October 1, 2013: "The Book of Daniel" Premieres

October 1, 2013: The film The Book of Daniel is released on DVD, going straight there rather than being released to movie theaters. Directed by Anna Zielinski, it tells the story of the Bible's book of the same title.

In Jerusalem in 605 BC, Daniel (played as a young man by Andrew Bongiorno) is a slave who serves Nebuchadnezzar II (Rolf Saxon), who has just ascended to the throne of Babylonia after the death of his father. Daniel proves to be a trusty advisor, and becomes one of Nebuchadnezzar's "wise men."

Later, during the reign of King Darius (Peter Kluge), known as Darius the Mede, Daniel (played as an older man by Robert Miano) is accused of worshipping the God of the Jews instead of the King, and is thrown into a den of lions. But he maintains his faith, an angel saves him, his accusers are destroyed, and Daniel is restored to his position by Darius.

The real Nebuchadnezzar -- usually listed as "Nebuchadrezzar II" in non-biblical sources, sometimes as "Nebuchadnezzar the Great" -- ruled from 605 BC until his death in 562 BC. He is regarded as the empire's greatest king, having conquered the Assyrian Empire in 609 BC. Just before the death of his father Nabopolassar in 605 BC, Nebuchadnezzar defeated Pharoah Necho II and his Egyptian army, making himself the most powerful man in what would now be called the Middle East.

But a failed invasion of Egypt led to some insurrections against his rule. In 587 BC, conquered Jerusalem, beginning the Babylonian Captivity of the Jews, and symbolizing the restoration of his previous level of power.

In contrast, there is no non-biblical source for a King of Babylonia named Darius. Cyrus II became King of Persia in 559 BC, King of Media in 549 BC, King of Lydia in 547 BC, and King of Babylon in 539 BC. He reigned over the Achaemenid Empire, stretching from the Indus River in present-day Pakistan in the east to a portion of Greece in the west, until his death in 530 BC.

In 539 BC, he allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem. His tolerance for the cultures under his rule led both Jews and Greeks to call him Cyrus the Great. In this film, he is played by Lance Henriksen.

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October 1, 2013 was a Tuesday. Author Tom Clancy died.

In baseball, the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated their traditional rivals, the Cincinnati Reds, 6-2 in the National League Wild Card game at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. Catcher Russell Martin hit 2 home runs, Marlon Byrd added 1, and Francisco Liriano was the winning pitcher. It is the 1st time the Pirates had advanced in the postseason in 34 years, since winning the 1979 World Series. Century, and owned a small share of the Baltimore Orioles.

Football was in midweek. The NBA was in its preseason. There were 3 games on this opening night of the 2013-14 NHL season:

* In the NHL's oldest rivalry, the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Montreal Canadiens, 4-3 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

* The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Washington Capitals, 6-4 at the United Center in Chicago.

* And the Winnipeg Jets beat the Edmonton Oilers, 5-4 at Rexall Place, as the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton was then known.

August 24, 1929: The Hebron Massacre

August 24, 1929: Incited to violence by a lie that Jews were planning to seize control of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, 30 miles away, a group of Arab thugs kills 67 Jews in Hebron in what was then Mandatory Palestine.

Stirred up by the lies of Amin al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Jewish homes were pillaged, and synagogues were ransacked. It was one of many pogroms committed by the Arabs against the Jews before 1948, proving that the existence thereafter of the State of Israel is a convenient excuse for their crimes against humanity, but not the truth.

And yet, some of the 435 Jews who survived were hidden by local Arab families, proving that there was still hope for peaceful co-existence. However, the Hebron Massacre revealed the resentments that have made such coexistence incredibly difficult.

Soon after, all Hebron's Jews were evacuated by the British authorities. It sent shock waves through Jewish communities around the world. It led to the re-organization and development of the Jewish paramilitary organization, the Haganah, which later became the nucleus of the Israel Defense Forces.

Amin al-Husseini died in 1974. He lived to see the Munich Massacre and the Arab oil embargo -- but he also lived to see the independence of Israel, and to see his people start 4 wars with the new nation, and lose them all.

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August 24, 1929 was a Saturday. These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees lost to the St. Louis Browns, 4-0 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Alvin Crowder -- nicknamed "General," after Enoch Crowder, the U.S. Provost Marshal during World War I -- pitched a 2-hit shutout, allowing 2 hits, both by Gene Robertson, the Yankees' 3rd baseman that day. Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig both went 0-for-3.

* The New York Giants swept a doubleheader from the Pittsburgh Pirates, 14-8 and 7-6 at the Polo Grounds. Fred Fitzsimmons won the opener, Carl Hubbell the nightcap. Over the 2 games, Bill Terry went 5-for-8 with a home run, a walk, and 4 RBIs, Mel Ott went 2-for-6 with 2 walks and 3 RBIs, Fred Lindstrom went 5-for-9 with 2 RBIs, Paul Waner went 4-for-10 with 2 RBIs, and Lloyd Waner went 4-for-10 with 1 RBI.

