History

2080- 609 BC After the fall of the Akkadian Empire circa 2080 BC, it eventually coalesced into two separate nations; Assyria in the north, and later Babylonia in the south. The last known Assyrian king, Ashur-uballit II, held out at Harran from 612 BC until 609 BC, but was overrun by the Babylonians and Medes

Philip Davies, emeritus professor of Old Testament Studies at Sheffield University, told Pigott he was "dumbstruck" at the sight of plates representing a picture map of ancient Jerusalem. "There is a cross in the foreground, and behind it is what has to be the tomb [of Jesus], a small building with an opening, and behind that the walls of the city," Davies explained. "There are walls depicted on other pages of these books, too, and they almost certainly refer to Jerusalem." David Elkington, an ancient religion scholar who heads the British research team investigating the find, has likewise pronounced this nothing less than "the major discovery of Christian history." 

The Hurrians enter the orbit of ancient Middle Eastern civilization toward the end of the 3rd millennium BC. They arrived in Mesopotamia from the north or the east, but it is not known how long they had lived in the peripheral regions. There is a brief inscription in Hurrian language from the end of the period of Akkad, while that of King Arishen (or Atalshen) of Urkish and Nawar is written in Akkadian. The language of the Hurrians must have belonged to a widespread group of ancient Middle Eastern languages.

Thaddeus Stevens Stevens dreamed of a socially just world, where unearned privilege did not exist.[8] He believed from his personal experience that being different or having a different perspective can enrich society.[8] He believed that differences among people should not be feared or oppressed but celebrated.[8] In his will he left $50,000 to establish Stevens, a school for the relief and refuge of homeless, indigent orphans. "They shall be carefully educated in the various branches of English education and all industrial trades and pursuits. No preference shall be shown on account of race or color in their admission or treatment. Neither poor Germans, Irish or Mahometan, nor any others on account their race or religion of their parents, shall be excluded. They shall be fed at the same table." 

William H. Seward (1801-1872) from... Anti-Mason. Admitted to the bar at Utica NY in 1822, settling in Auburn in 1823. In 1830 he was named as the Anti-Masonic candidate for the state senate. Governor of New York 1839- 43. U.S. Senator from New York 1849- 61. U.S. Secretary of State 1861-69. In 1857 the Russian minister to the United States suggested that Alaska might be for sale. The U.S. Civil War prevented any transaction from taking place immediately. Finally, in 1867, a treaty was negotiated by Secretary of State, Seward by which the United States purchased

Jay Ackroyd went to a conference last week where he heard Daniel Ellsberg speak. He apparently recounted one of my favorite Ellsberg stories, and since it's one of my favorites I'm going to repeat it in full below. It's from Ellsberg's book Secrets, and the setting is a meeting with Henry Kissinger in late 1968 when he was advising him about the Vietnam War. The idea of Kissinger seeking out Ellsberg for advice on Vietnam initially seems a bit unlikely, but in 1968 Ellsberg was a highly respected analyst on the war who had worked for both the Pentagon and Rand, and Kissinger was just entering the government for the first time. Here's what Ellsberg told him. Enjoy: "Henry, there's something I would like to tell you, for what it's worth, something I wish I had been told years ago. You've been a consultant for a long time, and you've dealt a great deal with top secret information. 

Anno Domini (abbreviated as AD or A.D., sometimes found in the form Anno Domine) and Before Christ (abbreviated as BC or B.C.) are designations used to label years in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The calendar era to which they refer is based on the traditionally reckoned year of the conception or birth of Jesus of Nazareth, the central figure in Christianity, with AD denoting years after the start of this epoch, and BC denoting years before the start of this epoch. There is no year zero in this scheme, so the year AD 1 immediately follows the year 1 BC. This dating system was devised in AD 525, but was not widely used until after AD 800.