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00:20 - British and American paratroop landings start. The crucial town of Sainte-Mère-Église is on fire and the flames light up the night sky, revealing the paratroopers to the German troops. The air currents created by the flames mean some are sucked towards the fire. The landings are unhelpfully dispersed.
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00:17 : some of the first contact between Allied and German soldiers occurs when Oliver Boland crash lands his glider over a trench. The German soldiers surrender immediately.
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About midnight: bombing of Normandy begins.
There are rumours and hints within German military intelligence that an invasion is about to begin. Notably, a poem read over the radio a few hours earlier sparks suspicions. It is indeed a coded message to the French resistance to begin sabotage operations. But already confused by conflicting and often wrong hints, the German military takes little heed of the warnings.
Linked is the UK and French page for commemorations, but the event is obviously an international one. For most veterans it will be their last event.
https://dday80.campaign.gov.uk/
https://80e-normandie.fr/en/celebrating-80th-anniversary
Crane did several illustrations for May Day, many of which focused on pastoralism and the pagan roots of the festival combined with the modern socialist celebration.
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Bolshevik poster depicting Leon Trotsky as St. George, slaying a dragon labelled "counter-revolutionary" (Viktor Deni, 1918).
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Fa’afafine were (and are) expected to carry out womanly jobs around the house. Sometimes, if there was an excess of boys born into a family, one might be chosen to be raised as a Fa’afafine - usually, however, it was not forced upon children and depended upon how they acted when young.
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Concepts of gender differed by tribe, but generally Two Spirits were seen as special in some way. As the name implies, they were seen as having two spirits in the same body, which could grant extra wisdom, creativity or insight. In some tribes like the Illinois, they were seen as wise and advice was often sought from them.
Sometimes, this view of Two Spirits as special could translate as fear, and it sometimes they could be seen as malicious, especially in the wake of natural disasters. Generally, however, they were well integrated until the European arrival.
The European conquest of the Americas led to Two Spirits being persecuted. They were referred to as 'berdache,' a name considered insulting. Recently, the Two Spirit concept has been revived.
In 1906 Verner took Benga to the Bronx Zoo. Here, he took care of the animals, but the director noticed he drew a lot of attention. Eventually, Benga ended up being put on display alongside the monkeys.
The display promoted great outrage amongst many, especially from the African-American press, although the New York Times defended the exhibit. Benga was eventually allowed to roam the grounds but he was constantly antagonised by visitors.
Eventually Benga was removed and worked in a tobacco factory. Trying to find a way back to his home in Africa, conscious of having been humiliated and demeaned, he became progressively more depressed. With the outbreak of war, safe passage to the Congo became impossible. In 1916, he built a ceremonial fire and shot himself in the heart.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/03/the-man-who-was-caged-in-a-zoo
But the classic idea of Caesar's parting words - poeticised as 'et tu Brute?' by Shakespeare - may not be very accurate. In this extract, Kathryn Tempest explores the interpretations of what Caesar could have meant - including that he was simply cursing Brutus - in her book Brutus: The Noble Conspirator.
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A Dane, Niss was likely inspired by the old Nordic tales of the spirits of drowned fishermen coming to haunt their crewmates.
The ghost bares a resemblance to the draug of Scandinavian folklore.
This is discussed a bit more here. I don't know the credibility of this YouTuber but sources discussing this painting and the legends around it were scant, and it's always nice to support a small channel.
"The 8th of March: A day of rebellion by working women against kitchen slavery. Down with the vacuity of household work!" (Boris Nikolayevich Deykin, USSR, 1932).
A Soviet poster celebrating International Women's Day.
Private Helmut Romer witnesses a sentry being shot after firing a warning flare; likely the first casualty of D-Day.
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00:16 : British gliders land around the river Orne and Caen canal bridges, capturing them quickly. They are essential to the coming operations, and are expected to be destroyed by the Nazis if the attack is too slow. "Ham and Jam" is broadcast back to HQ, indicating success.
Meanwhile, in London, SOE typist Elizabeth Small delivers one of the first messages to agents in France that the invasion is starting.
What follows will be real time updates of the day as I did for a previous anniversary.
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6th of June is the 80th anniversary of D-Day, 1944. This important invasion of Normandy by Allied troops opened a second front against Nazi Germany, immensely hastening the collapse of the German armed forces. It took years of preparation and collaboration.
Pictured is General Eisenhower speaking with American troops at Greenham Common (Berkshire), 5th June 1944.
It has now been largely confirmed that a lost branch of the Nile River, called the Ahramat Branch, flowed very close to where the ancient Egyptian pyramids were built. This would imply the river was seen as much more symbolically significant to the pyramids than has been previously assumed, although building materials were also transported by boat.
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https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O708345/labours-may-day-cartoon-walter-crane/
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On the 8th of April 1904 one of the most consequential agreements in modern history was reached; the Entente Cordiale. Whilst outwardly a minor agreement over fishing rights and boundaries between Britain and France, it brought to a close a thousand years of enmity between the two countries and began their movement towards alliance as a great war in Europe drew closer.
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Social Democracy: An Alternate History is a text-based game where you play as the SPD from 1928. In it, you have to defend the SPD's interests and try to fend off the tide of anti-democracy parties. It is, as far as I can see, very difficult, but well researched.
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/adventure/forget-helldivers-the-viral-hit-thats-swallowing-all-my-time-is-this-free-browser-game-about-stopping-the-nazis-from-coming-to-power/
Compare: Fa’afafine, a traditional Samoan third gender. Biological men who identify as women, they have their history rooted in tradition and were sometimes treated with reverance, like Two Spirits.
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'Two-Spirit' is a modern term encompassing the broad Native American view of 'third gender' individuals.
(Image: Osh-Tisch, who lived as a female.)
March 20th 1916: Ota Benga, a Mbuti man who lived in America, killed himself. Ten years earlier, he had been exhibited at the St. Louis World Fair and the Bronx Zoo.
Benga was born in the Congo Free State. At some point, his tribe was attacked by a militia acting on behalf of the Belgians, killing his wife and two children. Benga was captured by slavers and eventually purchased by American Samuel Verner, who sent him to St. Louis.
Here, he was exhibited as part of a human zoo. Verner was disquieted by how he was effectively imprisoned by the fair, and Benga eventually ended up in the American Museum of Natural History.
Here, again, Benga was presented as a savage, and despite initially finding some enjoyment at the museum he became tired and homesick.
The drowned man's ghost tries to claim a new victim for the sea (Den druknedes genfærd søger at skaffe havet et nyt offer)
(Thorvald Niss, date unknown).
Zoomable image
But was the Trojan Horse actually real? Professor Julia Kindt believes it is plausible, despite attempts to explain it away as a metaphor or misunderstanding, but essentially unanswerable.
https://www.historytoday.com/archive/history-matters/was-trojan-horse-real