* A doubleheader was swept at Ebbets Field. The Cincinnati Reds won the 1st game, 5-2. The Brooklyn Dodgers -- or the Brooklyn Robins, as they were officially known while Wilbert Robinson was their manager, 1914 to 1931 -- won the 2nd game, 8-0. Ray Moss pitched a 6-hit shutout.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Boston Braves, 3-1 at Braves Field in Boston.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 9-6 at Baker Bowl in Philadelphia.

* A doubleheader was split at League Park in Cleveland. The Boston Red Sox won the 1st game, 5-2. The Cleveland Indians won the 2nd game, 6-2.

* The Washington Senators beat the Detroit Tigers, 9-6 at Navin Field in Detroit (later renamed Briggs Stadium and Tiger Stadium).

* And the Philadelphia Athletics beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-2 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Al Simmons went 3-for-4 with 2 RBIs. Mickey Cochrane also went 3-for-4. Jimmie Foxx went 1-for-2 with a walk and 2 RBIs.

May 14, 1948: Israel Declares Its Independence

Ben-Gurion reads the Declaration, under a portrait

of Theodor Herzl, "the Father of Zionism"

and an early advocate for a Jewish state

May 14, 1948: With the British Mandate of Palestine expiring, the State of Israel declares its independence. On the Hebrew calendar, it was 5 Iyar 5708, and so, every year, on 5 Iyar -- which is not necessarily on May 14, and is usually earlier on the Gregorian calendar -- the nation celebrates its independence day, known in Hebrew as Yom Ha'atzmaut.

As shown in the photograph above, the Declaration was proclaimed by David Ben-Gurion, the Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization. When the country had its 1st election the following year, he was elected its 1st Prime Minister.

The announcement took effect at Midnight, Tel Aviv time, when the Mandate expired. At exactly that time, a Zionist delegate took the podium at the United Nations -- then in a temporary headquarters in the New York suburb of Lake Success, Long Island, before the East Side headquarters opened in 1951 -- and made the announcement.

The Declaration was signed while a civil war was being fought between the Jewish and Arab populations of the Mandate. Once it took effect, the neighboring nations of Egypt, Jordan and Syria attacked, and the 1948 Arab-Israeli War began.

The minutes passed. The tension mounted. What would happen if nobody recognized the new nation? What would happen if America did, and the Soviet Union didn't? Or, considerably less likely (since the Soviets were already supporting insurgents in the Arab nations in question), the other way around?

Eleven minutes in, having gotten the order from President Harry S Truman, the American representative, Warren Austin, took the podium, and announced that the United States recognized the State of Israel. In what now looks like a retroactive irony, the 2nd nation to do so was Iran. Actually, it was kind of ironic at the time, since Britain, which had just lost control of the land that became Israel, was then heavily influential in Iran. Five more nations recognized Israel that day.

On May 17, the Soviet Union followed suit. With both of the 2 major powers of the time recognizing Israel, it was clear that the Arabs couldn't count on either one to help.

Somehow, tiny Israel fought all 3 of these much larger countries off, and on July 24, 1949, an armistice was signed.

Despite the worst efforts of Egypt until 1973, "the Palestinians" since 1970, Jordan until 1994, Iran since 1979, Syria throughout, and anti-Semites all over the world throughout, Israel stands as a Jewish state, one that gives the Arab people living within its borders more rights than any nation ruled by Arabs.

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May 14, 1948 was a Friday. On the same day, the RAND Corporation was founded by the aircraft company now known as McDonnell-Douglas. The letters stand for "Research ANd Development." RAND tend to tick off both the far left (Bernie Sanders' supporters) and the far right (Alex Jones' people), so they may be doing something right.

The NFL was in the middle of its off-season. The NBA and NHL seasons had wrapped up the month before, with the original version of the Baltimore Bullets taking the championship of the former, and the Toronto Maple Leafs that of the latter. Only 4 Major League Baseball games were played that day, and only 1 involved a New York team:

* The New York Yankees beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 3-0 at the original Yankee Stadium. Vic Raschi pitched a 3-hit shutout, and was backed by home runs by Yogi Berra and Johnny Lindell.

* The St. Louis Browns beat the Detroit Tigers, 3-0 at Briggs (later Tiger) Stadium in Detroit. Fred Sanford pitched a 5-hit shutout. No, not the character from the later sitcom Sanford & Son. This Fred Sanford would, however, later pitch for the Yankees.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds, 1-0 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Russ Meyer, known as the Mad Monk, pitched a 4-hit shutout, and the only run of the game came on a home run by Andy Pafko. Both would later play for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

* And the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 2-1 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis.