Scriptures mean when they speak of resurrection.
Many present-day Russians have managed to discount his horrific impact on history to rehabilitate Stalin—some even suggesting his elevation to sainthood. Why?
World War I has been described as the war to end all wars. The ensuing years—most notably, the Second World War—showed that this thought was ridiculously naïve. In reality, the war was a colossal mistake, caused by a series of astonishing blunders.
An estimated 167 million to 188 million people of the ostensibly best and highest and latest culture the long history of mankind has had to offer, have been shoveled into early graves.
China’s First Emperor, the head of the short-lived Qin dynasty, was a man of great and extravagant ambitions—not only for his physical, earthly life but for the life he anticipated beyond the grave.
When David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the birth of the State of Israel in Tel Aviv on May 14, 1948, who could have foreseen that the Arab-Israeli conflict would still be in the headlines 60 years later?
If Pol Pot proved to be Cambodia’s ephemeral false messiah, there is nothing short-term about the legacy of Kim Il-sung of North Korea. He began his 46-year rule as a committed Marxist-Leninist but eventually created his own postcommunist Juche ideology of self-reliance. In the process, he perpetuated a personality cult and a savior dynasty.
When Mao received his protégé, the Cambodian Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, in Beijing in June 1975, it was to congratulate him on installing radical communism in one fell swoop.
This month India and Pakistan both celebrated their 60th year of independence from the British Raj. The progress of these two nations over this period has been very different.
Had the British public been asked, prior to March 1982, to hazard even a rough guess about the location of the Falkland Islands, very few would have known or cared. But this quickly changed with the invasion of the unoccupied nearby island of South Georgia on March 19 by a group of Argentine scrap metal merchants, who raised the Argentine flag at the behest of their government. The military invasion of the Falklands followed on April 2.
June 30, 2007, marks the 10th anniversary of Britain’s controversial handover of Hong Kong to China. For the British it was the loss of the most valuable of her few remaining vestiges of empire. For China it was the acquisition of a prize that gave her a bustling, thriving financial hub, a portal into the Western capitalist world, complete with its own stock exchange index, the Hang Seng.
Twenty years ago, on June 12, 1987, during a visit to the divided German city of Berlin, U.S. president Ronald Reagan publicly and memorably challenged Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down this wall.
CategorySeries TitlePart NoArticle title Issue Date“Pull Quote.”—Pull Quote Attribute“Pull Quote.”—Pull Quote Attribute“Pull Quote.”—Pull Quote AttributeDrop Head Main Body Return to top of page
Napoleon's Imperial Catechism: the duties of Christians towards the princes who govern them, and in particular, the duties towards Napoleon I, the Emperor.
Vision interviews a leading PLO representative for a Palestinian perspective on how Jerusalem can have peace.
You've probably heard that the Western world's biggest holiday is steeped in paganism. But have you asked yourself why it matters?
Can the life of a humble teacher of botany who lived at a much simpler time offer insight for a world caught up in the fast-paced information age?
How did the Bible come to be translated into so many vernacular tongues?
Part Two in the story of the courageous struggle to put the Bible into the hands of the English people.
Why was the translation of the Bible into English so violently opposed? First in a two-part series.
The century that is now ending has been one of stark contrasts. The average life span of humans has lengthened dramatically, thanks in large part to scientific advances. Technological achievement has increasesd exponentially, bringing vast improvements in the lives of most people. Yet the deadliest and most destructive wars and the most horrific crimes, even genocide, have taken place during the same period. How did such a dichotomy develop?
There is a new optimism that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict can be resolved. But can peace emerge from the thicket of thorny issues surrounding this age-old conflict?
Thanks to John Paul II, the papacy is once again a force to reckon with.
A look back at the fall of the Berlin Wall and Germany's subsequent reunification in October 1990 offers some fascinating insights into the making of history.
Thanks to the MAD doctrine, the Cold War left its mark on two regions of the former Soviet Union.
The world's most infamous nuclear power plant is finally closed. But that doesn't mean we can put the whole radioactive mess behind us.
Modern Western society reflects a civilization that most people consider long dead. Yet the connections are clear and unmistakable.
Will an ancient religious rift between Eastern and Western Europe be healed?
Vision looks at the durability of the British monarchy.
Historical human tragedies such as the sinking of the Titanic teach valuable lessons about the tendency to feel we are invulnerable.
It's more popular than ever, and it may seem harmless enough, but what are you really participating in when you celebrate Halloween?
One century ago, a pair of brothers from Ohio harnessed the laws of aerodynamics to make the first sustained powered flight. But their story serves to illustrate an even more compelling challenge.
The first in a two-part series examining the city's historic place in world politics and religion.
Is this unusual relationship, which has spanned nearly 500 years, outdated?
A look at Jerusalem's centrality to geopolitics from the period of the Reformation to the modern era.
What is the basis to Arab and Palestinianan claims to Jerusalem?
First in a two-part series examining the political and religious complexities of Jerusalem.
The dropping of an atomic bomb on August 6, 1945, forced the world to the threshold of a new era. But how much has really changed?
As the world recalls the end of World War II, Vision examines Adolf Hitler's rise to power, the unprecedented cruelty he unleashed, and the lessons to be remembered.