My Top 5 Articles of 2021

These are the Top 5 articles from my blog this year based on the number of reader views at billpetro.com:

Top 5 of 2021

1. History of Telemachus

This is the oft-told story of the monk who caused the Roman gladiatorial games to be ended upon his martyrdom on January 1, A.D. 404. I say oft-told because stories have been told about him since the 8th and 9th centuries. It’s in Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, Alfred Lord Tennyson recounted it during Victorian times, and Ronald Reagan used it at the National Prayer Breakfast in 1984. The Feast of St. Telemachus is celebrated on New Year’s Day.

2. History of the Sanhedrin

From the Easter story, this article talks about the ancient Jewish “Supreme Court,” the council of the High Priestly family, Elders of the tribes and families, and the Scribes of the Law. It was the responsibility of this body 2,000 years ago to identify the Messiah and expose false ones. Yet the council had lost to the Roman governor Pilate the power of capital punishment, the jus gladii, except for against Gentile trespassers into the Temple.

3. History of the Golden Gate Bridge

This California trademark and the most famous bridge crossing the San Francisco Bay — there are six others — is often believed to have given the name “Golden Gate” to the city. This article explains where the term Golden Gate actually comes from historically. It also describes the construction and uniqueness of the bridge.

4. History of April 19

I wrote this article on the occasion of my twin sister’s birthday. I “buried the lede” by recounting two other significant historical events that occurred on April 19: The…