Haunted hotels in the Boston area: Conclusion: Colonial Inn in Concord

Haunted Hotel in the Boston Area #3: Colonial Inn
 
48 Monument Square
Concord, MA 01742

The original building of the Colonial Inn was a home built in 1716. In 1775, part of it was used as a munitions storehouse by the Massachusetts Militia. In fact, those munitions were in the house when the British came looking for the militia's supplies on April 19, 1775. The building was turned into an inn in 1889. It took on its present name at the turn of the 20th century. Since that time, it has received such guests as U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, Shirley Temple and Faye Dunaway.  Read more of this article.

Haunted hotels in the Boston area: Part two:Omni Parker House Hotel

Haunted Hotel in the Boston Area #2: Omni Parker House Hotel

60 School St.
Boston, MA 02108

The Omni Parker House Hotel in Boston opened in 1855. It is located just outside of Boston Common is less than two blocks from the Massachusetts State House. The hotel's restaurant is almost as famous as the hotel itself. It is the home of the world's first Boston Cream Pie and it is also the place where the future U.S. President John F. Kennedy proposed to the future First Lady of the United States, Jacqueline Bouvier. This hotel is great for people who want to step out of their hotels into the historic streets of Boston during the day, eat the delicious food of the hotel's historic restaurant in the evening and be spooked by the hotel's ghost at night.  Read more of this article.

Haunted hotels in the Boston area: Part one: Hawthorne Hotel in Salem

Boston is one of the oldest cities in the United States of America. It is also one of the most historically significant. Boston and the surrounding area were home to such bloody events as the first battles of the American Revolution and the Salem Witch Trials. Therefore, it stands to reason that there will be many reportedly haunted places in and around the city and there are. Among these haunted places are a few hotels that some people believe have a few unregistered guests from time to time.

Haunted Hotel in the Boston Area #1: Hawthorne Hotel

18 Washington Square
Salem, MA 01970

Hawthorne Hotel is arguably the most famous hotel in Salem. It is a roughly fifteen minute drive to the Hawthorne Hotel from Boston. It opened on July 23, 1925 and has since received such guests as the cast of the Bewitched television show, U.S. President George Bush and Bette Davis. The hotel is, of course, named after the town's famous author, Nathaniel Hawthorne.  Read more of this article.  Image Source.

The Mayan Long Count Calendar and 2012

The Mayan calendars  are methods of measuring time that were developed by the ancient Mayans. They are rather impressive and have evoked the curiosity of many astronomy and/or archaeology experts. They have been studied extensively and they appear to be interpreted well. However, there is one calendar, developed by the ancient Mayans that has caused a great deal of controversy and frustration. The interpretation of the Mayan Long Calendar has left a surprisingly widespread and significant number of people on the cusp of panic.

The so-called "Maya (or Mayan) Calendar" is actually only one of four calendars developed by the ancient Mayans. The calendar that is widely known as the "Maya Calendar" is actually the Mayan Long Count Calendar. All of the Mayan calendars served a purpose. The purpose of the Long Count Calendar was to measure time well into the future or past. Quite simply, it was used to measure hundreds or thousands of years, as opposed to the days, weeks and months in our modern calendars. The Mayan Long Count Calendar is round and covered in ancient Mesoamerican hieroglyphs. Each of these hieroglyphs represents a specific time frame. These are arranged to count the passage of time in multiples of 13 and 20.  Read more of this article.  Image source.

Mad Jack Churchill

Jack Churchill was a British officer who served during the Burma conflict, World War II and the Palestine conflict. He was given two monikers during his service. “Mad Jack Churchill” was most likely given to him because he was insane enough, or brave enough, to fight during WWII with a bow and arrow against men who were armed with modern weapons. “Fighting Jack Churchill” was probably given to him because of his fighting spirit. The man apparently loved to be involved in war and seemed to get bored if he wasn’t.

Jack Churchill’s given name was John Malcolm Thorpe Fleming Churchill. He was born in Hong Kong to parents of English descent on September 16, 1906. He went on to attend the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst and graduated in 1926. He became an officer in the Manchester regiment, following his graduation. He had two younger brothers who also served in the British military. Read more of this article. Image source.

