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The magnificent Ishtar Gate constructed around 575 BC served as one of the entrances to what ancient city?
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Ishtar Gate Ishtar Gate The Ishtar Gate () was the eighth gate to the inner city of Babylon. It was constructed in about 575 BCE by order of King Nebuchadnezzar II on the north side of the city. It was excavated in the early 20th century, and a reconstruction using original bricks, completed in 1930, is now shown in Berlin’s Pergamon Museum. King Nebuchadnezzar II reigned 604–562 BCE, the peak of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. He is known as the biblical conqueror who captured Jerusalem. King Nebuchadnezzar II ordered the construction of the gate and dedicated it to the Babylonian goddess Ishtar. The
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The Dragon of the Ishtar Gate The Dragon of the Ishtar Gate The Dragon of the Ishtar Gate is a historical novel by American writer L. Sprague de Camp, first published in hardcover by Doubleday in 1961, and in paperback by Lancer Books in 1968. The first trade paperback edition was issued by The Donning Company in 1982. The book was reissued with a new introduction by Harry Turtledove as a trade paperback and ebook by Phoenix Pick in September 2013. It is the third of de Camp's historical novels in order of writing, and earliest chronologically. It is set in 466-465 BCE, the last years
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Convoy SC-7 consisting of 35 merchant ships was the first major casuality of a tactic termed Rudeltaktik ('tactics of a pack') notably practiced by what entities during WWII?
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Convoy SC 7 Convoy SC 7 SC 7 was the code name for a large Allied World War II convoy of 35 merchant ships and six escorts, which sailed eastbound from Sydney, Nova Scotia for Liverpool and other United Kingdom ports on 5 October 1940. While crossing the Atlantic, the convoy was intercepted by one of the first "Kriegsmarine" submarine wolfpacks. During the ensuing battle, the escort was completely overwhelmed and 20 of the 35 cargo vessels were sunk and 2 more damaged, with 141 lives lost. The disastrous outcome of the convoy demonstrated the German submarines' potential of being able to work
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Convoy SC 7 them up, leaving the convoy unprotected and risking being torpedoed themselves. Convoy SC 7 SC 7 was the code name for a large Allied World War II convoy of 35 merchant ships and six escorts, which sailed eastbound from Sydney, Nova Scotia for Liverpool and other United Kingdom ports on 5 October 1940. While crossing the Atlantic, the convoy was intercepted by one of the first "Kriegsmarine" submarine wolfpacks. During the ensuing battle, the escort was completely overwhelmed and 20 of the 35 cargo vessels were sunk and 2 more damaged, with 141 lives lost. The disastrous outcome of the
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In 1120 the sinking of what vessel, called the Titanic of the Middle Ages, caused the death of the legitimate heir to the throne of England and led to a period known as the Anarchy?
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England in the Middle Ages son, William, died aboard the "White Ship" disaster of 1120, sparking a fresh succession crisis: Henry's nephew, Stephen of Blois, claimed the throne in 1135, but this was disputed by the Empress Matilda, Henry's daughter. Civil war broke out across England and Normandy, resulting in a long period of warfare later termed the Anarchy. Matilda's son, Henry, finally agreed to a peace settlement at Winchester and succeeded as king in 1154. Henry II was the first of the Angevin rulers of England, so-called because he was also the Count of Anjou in Northern France. Henry had also acquired the huge
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The Anarchy The Anarchy The Anarchy was a civil war in England and Normandy between 1135 and 1153, which resulted in a widespread breakdown in law and order. The conflict was a succession crisis precipitated by the accidental death of William Adelin, the only legitimate son of Henry I, in a shipwreck in 1120. Henry's attempts to install his daughter, the Empress Matilda, as his successor were unsuccessful and on Henry's death in 1135, his nephew Stephen of Blois seized the throne with the help of Stephen's brother, Henry of Blois, Bishop of Winchester. Stephen's early reign was marked by fierce fighting
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The ultra left-wing group Red Army Faction associated with the names Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof was active in what country in the later part of the 20th century?
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Members of the Red Army Faction Members of the Red Army Faction The Red Army Faction (RAF) existed in West Germany from 1970 to 1998, committing numerous crimes, especially in the autumn of 1977, which led to a national crisis that became known as the "German Autumn". The RAF was founded in 1970 by Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin, Ulrike Meinhof, Horst Mahler, and others. The first generation of the organization was commonly referred to by the press and the government as the "Baader-Meinhof Gang", a name the group did not use to refer to itself. The RAF was responsible for 34 deaths, including many secondary targets
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Hitler's Children: The Story of the Baader-Meinhof Terrorist Gang Hitler's Children: The Story of the Baader-Meinhof Terrorist Gang Hitler's Children: The Story of the Baader-Meinhof Terrorist Gang is a 1977 book about the West German militant left-wing group, the Red Army Faction (also known as The Baader-Meinhof Gang), by the British author Jillian Becker. Note that neither the 1943 or 2012 films were on this subject. The first edition was published in June 1977 by J. B. Lippincott & Co. It recounts the deeds of the group up to the suicides of Ulrike Meinhof and Andreas Baader. A second expanded edition was published in January 1978 as a Panther
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Katharina von Bora, a nun who escaped convent life in 1523 by fleeing to Wittenberg hiding among fish barrels was married to which key figure of world history?
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Katharina von Bora Katharina von Bora Katharina von Bora (; January 29, 1499 – December 20, 1552), after her wedding Katharina Luther, also referred to as "die Lutherin", was the wife of Martin Luther, German reformer and a seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation. Beyond what is found in the writings of Luther and some of his contemporaries, little is known about her. Despite this, Katharina is often considered one of the most important participants of the Reformation because of her role in helping to define Protestant family life and setting the tone for clergy marriages. Katharina von Bora was the daughter to
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Katharina von Bora and wife Margarethe, Truchsessin von Wetzhausen (1490–1527)) but died in Mühlhausen in 1570 at the age of thirty-six. Her descendants have continued to modern times, including German President Paul von Hindenburg (1847–1934) and the Counts zu Eulenburg and Princes zu Eulenburg und Hertefeld. She is commemorated in the Calendar of Saints of some Lutheran Churches in the United States on December 20. In addition to a statue in Wittenberg and several biographies, an opera of her life now keeps her memory alive. Katharina von Bora Katharina von Bora (; January 29, 1499 – December 20, 1552), after her wedding Katharina
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The second most-studied case of genocide (after the Holocaust) is said to have begun on April 24, 1915 when Ottoman authorities arrested 250 intellectuals of what ethnicity?
