History

31 Jul 2023 01:36

A woman at a mirror in her dorm in Ormsby Hall, Lawrence University, c.1900.
Source

History

28 Jul 2023 02:38

Nero's Theatre has been located in Rome. This ancient landmark was where Nero practiced his singing, amongst other things. He may have also watched the 64 AD great fire of Rome from here.

History

22 Jul 2023 23:17

Scientific American have found a nuclear historian to review the new Oppenheimer film;

https://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/heres-what-oppenheimer-gets-right-and-wrong-about-nuclear-history/

History

15 Jul 2023 00:26

The Soviet Republic of Soldiers and Fortress-Builders of Naissaar existed on an Estonian island from 17th December 1917 - February 26th 1918. The island was seized by Russian sailors under the command of Stepan Petrichenko, who levied taxes upon the population. German forces occupying the island caused the withdrawal of the sailors and the end of the republic.
The flag reads "Death to the bourgeois."

History

11 Jul 2023 00:11

Why didn't the Aztecs conquer Europe?

Strange question, interesting answer.

https://bigthink.com/the-past/why-didnt-the-aztecs-invade-europe/

History

06 Jul 2023 00:14

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/offering-the-presidency-of-israel-to-albert-einstein

History

05 Jul 2023 03:31

4th July 1994: after a long and bloody civil war, soldiers of the Rwandan Patriotic Front enter the city of Kigali, and the war is brought to an end. The Rwandan genocide is also effectively ended. Peace accords would be signed a few days later. In Rwanda this day is celebrated as Liberation Day.

History

03 Jul 2023 02:39

The Wiener Zeitung ended its print run on Friday. It was generally considered the oldest running newspaper in the world, having run from 1703. The only pause was during the annexation of the country by the Nazis.
Amongst other things it reported on an early concert by Mozart, and printed a huge special edition upon the 1918 abdication of the Kaiser (2nd image).

History

27 Jun 2023 03:33

https://thediplomat.com/2015/07/how-eisenhower-saved-taiwan/

History

23 Jun 2023 23:14

https://blogs.bl.uk/sound-and-vision/2016/09/anna-pavlova-and-the-swans-of-abbotsbury.html

History

22 Jun 2023 01:26

It is traditional to jump an odd number of times. Sometimes effigies representing witches or the devil are burnt. The tradition stems from an old fear of the shortening days and evil spirits making plans.

History

22 Jun 2023 01:26

In Sweden, Midsummer is a popular celebration. A maypole (Midsommarstången) is put up and danced around. It probably originated to represent fertility, or as an axis connecting the worlds.

History

19 Jun 2023 00:34

The great Irish statesman Daniel O'Connell (known as "The Liberator" for his championing of Irish nationalist causes) was reading the conclusion of Dickens' The Old Curiosity Shop whilst on a train. Distraught by the death of Little Nell, he burst into tears, declared "he should not have killed her!" and threw the book out of the window.

History

15 Jun 2023 00:06

When King Alexander of Serbia, an unpopular and authoritarian ruler, decided to marry the likewise unpopular Draga Mašin (pictured), there was uproar in Serbian society and his entire cabinet threatened to resign.
Đorđe Genčić, Interior Minister (right), told the king:
"Sire, you cannot marry her. She has been everybody’s mistress – mine included."
This earned him a slap in the face.

History

11 Jun 2023 00:32

"The yellow peril" (Udo J. Keppler, Japan, 1904).
This shows a figure representing Russia being blinded by the light of Japan, bringing "enlightenment" "humaneness" and so on. Under Japan lies the dead figure of medievalism. Published during the Russo-Japanese war, this illustration shows the sense of modernism that had emerged in Japan and the perceived reversal of power between Russia and Japan.
Source

History

28 Jul 2023 02:38

https://apnews.com/article/italy-four-seasons-c3723a4f66ddba7a2a5161881398d76e

History

26 Jul 2023 01:27

This is probably the last photo of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini alive, dated April 25th 1945. He was captured by Italian partisans shortly afterwards after attempting to flee disguised as a German soldier. The partisans were able to avoid bloodshed with the Germans, who knew the end of the war was near. He was held for a night before being briefly tried and executed. The next photos of Mussolini would be of his corpse, dumped in a square in Milan, beaten and humiliated by the crowds that he had once considered himself master of, before being hung upside-down in the ruins of a petrol station; a not dissimilar end to that of anti-fascists that had been executed in the city.

History

15 Jul 2023 00:26

https://prairieprogressive.medium.com/the-brief-life-of-the-soviet-republic-of-sailors-and-fortress-builders-fe1c0ffcaa2d

History

12 Jul 2023 00:41

Albert Camus and his cat (unknown source).

He is alleged to have named it "cigarette."

History

08 Jul 2023 01:25

The Inca road system (The Oxford Handbook of the Incas).
About 12 million people lived here. The roads varied in quality, with many popular routes being paved with flagstones. Common sights on the road would be soldiers, llamas transporting goods, and runners carrying messages (6-9km for each runner before they would pass the message to another, in this way, about 240km a day could be covered). Approval was needed for civilians to use the road network.

History

06 Jul 2023 00:14

In 1952, the great scientist Albert Einstein was offered the largely ceremonial position as President of Israel. He was allowed to continue his research, but would have to move to Israel.
Einstein, 72, turned down the offer. He cited his relatively old age and lack of people skills. Some have speculated that, despite being a lifelong Zionist, he was becoming uncomfortable with the treatment of Palestinian people within Israel; he had for example criticised Israeli "terrorist elements".
In any case, the offer stands as an interesting basis for counterfactual history.

History

03 Jul 2023 02:42

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/jul/01/worlds-oldest-newspaper-prints-final-edition-after-320-years

History

30 Jun 2023 01:43

Two women, one dressed as a man, in a garden. (Arthur Phillips, Australia, c.1910)
🏳️‍🌈?
Source

History

27 Jun 2023 03:33

Voice of America (Victor Weisz, Daily Mirror, 1955).
The First Taiwan Strait Crisis saw conflict between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China (Taiwan) under Chiang Kai-shek. President Eisenhower sided with Taiwan and helped initiate the American policy of defending the island's independence.

History

23 Jun 2023 23:14

The Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova and her troupe at Abbotsbury swannery in Dorset, UK (1920s). She visited this, the only colony of mute swans in the world, to study the swans for her upcoming performance of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake. She unexpectedly died just a few years later.

History

22 Jun 2023 01:26

In Iberia, especially Catalonia, on the evening before Midsummer the Bonfires of Saint John are lit, with celebrations around them and people jumping over.

History

22 Jun 2023 01:26

Today is the Summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. It is a date of many traditions and celebrations, and is often known as midsummer.

History

16 Jun 2023 23:57

On 16 June 1373 the Anglo-Portuguese Treaty was signed by King Edward III of England and King Ferdinand I and Queen Leonor of Portugal. Promising perpetual friendships, unions and alliances, it is the oldest treaty still in effect, thus making the Anglo-Portuguese alliance the oldest in history at 650 years old.

History

14 Jun 2023 02:00

Cormac McCarthy (1933-2023). In this photo he is in Wales in 1966, holding monkeys with his future wife Anne DeLisle.
He was a Pulitzer Prize winning author, known for The Road and Blood Meridian, and considered one of the greatest American writers.

History

09 Jun 2023 00:56

From the Cats of Yore account!

https://twitter.com/CatsOfYore