travel

  • The Omagh Bombing

    The Omagh bombing, which took place on August 15, 1998, stands as the deadliest single atrocity of the decades-long sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland known as the Troubles. Just four months after the historic signing of the Good Friday Agreement, a car bomb exploded in the busy centre of Omagh, County Tyrone, in an attack…

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  • I am always amazed by the fact that there are still people who desperately want to deny the Holocaust. Although there is so much evident and a lot of it very graphic, they still say it never happened and that the photographic evidence are staged pictures, produced by the allies. The one thing they do…

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  • Coffee: it’s the drink we rely on for energy, the beverage that brings people together, and a ritual embedded in cultures worldwide. But coffee’s story is as rich and deep as the flavors we savor in each cup. Let’s take a journey through the history of coffee—from the ancient hills of Ethiopia to the bustling…

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  • Despite her exotic name Mata Hari was a Dutch woman. Her real name was Margaretha (Gretha)Zelle and was born in Leeuwarden, in the province of Friesland in the North West of  the Netherlands.. Today marks her 150th birthday. At 18, Zelle answered an advertisement in a Dutch newspaper placed by Dutch Colonial Army Captain Rudolf MacLeod (1 March 1856 – 9 January 1928),…

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  • (Originally posted November 2016) On the morning of October 3rd, 1975, Dr. Tiede Herrema was driving from his home in Castletroy, County Limerick, to a meeting at the Ferenka steel plant in Annacotty when he was abducted by two Irish republicans, Marion Coyle and Eddie Gallagher. Herrema had been sent by the parent company in…

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  • JFK & PT 109

    On the night of August 1-2, 1943, during World War II, Lieutenant John F. Kennedy, future President of the United States, experienced a defining moment in his military career when his patrol torpedo boat, PT-109, was destroyed in the Solomon Islands. This event not only showcased Kennedy’s leadership and bravery but also became a significant…

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  • Starry Night-Vincent.

    So many books have been written about the tormented artist,Vincent van Gogh , so there is no way I can add anything to his story. My focus in this blog is about an event that took place this day, July 27th, 1890. On 27 July 1890, aged 37, Van Gogh shot himself in the chest…

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  • I have done blogs on the New Apostolic Church during WW2 before, and I am doing research for further blogs. However, this time I want to focus on one member in particular. Many of you know I am a New Apostolic Christian and for many years I have sang in the choir. One of my…

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  • Holocaust & Maastricht

    Maastricht is one of the most beautiful cities in the Netherlands. It’s in the southeast of the country in the Province of Limburg. It is very dear to me. I was born only a few miles away from it, but it is the city where my father was born. A few years after the war,…

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  • Arthur Nebe

    The last few days I have seen articles about the German government commemorating those who were involved in the  20th July 1944 assassination plot. In a way I can understand it why they are doing this, but having that said I don’t agree with it. Yes it is true these men planned to kill Hitler…

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