Did you know that the U.S. Declaration of Independence was written by Thomas Jefferson when he was 33 years old? ...more

September 27, 2008

A suicide bomber drove a car into a crowd of workers at the gates of a U.S. military base in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, killing 12 workers and wounding 22 others, Afghan officials said. ...more

August 19, 2008

As any military historian will testify, among the most difficult of maneuvers is the strategic retreat. Napoleon's retreat from Moscow, Lee's retreat to Appomattox and MacArthur's retreat from the Yalu come to mind. The British Empire abandoned India in 1947 - and a Muslim-Hindu bloodbath ensued. ...more

July 31, 2008

After the assassination of the archduke in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, Austria got from Kaiser Wilhelm a "blank cheque" to punish Serbia. Germany would follow whatever course its ally chose to take. Austria chose war on Serbia. And World War I resulted. ...more

July 12, 2008

The impatient patriots here had splendidly short fuses in 1775. Those who tilled the startlingly red clay or who lived in the town named for George III's wife Charlotte might have been bemused had they foreseen the annual hoopla that commemorates July 4, 1776. ...more

July 3, 2008

Kiri Te Kanawa is old school. If you want to taste success, she says, skip the shortcuts. Get off the couch. And don't lip-sync. ...more

February 3, 2008