(“Ghost of Christmas Present”, an illustration by John Leech made for Charles Dickens’s festive classic A Christmas Carol (1843)) Santa Claus, as it is commonly depicted, can be seen as a relatively modern syncretistic building with far-reaching origins: it is … Read More
(Illumination, Georgian Bible, nineteenth century) No Christian text does not specify what day of the year was born Jesus Christ. Christmas is not part of the celebrations followed by the early Christians and is not included in the lists published … Read More
The Easter egg is a Christian symbol, specially decorated for the holiday, and usually remaining edible. Traditionally it is a colorful hard boiled chicken egg, now it is often an sugar or chocolate egg. In Belgium, as in France, it … Read More
The World Wide Web (the “Web” or “WWW” for short) is a hypertext system that operates over the Internet. Hypertext is browsed using a program called a web browser which retrieves pieces of information (called “documents” or “web pages”) from … Read More
In cross-site cooking, the attacker exploits a browser bug to send an invalid cookie to a server. Cross-site cooking is a type of browser exploit which allows a site attacker to set a cookie for a browser into the cookie … Read More
The exact origins of the game are obscure, but it seems to have evolved from “pitch and toss”, a gambling game involving tossing a single coin into the air and wagering on the result of the toss which was popular … Read More
Cosmic Wimpout is a deceptively simple, user extensible game combining chance and skill. The game promotes wisdom, fun, and fellowship; and many Cosmic Wimpout afficianados believe that long term playing of the game can eventually unlock the secrets of the … Read More
Earliest evidence suggests that boxing was prevalent in North Africa during 4000 BC and the Mediterranean in 1500 BC. A Greek ruler named Thesus, who ruled around 900 B.C., was entertained by men who would be seated in front of … Read More
Origins of baseball The distinct evolution of baseball from among the various bat-and-ball games is difficult to pin down. However, it is mainly agreed that modern baseball is an American development from earlier British games, such as rounders, with possible … Read More
Texas hold ’em (also hold’em, holdem) is the most popular of the community card poker games. It is also the most popular poker variant played in most casinos in the United States. Its no-limit betting form is used in the … Read More
Las Vegas, Nevada was given its name by Spaniards in the Antonio Armijo party, who used the water in the area while heading north and west along the Old Spanish Trail from Texas. In the 1800s, areas of the Las … Read More
