Category: Year

Today, September 2, back in 31 B.C., the Battle of Actium took place.

Actium was a sea battle between the forces of Octavian (soon to become the Emperor Augustus) and the forces of Marc Anthony and Cleopatara.

Octavian kicked their butts.

A year later, Marc Anthony and Cleopatara killed themselves.

The victory at Actium consolidated Octavian’s rule and thus is the traditional date for the beginning of the Roman Empire.

It was a decisive battle in Roman history that shaped the future of mankind. If Actium had not been fought or had come out differently than it did, we would not be living in the world we are. It was, as they might say on Star Trek, a crucial juncture in the timeline.

LEARN MORE.

Today, August 26, back in 1883, the Indonesian volcano Krakatoa blew its top.

You may have thought Vesuvius was big, but it was small beans compared to Krakatoa. I mean, in terms of volcano eruptions in recorded history, Krakatoa IS IT.

I mean, the explosion of Krakatoa was THE LOUDEST SOUND EVER IN RECORDED HISTORY AND WAS HEARD 3,000 FREAKING MILES AWAY (WHICH IS TOTALLY AMAZING SINCE THE RADIUS OF THE EARTH IS ONLY 4,000 MILES AND ITS CIRCUMFERENCE IS ONLY 24,000 MILES, MEANING THAT THE BLAST WAS HEARD ACROSS 6,000 OF THE 24,000 MILES OF THE PLANET’S CIRCUMFERENCE)!!!

WOW!!!

So, okay.

Big HUGE freaking volano explosion.

I mean, if planetary-scale disasters are your thing (volcanos, earthquakes, tsunamis) are your thing, then Indonesia is your place!

EXCERPTS:

• Although no one is known to have been killed as a result of the initial explosion, the tsunamis it generated had disastrous results, killing some 36,000 people, and wiping out a number of settlements, including Telok Batong in Sumatra, and Sirik and Semarang in Java.
• An additional 1,000 or so people died from the effects of volcanic fumes and ashes.
• Ships as far away as South Africa rocked as tsunamis hit them, and the bodies of victims were found floating in the ocean for weeks after the event.
• There are even numerous documented reports of groups of human skeletons floating across the Indian Ocean on rafts of volcanic pumice and washing up on the east coast of Africa up to a year after the eruption.
• The 1883 eruption was amongst the most severe volcanic explosions in modern times (VEI of 6, equivalent to 200 megatons of TNT — by way of comparison, the biggest bomb ever made by man, Tsar Bomba, had an explosive power of around 50 megatons).
• Concussive air waves from the explosions travelled seven times around the world, and the sky was darkened for days afterwards.
• The island of Rakata [where Krakatoa is located] itself largely ceased to exist as over two thirds of its exposed land area was blown to dust, and its surrounding ocean floor was drastically altered.
• The eruption produced spectacular sunsets throughout the world for many months afterwards, as a result of sunlight reflected from suspended dust particles ejected by the volcano high into Earth’s atmosphere. British artist William Ashcroft made hundreds of color sketches of the red sunsets half-way around the world from Krakatoa in the years after the eruption.
• In 2004, researchers proposed the idea that the blood-red sky shown in Edvard Munch’s famous 1893 painting The Scream is also an accurate depiction of the sky over Norway after the eruption.
• Additionally, it [the island where Krakatoa lies] has also been a case study of island biogeography and founder populations in an ecosystem being built from the ground up, virtually sterilized, certainly with no macroscopic life surviving the explosion.
• The island is still active, with its most recent eruptive episode having begun in 1994. Since then, quiet periods of a few days have alternated with almost continuous eruptions, with occasional much larger explosions.
• Since the 1950s, the island has grown at an average rate of five inches (12.7 cm) per week.
• Reports in 2005 indicated that activity at Anak Krakatau was increasing.

DUM! DUM! DUM!

GET THE STORY.

Today, August 26, back in 1883, the Indonesian volcano Krakatoa blew its top.

You may have thought Vesuvius was big, but it was small beans compared to Krakatoa. I mean, in terms of volcano eruptions in recorded history, Krakatoa IS IT.

