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Year-by-Year World Population Estimates: 10,000 B.C. to 2007 A.D.
There are numerous world population estimates out there. These estimates can differ greatly from one to the next and some are more thorough than others. Finding estimates for the world’s population in the past 50 years is easy. Moving further back in time, it becomes more difficult. Determining population estimates is the science of educated…
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Fonthill Castle and Mercer Museum
Henry Mercer was rogue anthropologist, a control freak, and had an extreme case of obsessive compulsive disorder. And he has left a fascinating legacy in Bucks County, Pennsylvania that My wife and I had the pleasure and touring this summer. Fonthill Being funded by his aunt who was worth approximately $1,000,000, Mercer built a 44-room…
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Process of copying the Old Testament by Jewish Scribes
In 586 B.C., Jerusalem was captured by the Babylonians. The Temple was looted and then destroyed by fire. The Jews were exiled. About 70 years later, the Jewish captives returned to Jerusalem from Babylon. According to the Bible, Ezra recovered a copy of the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) and read it aloud…
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Growing Up Spartan
Historically, Sparta has been known as a utopia of Militaristic Society. The Spartans becoming such a military juggernaut didn’t just start when a youth enrolled in the military. A child was groomed his entire life to grow into a warrior hero; the kind of hero that would become legend in the world’s histories. They concentrated…
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Battle of the Bulge at Fort Indiantown Gap, PA
On January 27 of this year, my dad and I attended the Battle of the Bulge Reenactment at For Indiantown Gap, PA put on by the The World War II Federation. The reenacting had been taking place all week and we visited on the second to last day. The toughest part was finding the place,…
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World War I: Troop Statistics
The following is a breakdown of the number of troops that fought, died, and were wounded in World War I, as recorded in Michael Clodfelter’s Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Reference to Casualty and other Figures. The number of civilians killed have been counted as well. This article is only a quick analysis of…
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General Patton’s Prayer
Many know the story of General Patton’s prayer for better weather in order to more efficiently kill the Germans in the winter of 1944. Few know of his Christmas Greeting that was issued along with the prayer, which he describes in War as I Knew It. Contrary to popular belief, the prayer was not ordered to…
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Communist Body Count
The following estimates represent citizens killed or starved to death by their own Communist governments since 1918. These numbers do not include war dead. The governments are sorted by body count (highest to lowest). All numbers are mid-estimates. While this list is as complete as I have been able to determine, it is evolving. Some…
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Churchill’s Sinking of the French Fleet (July 3, 1940)
On June 13, 1940, Winston Churchill took one of several trips to France during Hitler’s Blitzkrieg. After convincing the French not to sign a separate armistice with Germany just two months prior, Churchill was now being begged to release them from the obligation. When a country loses its will to fight, there’s not much you…
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Movie Review: Flyboys
Against all odds, I went to see Flyboys. The critics hated it, my wife refused to go, and all of my friends had better things to do. That is, all of my friends except poor Derek. He was as dumb as me and had nothing to do on a Sunday night. We both left our…
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Introduction: The Top Ten Dictators of All-Time
There are several “lists” out there that try to rank dictators, conquerors, and rulers. The problem I’ve found is that the lists are nothing more than sensationalism or they’re just plain inaccurate. There are many books written with the theme of listing the most evil people. The Most Evil Dictators in History and The Evil…
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Functional Design Specification
A Functional Design Specification (FDS) is a document used by companies in a pre-development phase to translate all notes, concepts, and scope into a complete requirements document. The document can include anything from flowcharts, screenshots, and wire frames. At a minimum, an FDS will contain an organized list of requirements that can be used for…