Who was the Count of Saint-Germain?

The Count of St. Germain may have been more legend than man. Yes, we know that he lived and we know some of what he did. However, there have been so many claims made about this man that it is difficult to sort the truth from the embellishments. Of course, many would claim that there were no embellishments and that he really was all that people claimed him to be. If this were so, it would mean that the Count of St. Germain was the Wandering Jew, an alchemist with the secret to eternal life, a man that could turn various metals into gold, a man that could melt diamonds and form them however he wished, a proficient musician, artist and linguist and so much more.

The Count of St. Germain was not a Saint and may not even have been a Count. The place and circumstances of his birth are completely unknown. However, there have been many theories presented over the past few centuries. Some believe that he was a man of noble birth whose family was disgraced somehow and he therefore had to hide his true identity. Others believe that he was born long before his presence was documented and that he was immortal. Theosophists believe him to be an Oriental Adept. Whoever he was, he never divulged any information regarding his birth to anyone during his (known) lifetime.  Read more of this article.  Image Source

Could the United States Have Avoided the Attack on Pearl Harbor?

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor at 7:55 a.m., December 7, 1941, was one of the most important events in United States history. It prompted the United States government to join World War II in both the Pacific and the European theaters. It also showed the people of the United States that living in an isolationist country did not mean that they were safe from attack. It was a sad lesson to learn and one that came with a high price. Despite the relative success of American involvement in World War II, it has often been speculated that the United States could have avoided the attack on Pearl Harbor and the war with the Japanese that ensued. This is true, for many reasons. However, avoidance would have come with a price of its own.

Looking back, we know that the United States military and government were privy to several clues that an attack from Japan was imminent. Relations between the two countries were crumbling. The Japanese were spreading propaganda about the United States. It seems as if the people of Japan were gearing up for war before even the government of the United States had realized that Japan was capable of it.  Read more of this article. Image Source

Facts About Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is the writer behind the Sherlock Holmes novels and classics like The Lost World. He led quite an interesting life. He was a medical doctor, a wonderful novelist, a patriot, innovator and spiritualist. The story of his life is a long and intriguing tale, but we do not have room here to tell it all. So, listed here are some of the more interesting facts about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

After Sir Arthur Conan Doyle killed off Sherlock Holmes in the final problem, the Strand lost 20,000 readers overnight. The Strand had been publishing all of the Sherlock stories and that many people at least were reading it just for Sherlock Holmes. Doyle later wrote a prequel and eventually brought back the popular hero.

Despite being a very astute and academic man, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle believed in fairies and ghosts. He even joined the British Society for Psychical Research. He and the other members would investigate supposed psychic happenings at the scene of the occurrence. He was often convinced that sightings of ghosts and such were real. Read more of this article. Image source.

The Colossi of Memnon

On the west bank of the Nile, in the floodplains of Luxor, Egypt, stand two gigantic statues of the Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep III. These two statues are known as the Colossi of Memnon, despite the fact that they have virtually nothing to do with Memnon at all. They are known to the locals as el-Colossat or es-Salamat.

The Colossi of Memnon were built during the reign of Amenhotep III (18th dynasty) and once stood in front of the pharaoh's mortuary temple. The temple was one of the largest ever built by the ancient Egyptians, although barely any of it still exists today. The two statues are the only things left standing. The rest is little more than rubble.  Read more of this article.  Image Source.

The Royal Tombs of Ur

More than four thousand years ago, the Sumerians dwelled in ancient Mesopotamia. The Sumerians were an extremely advanced group of people for their time and are credited with the invention of cuneiform writing, mathematics and astrology. It is no wonder then, that these people buried their dead in a ceremonial fashion. However, no one knew just how sophisticated these burials were until the Royal Tombs of Ur were discovered.

Ur was an ancient Sumerian city-state in what is now southern Iraq. More than four thousand years ago, this ancient society was in its prime and they were building temples, forming one of the first monarchical governments, conceiving the earliest known laws and court systems and burying their society's elite in elaborate tombs. These tombs were uncovered by famed archaeologist, Charles Leonard Woolley, during an excavation there, which lasted from 1922 to 1934.  Read more of this article.  Image source.