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Deportation of Armenian intellectuals on 24 April 1915 those that have been provided in the Ottoman Archives and various Armenian sources: Deportation of Armenian intellectuals on 24 April 1915 The deportation of Armenian intellectuals, sometimes known as Red Sunday (Western "Garmir giragi"), was the first major event of the Armenian Genocide. Leaders of the Armenian community in the Ottoman capital of Constantinople, and later other locations, were arrested and moved to two holding centers near Ankara. The to do so was given by Minister of the Interior Talaat Pasha on 24 April 1915. On that night, the first wave of 235 to 270 Armenian intellectuals of Constantinople were
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History of the Ottoman Empire during World War I second most-studied case of genocide after the Holocaust. Turkey, the successor state of the Ottoman Empire, denies the word "genocide" as an accurate term for the mass killings of Armenians that began under Ottoman rule in 1915. It has in recent years been faced with repeated calls to recognize them as genocide. To date, 29 countries have officially recognized the mass killings as genocide, as have most genocide scholars and historians. Includes most of to daysader nation of Europe History of the Ottoman Empire during World War I The Ottoman Empire participated in World War I as one of the
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In 1894 when a memorandum detailing an offer to procure military secrets was discovered in a waste paper basket inside the German Embassy in Paris, it started the chain of events of what major political scandal?
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Investigation and arrest of Alfred Dreyfus Investigation and arrest of Alfred Dreyfus The Dreyfus Affair began when a "bordereau" (detailed memorandum) offering to procure French military secrets was recovered by French agents from the waste paper basket of Maximilian Von Schwartzkoppen, the military attaché at the German Embassy in Paris. Blame was quickly pinned upon Alfred Dreyfus, a young French artillery officer who was in training within the French Army's general staff. Among the military services reorganized after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 was that of the French Counter Intelligence Department (disguised under the name of "Section de Statistique") led by a Lt Col Jean Conrad
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History of the Jews in France to life imprisonment for allegedly having communicated French military secrets to the German Embassy in Paris, Dreyfus was sent to the penal colony at Devil's Island in French Guiana, where he spent almost five years. Two years later, in 1896, evidence came to light identifying a French Army major named Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy as the real spy. After high-ranking military officials suppressed the new evidence a military court unanimously acquitted Esterhazy after the second day of his trial. The Army accused Dreyfus of additional charges based on false documents. Word of the military court's framing of Dreyfus and of an
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The 1792 Battle of Valmy in which a citizen army defeated the Prussian army is significant for saving/preserving what?
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Battle of Valmy Battle of Valmy The Battle of Valmy was the first major victory by the army of France during the Revolutionary Wars that followed the French Revolution. The action took place on 20 September 1792 as Prussian troops commanded by the Duke of Brunswick attempted to march on Paris. Generals François Kellermann and Charles Dumouriez stopped the advance near the northern village of Valmy in Champagne-Ardenne. In this early part of the Revolutionary Wars—known as the War of the First Coalition—the new French government was in almost every way unproven, and thus the small, localized victory at Valmy became a huge
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Army of the North (France) from service. The suspicious government of the First French Republic later charged him with treason and he barely escaped execution. In 1792-1794, the guillotine awaited military commanders who either failed, belonged to the nobility, or displayed insufficient revolutionary zeal. In the Army of the North these unfortunates included Nicolas Luckner, Adam Custine, and Jean Houchard. Under Charles François Dumouriez, the Army of the North helped blunt the Prussian invasion at the Battle of Valmy on 20 September 1792. It also made up a large part of Dumouriez's expedition into the Austrian Netherlands which resulted in victory at the Battle of
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The 1889 constitution of which country recognized the divine power of its emperor deriving it from a native belief that the imperial family was the offspring of the sun goddess Amaterasu?
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Divine right of kings ever since the Zhou dynasty, whose rulers had used this philosophy to justify their overthrow of the previous Shang dynasty. Chinese historians interpreted a successful revolt as evidence that the Mandate of Heaven had passed on to the usurper. In Japan, the Son of Heaven title was less conditional than its Chinese equivalent. There was no divine mandate that punished the emperor for failing to rule justly. The right to rule of the Japanese emperor, descended from the sun goddess Amaterasu, was absolute. The Japanese emperors traditionally wielded little secular power; generally, it was the duty of the sitting emperor
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Enthronement of the Japanese Emperor his Imperial Ancestress, sun-goddess Amaterasu-ōmikami, in such a way as to share in a unique way in her divinity. The ceremony is not mentioned in the Constitution imposed by the American occupation forces, and so its present constitutionality was questioned at the time of the accession of the present Emperor Akihito. First, two special rice paddies are chosen and purified by elaborate Shinto purification rites. The families of the farmers who are to cultivate the rice in these paddies must be in perfect health. Once the rice is grown and harvested, it is stored in a special Shinto shrine as
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The Battle of Coral Sea in WWII in 1942 is notable for the first fleet action of what type of craft that are still in vogue?
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Battle of the Coral Sea and ultimate outcome of the Pacific War. Battle of the Coral Sea The Battle of the Coral Sea, fought from 4 to 8 May 1942, was a major naval battle between the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and naval and air forces from the United States and Australia, taking place in the Pacific Theatre of World War II. The battle is historically significant as the first action in which aircraft carriers engaged each other, as well as the first in which neither side's ships sighted nor fired directly upon the other. In an attempt to strengthen their defensive position in the
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Battle of the Coral Sea order of battle Battle of the Coral Sea order of battle This is an order of battle for the Battle of the Coral Sea. The battle, fought during 4–8 May 1942, was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II between the Imperial Japanese Navy and Allied naval and air forces from the United States (U.S.) and Australia. In an attempt to strengthen their defensive positioning for their empire in the South Pacific, Imperial Japanese forces decided to invade and occupy Port Moresby in New Guinea and Tulagi in the southeastern Solomon Islands. The plan to accomplish this, called
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Owain Glyndŵr (died c. 1416) who was venerated by the 19th century Cymru Fydd movement is considered the national hero of what ethnicity?
