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A crowd of more than a hundred rowdy teenagers turned violent in Downtown Chicago on Saturday night as dozens torched and smashed cars while blaring music in a 'teen trend' that left two with gunshot wounds. Shocking footage showed some teenagers jumping on top of a bus while others started a massive brawl after descending on Millennium Park and attempting to breach barricades. Gunshots rang out with some rounds striking two teenage boys aged 16 and 17. The two youths were transported to a nearby hospital in fair condition. A total of 15 people, nine adults and six children were...

Gibraltar finally joined the official list of British cities on Monday (Aug 29), after 180 years in which its status, granted by Queen Victoria, had been overlooked due to an administrative error. The British overseas territory bid to become a city earlier this year as part of the celebrations for Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee, but research in the National Archives established it had in fact been granted city status in 1842. "It is excellent to see official recognition given to the City of Gibraltar, a huge accolade to its rich history and dynamism," British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in...

A Visigoth in Kent? The excavations at Springhead uncovered a large number of brooches. One in particular has turned out to be a very exciting discovery. X-ray photography showed that the 5th-6th century iron bow brooch was of Visigothic design, of a type known as Estagel. The Visigoths (West Goths) were one of the German tribes. Settled near the Black Sea in the 3rd century AD, by the 6th century they had migrated west and reached Spain and northern France. Kent was probably the most cosmopolitan region in the country at this time and Saxons and Jutes have left evidence...

On April 13, AD 585, the Visigothic prince, Hermengild, was slain while in prison. His crimes were multitudinous. To begin with, he had rebelled against his father, King Leovigild. He made alliances with his father’s enemies, the Seuvi and the Byzantines, both of whom had strong presences on the Iberian peninsula and sought gains at the expense of King Leovigild. Hermengild was subsequently betrayed by the Byzantines who made a separate peace with Leovigild in exchange for a tribute in gold. The young prince and his remaining forces were soon defeated by the king and he was made prisoner. His...

KING ARTHUR's myths and legend could have been based-upon a legendary British general whose betrayal in battle led to his death, historians sensationally claimed.While King Arthur is one of the most popular figures in English folklore, historians still debate whether he existed. The legendary warrior was believed to have fought-off Saxon invaders with the Knights of the Round Table and armed with his magical sword Excalibur. In a number of later romanticised depictions of King Arthur, he was claimed to have been bound by a strict moral code of chivalry and honour. Discovering the truth about the mythical UK hero,...

On August 18, in anno Domini 472, the powerful generalissimo of the Western Roman Empire, Ricimer, passed from this life. A barbarian of noble birth, half Visigothic and half Suevian, Ricimer first appears in history as a soldier in the Western Roman army under the command of Flavius Aetius. It is in this capacity that he became allied with Majorian, another follower of Aetius. Both men, it seems, participated in the campaigns of Aetius against the Franks, though Majorian later had a falling out with the great commander prior to his famous victory over Attila. After the assassination of Aetius...

May 9 is one of several possible dates given for the death of the last Western Roman emperor, Julius Nepos, in the year AD 480. “Wait,” you say. “I thought the last Western Emperor was Romulus Augustulus who was deposed by Odoacer the Scirian in AD 476.” Well, about that... Julius Nepos was named Western Emperor by the ailing Eastern Roman emperor Leo in AD 473. Leo did this because he opposed the puppet emperor Glycerius who had been raised by the Burgundian general Gundobad. According to the Chronicle of John of Antioch, this Gundobad had personally beheaded the Western...

In the terminal collapse of the Roman Empire, there was perhaps no greater burden to the average citizen than the extreme taxes they were forced to pay. The tax ‘reforms’ of Emperor Diocletian in the 3rd century were so rigid and unwavering that many people were driven to starvation and bankruptcy. The state went so far as to chase around widows and children to collect taxes owed. By the 4th century, the Roman economy and tax structure were so dismal that many farmers abandoned their lands in order to receive public entitlements. At this point, the imperial government was spending...

The Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges on Friday raises troubling questions about the future of religious freedom in the United States. Most ominously, Justice Kennedy writing for the court seemed to circumscribe the freedom of religion as no longer the exercise of one’s faith, but merely the profession of it. All four of the dissenting justices wrote vehemently about the danger that this decision presents to the entire project of ordered liberty. Meanwhile, progressive organizations have made it clear that religious freedom is their next target now that same-sex marriage is the law of the land.Still, as we...

Kent was probably the most cosmopolitan region in the country at this time and Saxons and Jutes have left evidence of their culture here. In the last 30 years or so, a number of objects of Visigothic design have come to light, mainly in south-east England. Now this brooch adds to the evidence for connections between the people of Kent and the small number of Visigothic groups known to have lived in northern France at the time.

The Goths and Later Germanic Invaders Little is known about the early history of the Goths before they came into contact with the Romans. What little evidence we have indicates that they probably came from Scandinavia. In the first millennium B. C., they crossed the Baltic Sea and migrated into Northeastern Europe in the area occupied by Poland today. Later, they moved again and made their home in the area north of the Black Sea. Nobody knows for sure what caused these migrations but they became known as the Wanderings of the Peoples. Anthropologists speculate that changes in climate caused...

Gutefar - The Bronze Age Sheep of Gotland This article claims sheep of the British Isles descended from sheep from Gotland, an Island in the Baltic "...arriving in Britain between 2,000 and 3,000 years ago, doubtless traveling along with the same Viking raiders that brought sheep originally to Gotland." She also claims Vikings are the ANCESTORS of the Visigoths. Only problems is that the Visigoths preceded the Vikings by about 400 years. The Visigoths sacked Rome in 451 AD and the first recorded Viking raid on the British Isles happened around 800 AD with the raid on the monastery at...

Bad weather may have triggered the fall of the Roman Empire. When the Visigoths and other northern barbarians upped sticks and headed south into Roman territory in the 5th century it might have been to escape the cold and poor harvests. Waning sunspot activity is a symptom of a weakened Sun, which could make the world cool by around half a degree. Meteorologist Kevin Pang found that sunspots were conspicuously absent from the historical record. "That was just about the time the Roman Empire fell in 476," he says. The gaps in sunspot sightings coincided with high levels of carbon-14...

Anti-war protesters were allowed to spray paint on part of thewest front steps of the United States Capitol building after police wereordered to break their security line by their leadership, two sources toldThe Hill. According to the sources, police officers were livid when theywere told to fall back by U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) Chief Phillip Morse andDeputy Chief Daniel Nichols. "They were the commanders on the scene," one source said,who requested anonymity. "It was disgusting." After police ceded the stairs, located on the lower west frontof the Capitol, the building was locked down, the source added. A second source who...

In her Nov. 23 column, Maureen Dowd repeatedly calls Republicans Visigoths. She is right. The Visigoths revolted against Rome because of oppressive taxation. Sound familiar? Democrats will never understand nor accept that Americans just do not want to be a socialist nation. Look at the Democratic National Committee's beloved Canada and France for the reasons why... I also resent the fact that she considers Kerry a war hero. While I applaud anyone who serves this country, to spend only 41/2 months in Vietnam, then speak against the USA and discard his medals is not heroic. I wonder if Maureen has...