History

16 Aug 2023 02:00

Many people of Chinese descent around the world also celebrate (pictured: Chinatown, Montreal).

History

16 Aug 2023 02:00

14/15th August 1945: The war is finally over as a ceasefire is declared with Japan. Emperor Hirohito announces this in an unprecedented radio broadcast.
The mood in Japan is sombre; people lower their heads towards the Imperial Palace in Tokyo as they hear the news. This love for the emperor convinced the Allies to allow him to stay in order to prevent mass resistance. Many Japanese are simply glad to see peace.

History

13 Aug 2023 00:36

Archaeologists have determined that a Bronze Age arrow head found near Mörigen on Lake Biel, Switzerland, was made from a meteorite.
At the time, humans were not actually known to be capable of making iron. Iron could only be obtained from meteorite impact sites. Meteoric iron artefacts have been found in various global sites, but only two up until now in Europe, both in Poland. It is thought that this iron came from a site in Kaalijarv, on the Estonian island of Saaremaa (pictured), and travelled along trade routes to Switzerland.

History

07 Aug 2023 01:18

A selection of articles on Hiroshima:

Atlantic on the decision to target Hiroshima

NY Times on reporting the aftermath

National Geographic on the survivors

Reuters on the bombing and the wider implications

History

07 Aug 2023 01:18

Survivors do the best they can, many with severe burns (pictured). There are few houses remaining for them to sleep in.

History

07 Aug 2023 01:18

August 6th 1945: At around 8:15, the American warplane drops the bomb Little Boy over Hiroshima. It detonates at about 1,900 feet above the city.

People directly below the blast are probably not even able to consciously process their death. Those further away see a blinding light ('pika') before an enormous explosion. The heat is enough to incinerate people where they stand.

Many survivors of the immediate explosion have terrible injuries from the heat and air pressure and die soon afterwards. About 60,000-80,000 are thought to have been killed instantly.

History

06 Aug 2023 00:51

An early 1900s newspaper cutting decrying the plague of "mashers". Mashers were men who harassed women, but the label could be applied to a man for flirting or being annoying. In general the campaign against them became a moral panic and tended to see mob justice affecting accused men, and there could also be racial elements to it.

History

02 Aug 2023 00:53

Lughnasadh has similar connotations but has more pagan rituals associated with it. It likely derives from the pagan god Lug, associated with (amongst other things) harvests, and something meaning assembly.

One notable ritual is the Puck Fair (above), where a goat is crowned king and a girl crowned queen.

History

02 Aug 2023 00:43

August 1st is Lammas in England, Lughnasadh in Gaelic-influenced countries, and Gŵyl Awst in Wales. It marks the beginning of the harvest season.

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

16 Aug 2023 02:00

Allied countries celebrate from India (pictured: Delhi Gate) to the US.

History

13 Aug 2023 00:38

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440323001073?via%3Dihub

History

09 Aug 2023 00:28

Director William Friedkin (1935-2023) & actress Linda Blair on the set of The Exorcist. The film's production was plagued by accidents and deaths of cast and family of crew members, but became known as one of the greatest horror films of all time.

History

07 Aug 2023 01:18

Amidst the destruction, many will start feeling another terrible affect of the bomb; radiation sickness - though they do not understand it.

History

07 Aug 2023 01:18

The heat is so intense that scores of people leap into the river to try to escape it; many drown. It is extremely difficult to coordinate any sort of disaster response, and many of the hospitals have been destroyed along with their doctors.

History

06 Aug 2023 00:51

https://vpostrel.com/blog/shopping-and-american-equality-amplifying-on-my-latest-essay

History

02 Aug 2023 00:54

https://victoriantradingco.wordpress.com/2021/08/01/the-lore-of-lammas-day/

https://aclerkofoxford.blogspot.com/2017/08/a-little-history-of-lammas.html?m=1

History

02 Aug 2023 00:48

Lammas is derived from the Anglo-Saxon meaning loaf-mass, and relates to the fact that at this point farmers would permit themselves to harvest wheat for the first time. It has various ceremonies and rituals involving bread, such as the cooking of bread into owl shapes and the scattering of it. It is likely derived from pre-Christian beliefs.

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.