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Cymru Fydd by the magazine "Young Wales", edited by John Hugh Edwards between 1895 and its collapse in 1896. An earlier magazine, "Cymru Fydd", ceased publication in 1891. Cymru Fydd The Cymru Fydd (Young Wales; ) movement was founded in 1886 by some of the London Welsh, including J. E. Lloyd, O. M. Edwards, T. E. Ellis (leader, MP for Merioneth, 1886–1899), Beriah Gwynfe Evans and Alfred Thomas. Initially it was a purely London-based society, later expanding to cities in England with a large Welsh population. The founders of Cymru Fydd were influenced by the nationalist movement in Ireland, although the movement
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Owain Glyndŵr pardon from his military nemesis, the new king Henry V of England, and despite the large rewards offered, Glyndŵr was never betrayed to the English. His death was recorded by a former follower in the year 1415. Glyndŵr is portrayed as a king in William Shakespeare's play "Henry IV, Part 1" (anglicised as Owen Glendower) as a wild and exotic man ruled by magic and emotion. With his death Owain acquired a mythical status along with Cadwaladr, Cynan and Arthur as the hero awaiting the call to return and liberate his people. In the late 19th century, the Cymru Fydd
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Which incident in 18th century Japan that involved a group of revenge-seeking leaderless samurai has been dramatized in several accounts and was called the country's 'national legend'?
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Forty-seven rōnin Forty-seven rōnin The revenge of the , also known as the or "Akō vendetta", is an 18th-century historical event in Japan in which a band of "rōnin" (leaderless samurai) avenged the death of their master. The incident has since become legendary. The story tells of a group of samurai who were left leaderless (becoming "rōnin") after their "daimyō" (feudal lord) Asano Naganori was compelled to perform "seppuku" (ritual suicide) for assaulting a court official named Kira Yoshinaka, whose title was "Kōzuke no suke". After waiting and planning for a year, the "rōnin" avenged their master's honor by killing Kira. In
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Legend of the Eight Samurai of the music was released by Eastworld, product id WTP-90258. "Legend of the Eight Samurai" was the number one Japanese film on the domestic market in 1984, earning ¥2.3 billion in distribution income. Various English releases have been sold since the 1980s under the title "Legend of the Eight Samurai", or "Legend of Eight Samurai". An English dubbed version was released with some script modifications; and in 2005 an uncut, English subtitled version of the film was released. In 2012 the film was released on Blu-ray in Japan as part of the "Kadokawa Blu-ray Collection". On May 5, 2005, Digiview
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In May 2011, Queen Elizabeth became the second-longest reigning British monarch in history overtaking which monarch?
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Queen Victoria replaced him. Salisbury remained prime minister for the remainder of Victoria's reign. On 23 September 1896, Victoria surpassed her grandfather George III as the longest-reigning monarch in British history. The Queen requested that any special celebrations be delayed until 1897, to coincide with her Diamond Jubilee, which was made a festival of the British Empire at the suggestion of the Colonial Secretary, Joseph Chamberlain. The prime ministers of all the self-governing Dominions were invited to London for the festivities. One reason for including the prime ministers of the Dominions and excluding foreign heads of state was to avoid having to
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Elizabeth II the longest-reigning British monarch and longest-reigning queen regnant and female head of state in the world on 9 September 2015. She is also the "longest-reigning sovereign in Canada's modern era". (King Louis XIV of France reigned over Canada (New France) for longer than Elizabeth.) She became the oldest current monarch after King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia died on 23 January 2015. She later became the longest-reigning current monarch and the longest-serving current head of state following the death of King Bhumibol of Thailand on 13 October 2016, and the oldest current head of state on the resignation of Robert Mugabe
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The philosopher Hegel who lived from 1770 to 1831 described which contemporary personality as 'world history on horseback'?
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Contemporary philosophy of the contemporary philosophy era in Western philosophy. Germany was the first country to professionalize philosophy. At the end of 1817, Hegel was the first philosopher to be appointed professor by the State, namely by the Prussian Minister of Education, as an effect of Napoleonic reform in Prussia. In the United States, the professionalisation grew out of reforms to the American higher-education system largely based on the German model. James Campbell describes the professionalisation of philosophy in America as follows: Professionalization in England was similarly tied to developments in higher-education. In his work on T.H. Green, Denys Leighton discusses these
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Hegel House quotations from Hegel, and various editions of his works in different languages. Hegel House The Hegel House () is a museum in Stuttgart, Germany, located in the house where the philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel was born. Born in 1770, Hegel lived in Stuttgart for the first 18 years of his life; he died in Berlin in 1831. The Hegel House is on Eberhardstraße, and dates from the 16th century. The ground floor contains an exhibition about Stuttgart during Hegel's lifetime. Another exhibition is devoted to Hegel's life story, and includes his famous beret and his "Stammbuch" (an early form
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Andabatae, bestiarii, equites, hoplomachi, retiarii and sagittarii are some of what belligerent types?
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Bestiarii Bestiarii Among Ancient Romans, bestiarii (singular bestiarius) were those who went into combat with beasts, or were exposed to them. It is conventional to distinguish two categories of "bestiarii": the first were those condemned to death via the beasts (see "damnatio ad bestias") and the second were those who faced them voluntarily, for pay or glory (see "venatio"). The latter are sometimes erroneously called "gladiators"; to their contemporaries, however, the term "gladiator" referred specifically to one who fought other men. The contemporary term for those who made a career out of participating in arena "hunts" was venatores. As a means
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Sagittarii By the 5th century, there were numerous Roman cavalry regiments trained to use the bow as a supplement to their swords and lances, but the "sagittarii" appear to have used the bow as their primary rather than supplemental weapon. According to the "Notitia Dignitatum", most units of "sagittarii", especially "equites sagittarii", were in the Eastern empire or in Africa. Possibly some of the other cavalry regiments there carried bows as back-up weapons, but were not the dedicated mounted archers that the "sagittarii" were. The use of bows as primary weapons probably originated in the East in the later 4th and
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The Trưng Sisters who successfully rebelled against the Chinese Han-Dynasty in the 1st century AD are regarded as national heroines in which country?
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Trưng Sisters Trưng Sisters The Trưng sisters (Vietnamese: "Hai Bà Trưng", literally "Two Ladies [named] Trưng", AD 12 – c. AD 43) were Vietnamese military leaders who ruled for three years after rebelling in AD 40 against the first Chinese domination of Vietnam. They are regarded as national heroines of Vietnam. Their names were Trưng Trắc () and Trưng Nhị (). The sisters were born in Giao Chi, in rural Northern Vietnam, a commandery of the Han dynasty (and in modern Northern Vietnam). The dates of their births are unknown, but Trưng Trắc was older than Trưng Nhị. The exact dates of
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Army of the Han dynasty to subdue Yanqi. One contingent was ambushed and defeated but the other massacred the population of Yanqi. Other regions remained loyal along with Suoju. In 23 AD, Wang Mang's Xin dynasty was defeated and 12 years of civil war ensued. In 35 AD, Emperor Guangwu of Han, also known as the "Bronze Horse Emperor," reunited the Han dynasty. In 40 AD, Jiuzhen, Jiaozhi, and Rinan commanderies rebelled under the Trung sisters. In 42 AD, the Trung sisters' rebellion was defeated by Ma Yuan. In 49 AD, the Qiang tribes retook the Qinghai region In 50 AD, Bi chanyu and the
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The Chaco War (1932-35) that was fought for a region (incorrectly) thought to be oil-rich is South America's bloodiest 20th century conflict. Which two land-locked countries were the participants?
