The Thorn Birds is an American television miniseries broadcast on ABC from March 27 to 30, 1983. It starred Richard Chamberlain, Rachel Ward, Barbara Stanwyck, Christopher Plummer, Piper Laurie, Jean Simmons, Richard Kiley, Bryan Brown, Mare Winningham and Philip Anglim. It tells the story of the 19 years between Dane’s…
The history of the Detroit Tigers, a professional baseball franchise based in Detroit, Michigan, dates back to 1894 when they were a member of the minor league Western League. Becoming a charter member of the American League in 1901, they are the oldest continuous one name, one city franchise in…
Founded in 1974 in an old munitions plant, the Torpedo Factory Art Center is home to the nation’s largest collection of working-artists’ open studios under one roof. An Alexandria landmark for nearly 50 years, it’s the highlight of the Potomac Riverfront, attracting approximately 500,000 visitors annually. Whitehead opened a new…
Early National Era: 1789–1801. The cabinet-level Department of Foreign Affairs was created in 1789 by the First Congress. It was soon renamed the Department of State and changed the title of secretary for foreign affairs to Secretary of State; Thomas Jefferson returned from France to take the position. United States…
The Ottoman Conquest of Egypt (1517) and the Beginning of the Sixteenth-CenturySixteenth-CenturyThe 16th century begins with the Julian year 1501 (MDI) and ends with either the Julian or the Gregorian year 1600 (MDC) (depending on the reckoning used; the Gregorian calendar introduced a lapse of 10 days in October 1582).…
Frequent civil wars between Parthian contenders to the throne proved more dangerous to the Empire’s stability than foreign invasion, and Parthian power evaporated when Ardashir I, ruler of Istakhr in Persis, revolted against the Arsacids and killed their last ruler, Artabanus IV, in 224 AD. Around 212 AD, soon after…
Though the Gauls sacked and burned Rome in 390 B.C., the Romans rebounded under the leadership of the military hero Camillus, eventually gaining control of the entire Italian peninsula by 264 B.C. Rome then fought a series of wars known as the Punic Wars with Carthage, a powerful city-state in…
The ruff was at first worn with a supporting wire frame and was later starched. Usually, it was white. By the end of the 16th century, the ruff was generally replaced by other types of collars. By the start of the seventeenth century, ruffs were falling out of fashion in…
In 1980, El Salvador’s civil war officially began. The government-supported military targeted anyone they suspected of supporting social and economic reform. Often the victims were unionists, clergy, independent farmers and university officials. Over the ensuing twelve years, thousands of victims perished. The Salvadoran Civil War was a civil war in…
In 1994, NATO initiated air strikes against Bosnian Serbs to stop the attacks. In December 1995, U.S.-led negotiations in Dayton, Ohio (The Dayton Peace Accords) ended the conflict in Bosnia, and a force was created to maintain the ceasefire. The siege of Sarajevo was a prolonged blockade of Sarajevo, the…