history

Palestinian officials believe they have discovered a new baptismal font in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

Israeli paratroopers and archaeologists announced Wednesday that they unearthed the remains of a 2,700-year-old watchtower at an undisclosed location in southern Israel. Archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority say they cannot reveal the exact location for security purposes but did say that it sits on an elevated location.

Today is Juneteenth (“June” plus “nineteenth”). The less you know about this holiday, the more you need to know. On June 19, 1865, two months after the Confederacy surrendered, Union General Gordon Granger led a group of federal troops into Galveston, Texas. Maj. Gen. Granger issued this declaration: “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, ‘all slaves are free.’

For the 75thanniversary of the invasion of Normandy, 97-year-old D-Day veteran Tom Rice returned to the battlefield where thousands of his comrades laid down their lives all those years ago.

“The noise was deafening. The black smoke and the acrid smell of cordite, which was coming from the battleships firing the big shells. They are the outstanding things in my memory coming from that day.”

Archaeologists working on ruins in an ancient port city near Alexandria believe they have uncovered the oldest church ever discovered in Egypt. Researchers said the church — with walls likely built in the shape of a cross — probably dates back to the 4th century AD. Such architecture was common in places of worship at that time.

For two months in 1989, students gathered in Tiananmen Square demanding political reforms analogous to the economic reforms instituted by then-Chairman Deng Xiaoping.

Could a contrast between the American Revolution and the French Revolution be relevant to today’s conflicts? I think so. The attempt to demote historic icons, like George Washington, is a case in point.

Bible scholars trying to retrace the route Moses took when he led the Israelites out of Egypt say they have found evidence that Mount Sinai is actually in eastern Saudi Arabia.