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Chaco War Chaco War The Chaco War (1932–1935; , ) was fought between Bolivia and Paraguay over control of the northern part of the Gran Chaco region (known in Spanish as "Chaco Boreal") of South America, which was thought to be rich in oil. It is also referred to as "La Guerra de la Sed" (Spanish for "The War of Thirst") in literary circles, for being fought in the semi-arid Chaco. It was the bloodiest military conflict fought in South America during the 20th century, between two of its poorest countries, both having previously lost territory to neighbors in 19th-century wars. During
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Chaco War the hopes of the Bolivian government of recovering a land corridor to the Pacific Ocean, which was thought imperative to further development and trade. The impetus for war was exacerbated by a conflict between oil companies jockeying for exploration and drilling rights, with Royal Dutch Shell backing Paraguay and Standard Oil supporting Bolivia. The discovery of oil in the Andean foothills sparked speculation that the Chaco might prove a rich source of petroleum, and foreign oil companies were involved in the exploration. Standard Oil was already producing oil from wells in the high hills of eastern Bolivia, around Villa Montes.
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What is the 'avian' code name for the campaigns of political repression implemented in 1975 by the dictatorships of South America?
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History of South America the right-wing, ecclesiastical authorities and a large portion of each individual country's upper class to support coups d'état to avoid what they perceived as a communist threat. This was further fueled by Cuban and United States intervention which led to a political polarisation. Most South American countries were in some periods ruled by military dictatorships that were supported by the United States of America. Also around the 1970s, the regimes of the Southern Cone collaborated in Operation Condor killing many leftist dissidents, including some urban guerrillas. However, by the early 90's all countries had restored their democracies. Colombia has had
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Political repression extrajudicial punishment of political activists, dissidents, or general population. Political repression can also be reinforced by means outside of written policy, such as by public and private media ownership and by self-censorship within the public. Where political repression is sanctioned and organised by the state, it may constitute state terrorism, genocide, politicide or crimes against humanity. Systemic and violent political repression is a typical feature of dictatorships, totalitarian states and similar regimes. Acts of political repression may be carried out by secret police forces, army, paramilitary groups or death squads. Repressive activities have also been found within democratic contexts as
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If Heinrich Schliemann is to Troy, the British archaeologist Leonard Woolley is to what ancient city?
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Leonard Woolley continued to play an important role at his archaeological sites. Woolley died on 20 February 1960 at age 79. Leonard Woolley Sir Charles Leonard Woolley (17 April 1880 – 20 February 1960) was a British archaeologist best known for his excavations at Ur in Mesopotamia. He is recognized as one of the first "modern" archaeologists, who excavated in a methodical way, keeping careful records, and using them to reconstruct ancient life and history. Woolley was knighted in 1935 for his contributions to the discipline of archaeology. Woolley was the son of a clergyman, and was brother to Geoffrey Harold Woolley,
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Heinrich Schliemann actual field work." In 1874, Schliemann also initiated and sponsored the removal of medieval edifices from the Acropolis of Athens, including the great Frankish Tower. Despite considerable opposition, including from King George I of Greece, Schliemann saw the project through. The eminent historian of Frankish Greece William Miller later denounced this as "an act of vandalism unworthy of any people imbued with a sense of the continuity of history", and "pedantic barbarism". Peter Ackroyd's novel "The Fall of Troy" (2006) is based on Schliemann's excavation of Troy. Schliemann is portrayed as "Heinrich Obermann". Schliemann is also the subject of Chris
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Which long-serving Italian prime minister of the 20th century was kidnapped and tragically killed by a group called the Red Brigades in 1978?
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Red Brigades War II Italian partisan movement, which was itself a mostly leftist, anti-fascist revolutionary movement. The group was influenced by volumes on the Tupamaros published by Feltrinelli, "a sort of do-it-yourself manual for the early Red Brigades", and was influenced by and saw itself as a continuation of theItalian partisan resistance movement of the 1940s, which was interpreted as an example of a youthful anti-fascist minority using violent means for just ends. The group's most infamous act took place in 1978, when the second groups of the BR, headed by Mario Moretti, kidnapped the former Christian Democrat Prime Minister Aldo Moro,
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Red Brigades increased in Italy, including that of Senzani in 1982 and of Balzerani in 1985. In February 1986, the Red Brigades-PCC killed the ex-mayor of Florence Lando Conti. In March 1987, Red Brigades-UCC assassinated General Licio Giorgieri in Rome. On 16 April 1988, in Forlì, Red Brigades-PCC killed Italian senator Roberto Ruffilli, an advisor of Italian Prime Minister Ciriaco de Mita. After that, the group activities all but ended after massive arrests of its leadership. The BR dissolved themselves in 1988. In 1985 some Italian members living in France returned to Italy. The same year, French president François Mitterrand guaranteed immunity
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Who was executed at Akershus Fortress, Oslo in 1945 along with Albert Hagelin and Ragnar Skancke after being convicted of high treason?
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Ragnar Skancke Ragnar Skancke Ragnar Sigvald Skancke (9 November 1890 – 28 August 1948) was the Norwegian Minister of Labour (appointed, but never accepted the position) and Minister for Church and Educational Affairs in Vidkun Quisling's government of the Nasjonal Samling party during World War II. Before the war, Skancke was a highly respected professor of electrical engineering at the Norwegian Institute of Technology in Trondheim and a member of the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters. Skancke was born in Ås, Norway, the son of bank director Johan Skancke and Kari Busvold. In 1908 he became a student, and in
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Ragnar Skancke 1948, the last person to be executed in Norway, which has since abolished the death penalty for all crimes, including war crimes and treason. Before his execution, the Norwegian High Court had received letters from 668 priests who begged for mercy on Skancke's behalf. Ragnar Skancke was one of only three Norwegian Nazi leaders to be executed for political crimes in the post-war legal purge, the others being Quisling and Internal affairs minister Albert Viljam Hagelin, all the 34 other Norwegians and Germans executed in the post war process having been convicted of murder, torture or systematic informing. In addition
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In WWII, Germany's 6th army was destroyed in 'Operation Uranus' in 1943 after a bitter battle around which city?
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Operation Uranus looked bleak for the Germans, a moment of relative calm had settled after the end of Operation Uranus; German and Soviet forces were planning their next movements. Operation Uranus Operation Uranus () was the codename of the Soviet 19–23 November 1942 strategic operation in World War II which led to the encirclement of the German Sixth Army, the Third and Fourth Romanian armies, and portions of the German Fourth Panzer Army. The operation was executed at roughly the midpoint of the five month long Battle of Stalingrad, and was aimed at destroying German forces in and around Stalingrad. Planning for
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6th Guards Army 6th Guards Army The 6th Guards Army was a Soviet Guards formation which fought against Nazi Germany during World War II under the command of General Ivan Mikhailovich Chistiakov. The Army's chief of staff was General Valentin Antonovich Penkovskii. The 6th Guards Army was formed on 16 April 1943 from the 21st Army and fought under command of the Voronezh, 1st Baltic, 2nd Baltic, and Leningrad Fronts from 1943 until the end of the war. In 1943, the army fought in the Battle of Kursk. During the summer of 1944, the army fought in Operation Bagration, the Polotsk Offensive, the
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Traudl Junge, who wrote the book Until the Final Hour that was the basis for the 2004 film Downfall was the personal secretary of which historical figure?
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Until the Final Hour Until the Final Hour Until the Final Hour (), also published as "Until the Final Hour: Hitler's Last Secretary" or simply "Hitler's Last Secretary" is a memoir of the last days of Hitler's government, written by Traudl Junge in 1947, but not published until 2002 (in German) and 2003 (in English). The book was part of the basis for the 2002 Austrian documentary "Im toten Winkel - Hitlers Sekretärin" (titled "Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary" in English) and the film "Der Untergang" ("The Downfall") in 2004. This memoir deals with the years (1942–1945) that Traudl Junge spent with Adolf Hitler as
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The Man Who Never Was (book) U", his wartime autobiography which gave further details of Mincemeat, among other operations. The Man Who Never Was (book) The Man Who Never Was is a 1953 book by Ewen Montagu about the World War II Operation Mincemeat. Montagu played a leading role in the 1943 scheme to deceive the Germans about the planned Allied invasion of Sicily. Montagu's work formed the basis for a 1956 film by the same title. The scheme entailed releasing a dead body just off the coast of Spain, where strong currents caused it to drift ashore in an area where a skilled German secret
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The 15th century figure Skanderbeg who is remembered for his struggle against the Ottoman Empire is considered the national hero of which country?
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Albania under the Ottoman Empire regions. Skanderbeg's long struggle to keep Albania free became highly significant to the Albanian people, as it strengthened their solidarity, made them more conscious of their national identity, and served later as a great source of inspiration in their struggle for national unity, freedom, and independence. The memory of the mid-15th century resistance under Skanderbeg continues to be important to Albanians, and his family's banner, bearing a black two-headed eagle on a red field, became the flag under which the Albanian national movement rallied centuries later. After the death of Skenderbeg and the fall of Krujë, the Ottoman Empire gained
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The Great Warrior Skanderbeg The Great Warrior Skanderbeg The Great Warrior Skanderbeg (; ) is a 1953 Soviet-Albanian biopic directed by Sergei Yutkevich. It was entered into the 1954 Cannes Film Festival where it earned the International Prize. Yutkevich also earned the Special Mention award for his direction. The film is a biography of George Kastriot Skanderbeg (1405 – 1468), widely known as Skanderbeg, a 15th-century Albanian lord who defended his land against the Ottoman Empire for more than two decades. In 2012, for the 100th anniversary of Albanian independence, the film was remastered for high definition with new voices, music, and sound effects.
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What is the famous four-letter phrase uttered by Ronald Reagan in his speech in June, 1987 at Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin?
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Speeches and debates of Ronald Reagan the Berlin Wall. On June 12, 1987, he gave a speech at the Wall in which he challenged Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to "Tear down this wall!" Reagan's senior staffers objected to the phrase, but Reagan overruled them saying, "I think we'll leave it in." "Tear down this wall!" has been called "The four most famous words of Ronald Reagan's Presidency." Although there is some disagreement over how much influence Reagan's words had on the destruction of the wall, the speech is remembered as an important moment in Cold War history and was listed by "Time" magazine as one of
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Brandenburg Gate existence of two German states and two Berlins, West Berlin mayor Richard von Weizsäcker said: "The German question is open as long as the Brandenburg Gate is closed." On 12 June 1987, U.S. President Ronald Reagan spoke to the West Berlin populace at the Brandenburg Gate, demanding the razing of the Berlin Wall. Addressing the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, Reagan said, On 25 December 1989, less than two months after the Berlin Wall began to come down, the conductor Leonard Bernstein conducted the Berlin Philharmonic in a version of the Ninth Symphony
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What political movement in first century Judaism that sought to incite people against the Roman Empire has now come to mean fanatical support for a cause?
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Kanai (Judaism) Kanai (Judaism) Kanai (, plural: "kana'im", קנאים) is a term for a zealot or fanatic. It means one who is zealous on behalf of God. The first "kanai" mentioned in the Tanakh is Pinchas. Pinchas was rewarded by God for his zealotry because he didn't act out of hate or for any personal gain. He meant solely for the sake of God. Zealotry, described by Josephus as one of the "four sects" of Judaism during his time, was a political movement in first century Judaism which sought to incite the people of Iudaea Province to rebel against the Roman Empire
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Zealot Temple Siege a political movement in 1st century Judaism that sought to incite the people of Judaea Province to rebel against the Roman Empire and expel it from the Holy Land by force of arms. The Great Jewish Revolt began in the year 66 AD with Greek and Jewish religious tensions and expanded into anti-taxation protests and Jewish attacks upon Roman citizens. However, by the year 68, Jewish resistance in the North had been crushed and the Roman General Vespasian had established his headquarters at Caesarea Maritima. The leaders of the collapsed Northern revolt, John of Giscala and Simon Bar Giora, managed
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In 1973, Libya went to war with which country to claim control of the Aouzou strip which was claimed to be rich with uranium deposits?
