Ulysses S. Grant, 18th president of the United States (1869-1877). Photo Wikimedia Commons
By Carl Sferrazza Anthony
There’s as much of the old sod in the White House as there is on its south lawn.
The backgrounds of America’s First Families are diverse: Nancy Reagan and Lady Bird Johnson have Spanish forebears; Herbert Hoover was Swiss and Canadian; Mamie Eisenhower was part Swedish while Ike was German; Martin Van Buren and the Roosevelts were Dutch; James Garfield had a royal strain of French; Eliza Johnson’s parents were immigrant Scottish sandal-makers; both Calvin Coolidge and Edith Wilson had American Indian blood–she being a direct descendant of Pocahantas.
Published:
12:51 PM January 28, 2021
Updated:
1:24 PM January 28, 2021
William Coles (left), known as John , while on a cruise which he enjoyed doing during his life.
- Credit: Family
The daughter of a well-respected coach driver who was “always encouraging you to do your best” has paid tribute to her late father.
William Coles of Cottenham, known as ‘John’ to many, first helped his family bakery business, delivering bread to villagers after leaving school at around 14 to 15-years-old.
But John, who died at the age of 91, may be most remembered for his time as a coach driver for different firms in and around his home village, whether that was driving football fans or schoolchildren.
Holiday Origins: Is Christmas a pagan holiday?
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Several years ago, in a documentary called “Religulous” (clever, right?), Bill Maher claimed that most of the story of Christ, especially the parts about His birth, were cribbed from pagan mythology. After all, Maher claimed, the Egyptian God Horus was born of a virgin on December 25th, was baptized, had twelve disciples, performed miracles, and ultimately died and rose again. Christianity, said Maher, is nothing but a cheap knockoff.
The problem is, as numerous critics have pointed out, Maher’s claims are complete nonsense. No original source material backs up his description of Horus or, for that matter, of Mithras or Krishna, two other deities Maher claims early Christians copied.