I mean, the explosion of Krakatoa was THE LOUDEST SOUND EVER IN RECORDED HISTORY AND WAS HEARD 3,000 FREAKING MILES AWAY (WHICH IS TOTALLY AMAZING SINCE THE RADIUS OF THE EARTH IS ONLY 4,000 MILES AND ITS CIRCUMFERENCE IS ONLY 24,000 MILES, MEANING THAT THE BLAST WAS HEARD ACROSS 6,000 OF THE 24,000 MILES OF THE PLANET’S CIRCUMFERENCE)!!!

WOW!!!

So, okay.

Big HUGE freaking volano explosion.

I mean, if planetary-scale disasters are your thing (volcanos, earthquakes, tsunamis) are your thing, then Indonesia is your place!

EXCERPTS:

• Although no one is known to have been killed as a result of the initial explosion, the tsunamis it generated had disastrous results, killing some 36,000 people, and wiping out a number of settlements, including Telok Batong in Sumatra, and Sirik and Semarang in Java.
• An additional 1,000 or so people died from the effects of volcanic fumes and ashes.
• Ships as far away as South Africa rocked as tsunamis hit them, and the bodies of victims were found floating in the ocean for weeks after the event.
• There are even numerous documented reports of groups of human skeletons floating across the Indian Ocean on rafts of volcanic pumice and washing up on the east coast of Africa up to a year after the eruption.
• The 1883 eruption was amongst the most severe volcanic explosions in modern times (VEI of 6, equivalent to 200 megatons of TNT — by way of comparison, the biggest bomb ever made by man, Tsar Bomba, had an explosive power of around 50 megatons).
• Concussive air waves from the explosions travelled seven times around the world, and the sky was darkened for days afterwards.
• The island of Rakata [where Krakatoa is located] itself largely ceased to exist as over two thirds of its exposed land area was blown to dust, and its surrounding ocean floor was drastically altered.
• The eruption produced spectacular sunsets throughout the world for many months afterwards, as a result of sunlight reflected from suspended dust particles ejected by the volcano high into Earth’s atmosphere. British artist William Ashcroft made hundreds of color sketches of the red sunsets half-way around the world from Krakatoa in the years after the eruption.
• In 2004, researchers proposed the idea that the blood-red sky shown in Edvard Munch’s famous 1893 painting The Scream is also an accurate depiction of the sky over Norway after the eruption.
• Additionally, it [the island where Krakatoa lies] has also been a case study of island biogeography and founder populations in an ecosystem being built from the ground up, virtually sterilized, certainly with no macroscopic life surviving the explosion.
• The island is still active, with its most recent eruptive episode having begun in 1994. Since then, quiet periods of a few days have alternated with almost continuous eruptions, with occasional much larger explosions.
• Since the 1950s, the island has grown at an average rate of five inches (12.7 cm) per week.
• Reports in 2005 indicated that activity at Anak Krakatau was increasing.

DUM! DUM! DUM!

GET THE STORY.

Today, August 25, back in 1835, the New York Sun began publishing a series of articles about exciting discoveries about what exists on the lunar surface.

These discoveries were made by the British astronomer Sir John Herschel "by means of a telescope of vast dimensions and an entirely new principle."

Herschel, the article declared, had established a "new theory of cometary phenomena"; he had discovered planets in other solar systems; and he had "solved or corrected nearly every leading problem of mathematical astronomy." Then, almost as if it were an afterthought, the article revealed Herschel’s final, stunning achievement: he had discovered life on the moon!

The article continued on and offered an elaborate account of the fantastic sights viewed by Herschel during his telescopic observation of the moon. It described a lunar topography that included vast forests, inland seas, and lilac-hued quartz pyramids. Readers learned that herds of bison wandered across the plains of the moon; that blue unicorns perched on its hilltops; and that spherical, amphibious creatures rolled across its beaches. The highpoint of the narrative came when it revealed that Herschel had found evidence of intelligent life on the moon: he had discovered both a primitive tribe of hut-dwelling, fire-wielding biped beavers, and a race of winged humans living in pastoral harmony around a mysterious, golden-roofed temple. Herschel dubbed these latter creatures the Vespertilio-homo, or "man-bat".

The picture above is of the "man-bats" of the moon flying in the moon’s "Ruby Colosseum"!

LEARN MORE! (And SEE more PICTURES! Including of the "Biped Beavers"!!!)