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Foreign relations of Libya under Muammar Gaddafi international organizations to which Tripoli is a party, NAM recognizes it under the name Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. Algeria–Libya relations have generally been amicable. Libyan support for the Polisario Front in the Western Sahara facilitated early post independence Algerian relations with Libya. Libyan inclinations for full-scale political union, however, have obstructed formal political collaboration because Algeria has consistently backed away from such cooperation with its unpredictable neighbour. Libya long claimed the Aouzou Strip, a strip of land in northern Chad rich with uranium deposits that was intensely involved in Chad's civil war in the 1970s and 1980s. In 1973, Libya engaged
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Aouzou Strip dispute with Libya, which led to a war between the two countries. In 1973, Libya engaged in military operations in the Aouzou Strip to gain access to minerals and to use it as a base of influence in Chadian politics. This ultimately resulted in the Chadian–Libyan conflict. Libya argued that the territory was inhabited by indigenous people who owed vassalage to the Senoussi Order and subsequently to the Ottoman Empire, and that this title had been inherited by Libya. It also supported its claim with an unratified 1935 treaty between France and Italy (the "Mussolini-Laval Treaty"), the colonial powers of
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When he fell in the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, who became the last English king to die in battle?
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Battle of Bosworth Field Battle of Bosworth Field The Battle of Bosworth Field (or Battle of Bosworth) was the last significant battle of the Wars of the Roses, the civil war between the Houses of Lancaster and York that extended across England in the latter half of the 15th century. Fought on 22 August 1485, the battle was won by the Lancastrians. Their leader Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, by his victory became the first English monarch of the Tudor dynasty. His opponent, Richard III, the last king of the House of York, was killed in the battle. Historians consider Bosworth Field to mark
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Battle of Bosworth Field Bosworth with "Brownehethe", ""bellum Miravallenses"", "Sandeford" and "Dadlyngton field". The earliest record, a municipal memorandum of 23 August 1485 from York, locates the battle "on the field of Redemore". This is corroborated by a 1485–86 letter that mentions "Redesmore" as its site. According to historian Peter Foss, records did not associate the battle with "Bosworth" until 1510. Foss is named by English Heritage as the principal advocate for "Redemore" as the battle site. He suggests the name is derived from ""Hreod Mor"", an Anglo-Saxon phrase that means "reedy marshland". Basing his opinion on 13th- and 16th-century church records, he believes
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The Ostend Manifesto was a document written in 1854 that described the rationale for the United States to purchase what island from Spain?
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Ostend Manifesto Ostend Manifesto The Ostend Manifesto, also known as the Ostend Circular, was a document written in 1854 that described the rationale for the United States to purchase Cuba from Spain while implying that the U.S. should declare war if Spain refused. Cuba's annexation had long been a goal of U.S. slaveholding expansionists, and was supported by a faction in Cuba itself. At the national level, American leaders had been satisfied to have the island remain in weak Spanish hands so long as it did not pass to a stronger power such as Britain or France. The Ostend Manifesto proposed a
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Ostend Manifesto the Young America movement, who sought a realization of American influence in the Caribbean and Central America. He is credited as the primary architect of the policy expressed in the Ostend Manifesto. The experienced and cautious Buchanan is believed to have written the document and moderated Soulé's aggressive tone. Soulé highly favored expansion of Southern influence outside the current Union of States. His belief in Manifest Destiny led him to prophesy "absorption of the entire continent and its island appendages" by the U.S. Mason's Virginian roots predisposed him to the sentiments expressed in the document, but he later regretted his
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"Which 1942 WWII Asian battle was termed as ""Britain's greatest defeat"" by Churchill?"
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1942 Rugby by-election 1942 Rugby by-election The Rugby by-election, 1942 was a parliamentary by-election for the British House of Commons constituency of Rugby on 29 April 1942. The by-election was caused by the resignation of the sitting Conservative MP, David Margesson in March 1942. He had been MP here since gaining the seat from the Liberal, Ernest Brown in 1924. Margesson had been Secretary of State for War until February 1942 when Winston Churchill sacked him following the fall of Singapore. Rugby had been won by the Conservative Party at every election since 1924 and was a safe seat. The result at the
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SR Battle of Britain class 21C151 Winston Churchill SR Battle of Britain class 21C151 Winston Churchill 21C151 "Winston Churchill" is a Southern Railway Battle of Britain class 4-6-2 Pacific steam locomotive that has been preserved as part of the United Kingdom's National Collection. It is on display at the . 21C151 was built at Brighton Works in 1946, being released to traffic on 30 December of that year. Initially it was unnamed and paired with tender 3301. It was first allocated to Salisbury locomotive shed for services on the West of England Main Line between London and Exeter. 21C151 was officially named "Winston Churchill" in a ceremony at
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What groups of secret revolutionary societies founded in early 19th-century Italy get their name from the Italian for 'charcoal burners'?
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History of Italy the Italians", was published in 1843 and created a link between the Papacy and the Risorgimento. Many leading revolutionaries wanted a republic, but eventually it was a king and his chief minister who had the power to unite the Italian states as a monarchy. One of the most influential revolutionary groups was the Carbonari (charcoal-burners), a secret organization formed in southern Italy early in the 19th century. Inspired by the principles of the French Revolution, its members were mainly drawn from the middle class and intellectuals. After the Congress of Vienna divided the Italian peninsula among the European powers, the
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Collegiate secret societies in North America There is no strict rule on the categorization of secret societies. Secret societies can have ceremonial initiations, secret signs of recognition (gestures, handshakes, passwords), formal secrets, (the 'true' name of the society, a motto, or a society history); but, college fraternities or "social fraternities" have the same, and some of these elements can also be a part of literary societies, singing groups, editorial boards, and honorary and pre-professional groups. Some secret societies have kept their membership secret, for example Seven Society and Gridiron, and some have not, like Skull and Bones (the Yale societies had published their membership lists in
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What medieval Islamic dynasty was founded in 1250 in Egypt and Syria by slave soldiers who deposed the Ayyubids?
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History of Africa Russia for military service. Support for the military was tied to the "iqta", a form of land taxation in which soldiers were given ownership in return for military service. Over time, Mamluk slave soldiers became a very powerful landed aristocracy, to the point of getting rid of the Ayyubid dynasty in 1250 and establishing a Mamluk dynasty. The more powerful Mamluks were referred to as "amirs". For 250 years, Mamluks controlled all of Egypt under a military dictatorship. Egypt extended her territories to Syria and Palestine, thwarted the crusaders, and halted a Mongol invasion in 1260 at the Battle of
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Islam in Syria including the Iraq-centered Abassids (Sunni rulers) followed by the Egypt-centered Fatimids (Shia rulers). Several non-Arab Islamic empires also ruled Syria whilst centered in Egypt (particularly in Cairo), including the Ayyubids (Sunni rulers of Kurdish origin), and the Mamluks (Sunni and Shia rulers of Turkic and Circassian origin). The last Islamic empires in Syria were centered firstly in Iran, namely the Seljuks (Sunni rulers of Turkic origin), and finally the Ottomans (Sunni rulers of Turkish origin) who were centered in the Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul), which straddles both Europe and Asia (i.e Anatolia). Albert Hourani published statistics from a general census of
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A check for $7.2 million was issued on August 1, 1868 and was made payable to Edouard de Stoeckl, a Russian Minister. What was being bought?
