Dynamic Directory - June 18, 2025

Poem about an aging father and the love of family, by Carole Bos.

Poem on father-daughter relationships, by Jeannine Proulx.

William Wordsworth, an English poet who served as Britain's Poet Laureate between 1843-1850, was greatly inspired by nature.

Daniel Boone, an American hero, faces charges of treason against the United States during the Revolutionary War.

Daniel Boone is a legendary frontiersman known for his adventures in the wilderness.

Some see Boone's decision to surrender to the Shawnee to protect his men and the fort as a traitorous betrayal.

Even though Boone outwits the Shawnee, many think he is a traitor for surrendering without a fight.

Daniel Boone is a defendant in a court martial. The criminal charges against him assert that is a traitor.

The court vindicates Boone, but he leaves Kentucky and never gets over the criminal accusations which had been leveled against him.

Even though he is a legendary American, little is known of the life of Daniel Boone.

There are few sources referencing Boone's trial, but some are available.

As Dante and Virgil reach the City of Dis, they see the flaming towers of a city seemingly on fire. Inhabitants of Dis wonder how these two individuals, who are alive, can tour this city of the dead.

Darius I the Great King of Persia

Scientists have mapped-out the octopus genome! A villain in "Penguins of Madagascar," Dave is an octopus who changes form. A very intelligent invertebrate, the Common Octopus can change form ... but into "Dr. Octavius Brine?!"

Discovered in the caves of Qumran in the Dead Sea region, the Dead Sea Scrolls are the oldest-known surviving manuscripts of the Hebrew Scriptures.

Many scholars believe Jewish scribes were trying to save their sacred texts by hiding them in thecaves of Qumran.

The arid climate of Dead Sea region conserves many ancient artifacts including scrolls, bowls, sandals, plates, goblets.

Computer-generated versions of the scrolls are available to a wide range of scholars.

Elizabeth Shoumatoff (1888-1980) was painting President Roosevelt's portrait at his Little White House, in Warm Springs, on the 12th of April, 1945. The President said he had a headache; soon after he was dead.

Meeting a tragic end Nicholas, whose family reigns for more than 300 years, is the last Tsar of Russia.

Alexei, the fifth child and only son of Nicholas II ("Tsar of all the Russias"), is born with hemophilia.

Members of European royal families usually married each other to protect their power, but Nicholas and Alexandra are in love.

Although Nicholas is out-of-touch with the common people, he has the support of the aristocracy for most of his reign.

Nicholas' coronation feast causes the death of about 2,000 people and his reign causes Russia many military losses.

Rasputin treats Alexei's hemophilia and becomes a trusted, close advisor to the Romanov family.

Since the Empress becomes so dependent on Rasputin, members of the family believe murder is the only way to get rid of the monk.

Realizing he is powerless to stop the unrest happening in his country, Nicholas abdicates the throne for both himself and his ill son.

Once he gives up the throne, Nicholas and his family live in exile. Their lives are now very different from their royal upbringing.

As Russia is in full-scale revolution, the entire Romanov family is executed.

Former Tsar Nicholas, his wife, his son, his four daughters and four of their assistants are shot in the cellar of their exiled home.

Nicholas' daughters survive the first hail of bullets because the gems sewn into their clothing provide some protection from the bullets.

Bodies of the Romanov family remain in a shallow grave until 1979, when they are found.

Because no one is sure what has happened to the Tsar's children, people begin to wonder whether some of the family members have survived.

DNA and skeletal evidence prove that human remains which are found belong to the Romanov family and their staff.

Eighty years later, on the anniversary of their brutal execution, the Russian people lay the Romanov family to rest in St. Petersburg.

People are fascinated with the life and death of the Romanovs; there are many biographies available about Tsar Nicolas and his family.

Celebrating her Sapphire Jubilee, on 6 Feb 2017, Queen Elizabeth II is Britain's longest-reigning monarch following the untimely death of her father.

As a pyroclastic flow races toward Pompeii, people in the town fear for their lives. Thousands of years later, when excavators begin to uncover what happened in Pompeii, residents' bodies are found - positioned just as they had died.

In the summer of 451 AD, the Roman general Aetius assembled a military force to resist the advances of Attila the Hun. Theodoric, King of the Visigoths, was among those forces gathered at the Battle of the Catalaunian Fields.

Voted "The Greatest Briton," by his country, Winston Churchill died on January 24, 1965. After lying in state, at Westminster, he had a state funeral at St. Paul's Cathedral.

For centuries, London's Fleet Prison was a terrible place. People who owed debts were routinely jailed there.

As agitation against American slavery increased, abolitionists meet in Philadelphia in December of 1833.

On the 22nd of April, 2010, an oil rig known as ''Deepwater Horizon'' dramatically sinks in four minutes, causing the worst oil-spill in American history. Two days before, explosions on the rig kill 11 people.

Ancient plants and animals form the basis of oil, which stays beneath the ground in sponge-like rock formations.

Geologists use sound waves to locate oil beneath the surface of ground and water.

It is a complex process to drill oil from the Gulf of Mexico; equipment must be able to descend at least 18,000 feet.

The Deepwater Horizon was a large and safe oil rig with little risk of an oil spill.

A chain of events weakens Deepwater Horizon's blowout preventer.

The final collapse of the blowout preventer leads to huge explosions on the Deepwater Horizon.

Mike Williams jumps 10-stories from the Deepwater Horizon rig to save himself, but 11 other men die and 17 are injured.

NASA and NOAA are able to track the spread of oil from the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

Just like the Deepwater Horizon itself, with its many moving parts, the disaster at the rig includes many details. This story summarizes the key issues.

By May 18, 2010, an expanding oil slick resulting from Deepwater Horizon's explosion, was just off the Mississippi Delta.