The losers of two boxing contests held that month proved to be the real winners in life There was a time when professional boxing was very much a mainstream sport. American television regularly featured live prime-time bouts and newspaper coverage was generous. World championship fights got special attention, particularly in the heavyweight division. There’d be…
Historical animosity between Japan and the Soviet Union shaped the final act of the Second World War Most of us date the end of the Second World War to Japanese Emperor Hirohito’s broadcast accepting Allied terms on August 15, 1945. But as a recent essay from historian Francis Pike reminds us, fighting and dying continued…
As Canada’s Washington ambassador, Allan Gotlieb, put it: “Trudeau believes the Soviets can do no wrong” September 1 marks the 40th anniversary of a Soviet fighter jet shooting down Korean Air Lines (KAL) Flight 007, killing all 269 people on board. The plane – a Boeing 747 – had left New York City’s Kennedy International…
Maj. Gen. Leslie Groves had a reputation for getting things done The theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer is conventionally described as the father of the atomic bomb. He was, after all, the chief scientist on the three-year Manhattan Project that culminated in the August 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the consequent ending…
A nostalgic journey through mid-century British movies When I was a child in Ireland, going to the small local cinema was an integral part of existence. From 1953 onwards, I saw at least 30 movies a year. Most of these were American. Indeed, the very idea of movies was associated with Hollywood, and anything emanating…
The rise of right-wing politics in Europe comes with a feminine touch Greece’s July 23 election was inconclusive. Although the conservative People’s Party won the most seats, it fell slightly short of expectations. Even with prospective coalition partners, it would be around a half-dozen seats shy of a majority. So chances are that the country…
Was Thomas Becket, perhaps subconsciously, simply in search of sainthood and martyrdom? An extraordinary event happened on July 12, 1174. Henry II, king of England, submitted to a penitential flogging at Thomas Becket’s Canterbury Cathedral tomb. Administered by the Canterbury monks, the punishment was in response to Henry’s role in Becket’s murder less than four…
Nixon and Reagan’s complex relationship unveiled in 2012’s The President’s Club Published in 2012, The President’s Club is an interesting exploration of the personal relationships between various American presidents. Among the subjects are Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, whom the authors dub The California Boys. While both men had California as a political base, their…
While adored as ‘one of us’ during his 1963 visit to Ireland, Kennedy had, by that time, become a global figure U.S. President John F. Kennedy’s June 1963 visit to Ireland wasn’t his first time in the country. He’d been there twice before, once in 1945 and again two years later. But this was different.…
What if Germany had won the First World War? How would the world look today? In asking the question of who was to blame for the First World War, my last column also touched on what might have happened if Britain had chosen to step aside from the conflict. Bottom line, Germany would almost certainly…
The losers of two boxing contests held that month proved to be the real winners in life There was a time when professional boxing was very much a mainstream sport. American television regularly featured live prime-time bouts and newspaper coverage was generous. World championship fights got special attention, particularly in the heavyweight division. There’d be…
Historical animosity between Japan and the Soviet Union shaped the final act of the Second World War Most of us date the end of the Second World War to Japanese Emperor Hirohito’s broadcast accepting Allied terms on August 15, 1945. But as a recent essay from historian Francis Pike reminds us, fighting and dying continued…
As Canada’s Washington ambassador, Allan Gotlieb, put it: “Trudeau believes the Soviets can do no wrong” September 1 marks the 40th anniversary of a Soviet fighter jet shooting down Korean Air Lines (KAL) Flight 007, killing all 269 people on board. The plane – a Boeing 747 – had left New York City’s Kennedy International…
Maj. Gen. Leslie Groves had a reputation for getting things done The theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer is conventionally described as the father of the atomic bomb. He was, after all, the chief scientist on the three-year Manhattan Project that culminated in the August 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the consequent ending…
A nostalgic journey through mid-century British movies When I was a child in Ireland, going to the small local cinema was an integral part of existence. From 1953 onwards, I saw at least 30 movies a year. Most of these were American. Indeed, the very idea of movies was associated with Hollywood, and anything emanating…
The rise of right-wing politics in Europe comes with a feminine touch Greece’s July 23 election was inconclusive. Although the conservative People’s Party won the most seats, it fell slightly short of expectations. Even with prospective coalition partners, it would be around a half-dozen seats shy of a majority. So chances are that the country…
Was Thomas Becket, perhaps subconsciously, simply in search of sainthood and martyrdom? An extraordinary event happened on July 12, 1174. Henry II, king of England, submitted to a penitential flogging at Thomas Becket’s Canterbury Cathedral tomb. Administered by the Canterbury monks, the punishment was in response to Henry’s role in Becket’s murder less than four…
Nixon and Reagan’s complex relationship unveiled in 2012’s The President’s Club Published in 2012, The President’s Club is an interesting exploration of the personal relationships between various American presidents. Among the subjects are Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, whom the authors dub The California Boys. While both men had California as a political base, their…
While adored as ‘one of us’ during his 1963 visit to Ireland, Kennedy had, by that time, become a global figure U.S. President John F. Kennedy’s June 1963 visit to Ireland wasn’t his first time in the country. He’d been there twice before, once in 1945 and again two years later. But this was different.…
What if Germany had won the First World War? How would the world look today? In asking the question of who was to blame for the First World War, my last column also touched on what might have happened if Britain had chosen to step aside from the conflict. Bottom line, Germany would almost certainly…