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Eduard de Stoeckl Eduard de Stoeckl Eduard Andreevich Stoeckl () (1804 in Constantinople – January 26, 1892 in Paris) was a Russian diplomat best known today for having negotiated the American purchase of Alaska on behalf of the Russian government. He was son of Andreas von Stoeckl, Austrian diplomat in Constantinople, and Maria Pisani, daughter of Nicolas Pisani, Russian dragoman in Constantinople. He died in Paris on January 26, 1892. In 1850 he became "chargé d'affaires" of the Russian embassy in Washington, and in 1854 held the post of minister, vacant after death of Aleksandr Bodisko. Like his predecessor, Stoeckl married an American
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I Was Made for Lovin' You I Was Made for Lovin' You "I Was Made for Lovin' You" is a song by American hard rock band Kiss, originally released on their 1979 album "Dynasty". It was released as the A-side of their first single from the album; on the B-side was "Hard Times". It was the band's second Gold single, selling over 1 million copies. The single was certified Gold in the U.S. on August 16, 1979, and in Canada on August 1, 1979. The B-side of the single is the album track "Hard Times", which was written by Ace Frehley. The song was one of
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Referring to the Soviet Union's domination of a certain country, what term is given to the influence of a powerful nation on the policies of a smaller neighbor?
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Finlandization Finlandization Finlandization (; ; ) is the process by which one powerful country makes a smaller neighboring country abide by the former's foreign policy rules, while allowing it to keep its nominal independence and its own political system. The term means "to become like Finland" referring to the influence of the Soviet Union on Finland's policies during the Cold War. The term is generally considered pejorative, originating in West German political debate of the late 1960s and 1970s. As the term was used in Germany and other NATO countries, it referred to the decision of a country not to challenge
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Communist Party of the Soviet Union the other states had to follow the Soviet line. There were few, if any, who believed that the Soviet Union was on the verge of collapse by 1985. The economy was stagnating, but stable enough for the Soviet Union to continue into the 21st century. The political situation was calm because of twenty years of systematic repression against any threat to the country and one-party rule and the Soviet Union was in its peak of influence in world affairs. The immediate causes for the Soviet Union's dissolution were the policies and thoughts of Mikhail Gorbachev, the CPSU General Secretary. His
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What 1943 WWII battle between Germany and the Soviet Union remains to this day the largest series of armored clashes ever?
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Military history of the Soviet Union significant German forces at the Battle of Stalingrad, which ended in February 1943 and reversed the tide of the war in Europe. In the summer of 1943, following the Battle of Kursk, the Red Army seized the strategic initiative for the remainder of the war. All Soviet territory was liberated from Axis occupation by 1944. After having driven the Axis armies out of Eastern Europe, in May 1945 the Red Army launched its assault on Berlin, which effectively ended World War II in Europe (see V-E Day). Much of Eastern Europe and great parts of the Soviet Union were devastated
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Military history of the Soviet Union 1941 the majority of Soviet equipment was obsolete and inferior to that of the Wehrmacht. In the initial period of the war, in the face of catastrophic losses, the Red Army drastically scaled down its armored formations, with the tank brigade becoming the largest commonly deployed armored unit, and reverted to a simpler mode of operations. Nevertheless, the revolutionary doctrines of the 1930s, modified by combat experience, were eventually successfully used at the front starting in 1943 after the Red Army regained the initiative. Following the death of Lenin, the Soviet Union was enmeshed in a struggle for succession that
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During World War I, which Belgian city that was the centre of intense battles was nicknamed 'wipers'?
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The Wipers Times for a season at The Arts Theatre (March–May 2017). Over Remembrance Day weekend, the show was running at the Theatre Royal in Glasgow. In February 2018, a UK tour was announced for August-December 2018. The Wipers Times The Wipers Times was a trench magazine that was published by British soldiers fighting in the Ypres Salient during the First World War. In early 1916, the 12th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters, was stationed in the front line at Ypres, Belgium, and came across a printing press abandoned by a Belgian who had, in the words of the editor, "stood not on the order
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Belgian government in exile during World War I Belgian government in exile during World War I The De Broqueville government in exile refers to two successive Belgian governments, led by Charles de Broqueville, which served as governments in exile during the German occupation of Belgium in World War I. They were based in Le Havre in northern France after October 1914. The first government, known as the First de Broqueville government, was a Catholic government which elected in 1911 and continued until 1916, when it was joined by Socialists and Liberals expanding it into the Second de Broqueville government which would last until 1 June 1918. In November
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Who is the Scottish outlaw of the 18th century who is sometimes called as the Scottish Robin Hood? (hint: also the name of a Manhattan like cocktail)
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Clan McDuck was an 18th-century McDuck relative. Sometime after 1707, he became an associate of Scottish outlaw Rob Roy MacGregor who is characterized as a noble thief who would "rob from the rich to give to the poor". Lockely's alliance with MacGregor would come to an end after Locksley was unable to "give to the poor" after having robbed the rich. He is mentioned in "The History of The Clan McDuck" by Don Rosa. His name is derived from "Robin of Loxley", a traditional name for Robin Hood. Captain Hugh "Seafoam" McDuck (1710-1776) was a McDuck relative who settled in Glasgow in
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The Adventures of Robin Hood (TV series) (later Patrick McGoohan's stunt double) played many small non-speaking parts, and stuntman Terry Yorke, who doubled for Richard Greene, played many small roles throughout all four series. The series is set in the 12th century, during the reign of King Richard. Robin of Locksley, a nobleman, is forced into the life of an outlaw, dwelling in Sherwood Forest with a band of men who right the wrongs committed by the rich and powerful against the poor and defenceless. He was given the name Robin Hood by the outlaw band's leader, Will Scatlock, who was fatally wounded. Hood's enemy in the
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What term refers to the stage of the journey that saw the forcible passage of Africans to the New World as part of the Atlantic slave trade?