READ THE ORIGINAL ARTICLES! (Articles linked on this page)

Today, August 24, back in the year A.D. 79, Mt. Vesuvius blew its top, burying Roman towns such as Pompeii and Herculaneum.

Interestingly, prior to the erruption the crater of the mountain had been used by Spartacus and his comrades to hide out in. That was around 150 years before the big explosion, though.

When A.D. 79 came:

The eruption is thought to have lasted about 19 hours, in which time the volcano ejected about 1 cubic mile (4 cubic kilometres) of ash and rock over a wide area to the south and south-east of the crater. Pompeii, Herculaneum and many other towns around Vesuvius were destroyed, with about 3m (10ft) of tephra falling on Pompeii. Around 2,000 people are believed to have died in the town, the vast majority as the result of suffocation by volcanic ashes and gases. Herculaneum, which was much closer to the crater, was buried under 23m (75ft) of ash deposited by a series of pyroclastic flows and mudflows. Due to the lack of remains found in the town, it had been long thought that the inhabitants had escaped, but hundreds of skeletons were discovered in the 1980s in the former beach-side boatyard, where they had taken shelter. Many of the victims and other organic objects (such as beds and doors) were carbonized by the intense heat, which reached temperatures of up to 750°. In one of the more gruesome discoveries made in Herculaneum, many of the victims were found with the tops of their skulls missing — their brains had literally exploded in the intense heat.

The total number of casualties across Campania is unknown but is likely to have been upwards of 10,000 people. Pompeii and Herculaneum were never rebuilt, although surviving townspeople and probably looters did undertake extensive salvage work after the destructions. The towns’ location was eventually forgotten until their accidental rediscovery in the 18th century. Vesuvius itself underwent major changes – its slopes were denuded of vegetation and its summit had changed considerably due to the force of the eruption.

The explosion was also witnessed and written about by such notable literary figures as Tacitus and Pliny the Elder.

GET THE STORY.

Today, August 22, is the Queenship of Mary in the Latin rite of the Church.

INFO ON MARY’S QUEENSHIP.

By divine providence, today is also the day that I was received into the Catholic Church, back in 1992.

GET THE STORY.

(And bring a box of Kleenex.)

Today, August 15, back in 1945 a very significant event happened: World War II ended.

My favorite account of this is from the "Kamp Krusty" episode of The Simpsons, which starts on the last day of the school year:

T minus five seconds and counting.  When the bells ring, the
   students stream out the doors, but before they can disappear for
   good, a teacher properly concludes their education.

   Teacher: Wait a minute!  You didn’t learn how World War II ended!
     Class: [pause their celebration, awaiting the answer]
   Teacher: We won!
     Class: Yay!  U-S-A!  U-S-A!  U-S-A!

GET THE STORY.

And be prepared to party like it’s 1945.

Today, August 12, back in 1099 was the day the forces of Christendom won the Battle of Ascalon, achieving victory in the First Crusade, thus reclaiming territory that had previously been conquered by Muslims who were still aggressively trying to conquer Christian civilization (and who later would get as far as Vienna before having their armies turned back).

GET THE STORY.

MORE ON THE FIRST CRUSADE.

Today, August 8, back in 1930 was the first appearance of Betty Boop, which occurred in the cartoon Dizzy Dishes by the Max Fleischer Studio.

This early incarnation of Betty was not much like her later self. For one thing, she wasn’t yet named Betty, much less Boop.

She also wasn’t a human being. She was a dog–a French poodle, specifically.

She was, however, modeled after a human actress named Helen Kane, who later sued Fleisher (unsuccessfully).

MORE ON HELEN KANE.

Betty inhabited a surreal world in which even the smallest inanimate object could take on a life of its own under the influence of Fleisher’s full animation techniques, and she went on to fame and stardom, working with greats such as Cab Calloway and Louis Armstrong.

She also became a starmaker herself, launching Popeye on his animation career.

After 1934, though, her overt . . . (ahem) . . . attractiveness had to be toned down due to Hollywood Production Code regulations.

Betty continues to be popular today, making an occasional appearance, as she did in a famous cameo in the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

Boop-oop-a-doop!

MORE ON BETTY.

WATCH OR DOWNLOAD PUBLIC DOMAIN BETTY CARTOONS.

(Of special note: Minnie The Moocher.)