Author Archives
Harry Karapalides
Greeks – We Don’t Mean to Yell, We Just Do
I heard a joke the other day. It was told to me by my friend Margaret, a fellow Five Point Coffee aficionado. Margaret is Jewish, so she made the characters in the joke Jewish. I’m…
This Date In History: The American Parthenon
February 23, 1972: The exact replica of the Parthenon, built in Nashville, Tennessee in 1897 (rebuilt 1925-31), is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The City of Nashville has always been nicknamed the…
This Date In History: The Nightmare of Greece
In the United States, when the name, Benedict Arnold is mentioned, everyone immediately thinks, “traitor.” What General Arnold did to undermine the American Revolution and figuratively stab George Washington in the back, has resonated through…
This Date In History: The Duke Of Sparta
January 20, 1895: George Lycurgus, a Hawaiian businessman, is arrested with others and charged with treason for supporting the Royalist against the Americans who overthrew the Kingdom of Hawaii and declared the Republic of Hawaii.…
Karagiozis vs. Karagiozis
Recently, there was a news story about a 30-year old man who refused to leave from his parent’s house, and after they tried everything, including offering him money, they filed a lawsuit, went to court, and…
This Date In History: First Greek Orthodox Church in a New State
January 12, 1959: The Greek Orthodox Church of Anchorage, Alaska (later changed to Holy Transfiguration) filed its Articles of Incorporation, nine days after Alaska officially became the 49th state. In the early Eighteenth Century, Greeks…
This Date In History: A Greek and a Polar Bear Go for a Swim
January 1, 1920: Greek-Canadian, Peter Pantages, forms the first Polar Bear Club in Vancouver, Canada. Peter Pantages immigrated from Greece to Vancouver, Canada, and ran the Peter Pan Café with his three brothers. Prior to…
Yia Sou, Baby – 20 Years Later
Back in August 2018, I saw the band, SOB, which is not what you think it stands for. It’s the Steve Oakley Band out of South Jersey. They were performing at a little joint on…
This Date In History: Coming to America
December 15, 1963: Greek-American Elia Kazan’s movie “America America” is released. Greek-American Elia Kazan, born Elias Kazantzoglou in 1909 in the Phanar district of Constantinople (Istanbul), Ottoman Empire, to Greek parents. He emigrated to the United…
This Date In History: The ‘Noble’ Poet
December 10, 1963: Greek poet, Giorgos Seferis delivers his acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize in literature at the Nobel Banquet, City Hall in Stockholm. Seferis was born in Urla, known in Greek as Voula,…
Do You Speak Greece?
Right before Thanksgiving, I saw a post on Facebook that read, “To my non-Greek friends. Don’t ask me if we celebrate Thanksgiving in Greece. The Pilgrims didn’t make it there!” (Thanks Eleni). I laughed at…
Nick Peetros, The Greek That Brought Down The House
On March 21, 2004, one of the most iconic structures in the Philadelphia landscape was brought down to concrete rubble. Veterans Stadium, opened in 1971 and located on famed Broad Street, housed the Philadelphia Phillies…
