11/11/11

I’ve already posted something for November 11 as Remembrance/Veterans Day, but given that it’s also one of the twelve days each century when the numbers of the month, day, and year (in mm/dd/yy format, or dd/mm/yy for our European readers) are identical, I thought I’d list the most important events in history for each such … More 11/11/11

This Week in History

October 17, 1660 – Nine “Regicides” are drawn and quartered At the conclusion of the English Civil War in 1649, Parliament appointed “commissioners” to sit in judgment of the defeated king Charles I. He was sentenced to death, with the warrant signed by fifty-nine men. When the monarchy was restored under Charles’ son in 1660, … More This Week in History

This Week in History

This entire week in history is special because of what happened in 1582, when the Catholic countries of southern Europe (plus Poland) became the first to adopt the new calendar decreed by Pope Gregory XIII and so move off of the old Julian calendar. The “Gregorian” calendar was designed to ensure that vernal equinox fell … More This Week in History

The Best National Anthems: The UK

Getting closer to revealing the best national anthem… Before we get to #4, let’s recap the top ten so far: 10. Greece, “Hymn to Liberty” 9. Uruguay, “National Anthem of Uruguay” 8. Russia, “National Anthem of the Russian Federation” 7. China, “Song of the Volunteers” 6. Japan, “Kimigayo” 5. Brazil, “The Brazilian National Anthem” If … More The Best National Anthems: The UK

The Best National Anthems: Brazil

In my quest to identify the World’s Best National Anthem, we breezed through six also-rans and three honorable mentions en route to last Friday’s reveal of my Modern Europe students’ choice for the 6th best anthem: Japan’s “Kimigayo.” Again, the initial rankings were based on a semi-serious but mostly objective calculation weighing three factors: how … More The Best National Anthems: Brazil