Jake Leigh-Howarth, MA
Journalist Scriptwriter Editor
Wars of the Diadochi: Alexander the Great’s Generals Fight For Spoils
As Alexander the Great slipped away on his deathbed on June 10-11th 323 BC, the iconoclastic emperor, whose remarkable achievements would be imitated by countless impersonators throughout history, graced his trusty commanders surrounding him with his final words: “to the best.” It’s likely that Alexander, who had no clear heir to take his place, understood that his death would spark a war for supremacy over his conquests, which stretched as far as Alexandria Eschate in modern-day Tajikistan, as his once united empire crumbled into several separate warring realms. As one of the brightest military minds to ever live, he knew that it was only “the best” who could once again unify his domains, as numerous pretenders to the throne, the Diadochi, vied for mastery in the aftermath of his demise...
A-10 Tankbuster – The Plane Built Around a Gun
The A-10’s most fearsome weapon is its gigantic GAU-8 Avenger 30mm cannon. It has 7 barrels and fires aluminum shells crossed with depleted uranium at either 2,100 or 4,200 rounds per minute, which can precisely strike within an area of 30 feet at a range of 6,000 feet. Its magazine has a capacity of 1,174 rounds, meaning it can continuously fire with intensity for 18.06 seconds. When it hits an enemy tank, the kinetic energy generated is so great that it pulses through the armor, shattering pieces of its inner layer which fly around the inside of the crew’s compartment. The men inside are injured or killed by broken armor shards or the resulting heat produced by the projectile...
Brigid: The Celtic Goddess of Fertility and Fire
Brigid is the Celtic goddess of fire, fertility, poetry, healing, craftsmanship, and blacksmithing. Within the Celtic pantheon, the strong, independent, often red-headed goddess is also a war deity. She also symbolizes spring. Her name changes depending on what country or language you’re speaking. She’s Brigit in Old Irish, Brighid in Irish, Brigantia in Celtic (where it means “high one”), Brigh in Scotland, and Bregit in Wales. According to Courtney Weber, who wrote Brigid: History, Mystery, and Magick of the Celtic Goddess, her name also translates to “Exalted One” or ‘The Great Lady.” Though, one of her first names is found in Sanas Cormaic, an Irish glossary, where she’s known as Breo-Saighit, meaning “fire arrow”...
The Maykop: Lost Bronze Age Culture of the Exotic Caucasus Region
Andrew Sheratt has characterized the Maykop as the “world’s first barbarian society” operating on the peripheries of the urban centers of the Near East. Indeed, the Maykop were instrumental in the diffusion of lifestyle and technology to the steppe region. Acting as an intermediary between East and West, they were also an integral part of the technological revolutions of the 4th millennium BC, which included the wheel, wagon, the domestication of donkeys, sheep, and horses, and the cultivation of olives and wine. Several innovations in metallurgy and wool have been attributed to the Maykop, who were not only effective transferrers of knowledge but trailblazers in their own right...