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Atlantic slave trade Atlantic slave trade The Atlantic slave trade or transatlantic slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of enslaved African people, mainly to the Americas. The slave trade regularly used the triangular trade route and its Middle Passage, and existed from the 16th to the 19th centuries. The vast majority of those who were enslaved and transported in the transatlantic slave trade were people from central and western Africa, who had been sold by other West Africans to Western European slave traders (with a small number being captured directly by the slave traders in coastal raids), who brought them to
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Atlantic slave trade million Africans were shipped across the Atlantic, although the number purchased by the traders was considerably higher, as the passage had a high death rate. Near the beginning of the 19th century, various governments acted to ban the trade, although illegal smuggling still occurred. In the early 21st century, several governments issued apologies for the transatlantic slave trade. The Atlantic slave trade developed after trade contacts were established between the "Old World" (Afro-Eurasia) and the "New World" (the Americas). For centuries, tidal currents had made ocean travel particularly difficult and risky for the ships that were then available, and as
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As numerous countries gained their independence in that year, which year in the second half of the 20th century is known as the 'Year of Africa'?
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Year of Africa Year of Africa O. H. Morris of the British Ministry of Colonies predicted in early January that "1960 will be a year of Africa". The phrase "year of Africa" was also used by Ralph Bunche on 16 February 1960. Bunche anticipated that many states would achieve independence in that year due to the "well nigh explosive rapidity with which the peoples of Africa in all sectors are emerging from colonialism." The concept of a "Year of Africa" drew international media attention. The mythology of the year was also influenced by the "Wind of Change" speech, delivered on 3 February 1960
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American Association (20th century) Rookie of the Year Award American Association (20th century) Rookie of the Year Award The American Association Rookie of the Year Award was an annual award given to the best rookie player in minor league baseball's American Association. In 1946, Jerry Witte won the first ever American Association Rookie of the Year Award. In 1997, Magglio Ordóñez won the final American Association Rookie of the Year Award. First basemen and shortstops, with 6 winners each, have won the most among infielders, followed by second baseman and third basemen (5). Four catchers also won the award. Eighteen outfielders have won the Rookie of the Year Award,
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What namesake archive that purportedly contains notes concerning KGB operations of the Soviet Union became public in 1992 and launched parliamentary inquiries in the UK, India and Italy?
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Terrorism and the Soviet Union also used as a transit country for money and weapon transfers for these organisations. A number of notable operations have been conducted by the KGB to support international terrorists with weapons on the orders from the Soviet Communist Party, including: Large-scale sabotage operations may have been prepared by the KGB and GRU in case of war against the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and the rest of Europe, as alleged by intelligence historian Christopher Andrew in Mitrokhin Archive and in books by former GRU and SVR officers Victor Suvorov and Stanislav Lunev, and Kouzminov. Among the planned operations were the
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Mitrokhin Archive Soviet Union's clandestine intelligence operations around the world. In July 2014, the Churchill Archives Centre at Churchill College released Mitrokhin's edited Russian-language notes for public research; the archives are the largest openly available KGB data trove. The original handwritten notes by Vasili Mitrokhin are still classified. The publication of the books provoked parliamentary inquiries in the UK, Italy, and India. In the UK, the inquiry was conducted by the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) after the first book was published in 1999, and it was named "The Mitrokhin Inquiry Report". The report was presented to the Parliament in June 2000.
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What foreign policy theory promoted by the US government during the Cold War speculated that if one land in a region came under the influence of communism, the surrounding countries would follow?
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Domino theory Domino theory The domino theory was a theory prominent from the 1950s to the 1980s that posited that if one country in a region came under the influence of communism, then the surrounding countries would follow in a domino effect. The domino theory was used by successive United States administrations during the Cold War to justify the need for American intervention around the world. U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower described the theory during an April 7, 1954, news conference, when referring to communism in Indochina: In 1945, the Soviet Union brought most of the countries of eastern Europe and Central
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Soviet Middle Eastern foreign policy during the Cold War Soviet Middle Eastern foreign policy during the Cold War The Soviet Union used its relationship with Europe to gain economic cooperation with the Arab world during the Cold War and its influence in the Middle East by inciting proxy conflicts between the Arab states and their Jewish neighbors. The superpowers interacted with proxy combatants, which factored into the Soviet Union's omission from the Camp David Accords. The policy exposed Soviet dualism; while aiming to reduce their military budget and improve their image on the world stage, they pursued an anti-Israel policy in the Arabian Peninsula. The Middle East went from
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What 'fruity' term for a small and unstable country dependent on agriculture was first used by O. Henry in reference to Honduras?
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O. Henry extradition treaty at that time. William lived in Honduras for only six months, until January 1897. There he became friends with Al Jennings, a notorious train robber, who later wrote a book about their friendship. He holed up in a Trujillo hotel, where he wrote "Cabbages and Kings", in which he coined the term "banana republic" to qualify the country, a phrase subsequently used widely to describe a small, unstable tropical nation in Latin America with a narrowly focused, agrarian economy. Porter had sent Athol and Margaret back to Austin to live with Athol's parents. Unfortunately, Athol became too ill
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British Honduras British Honduras had vast areas of sparsely populated, unused land. Nevertheless, landownership was controlled by a small European monopoly, thwarting the evolution of a Creole landowning class from the former slaves. Rather than the former slaves, it was the Garifuna, Maya and Mestizos who pioneered agriculture in 19th-century British Honduras. These groups either rented land or lived as squatters. However, the domination of the land by forestry interests continued to stifle agriculture and kept much of the population dependent on imported foods. Landownership became even more consolidated during the economic depression of the mid-19th century. Exports of mahogany peaked at
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Because foreigners were forbidden to serve in the French Army after the 1830 July Revolution, what was created by Louis Philippe, the King of France in 1831?
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French Foreign Legion Spanish Legion. The French Foreign Legion was created by Louis Philippe, the King of the French, on 10 March 1831 from the foreign regiments of the Kingdom of France. Recruits included soldiers from the recently disbanded Swiss and German foreign regiments of the Bourbon monarchy. The Royal Ordinance for the establishment of the new regiment specified that the foreigners recruited could only serve outside France. The French expeditionary force that had occupied Algiers in 1830 was in need of reinforcements and the Legion was accordingly transferred by sea in detachments from Toulon to Algeria. The Foreign Legion was primarily used,
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French Royal Army (1652–1830) the Bourbon king of that country when his regime was threatened by an uprising. i In 1830, Louis XVIII's brother, Charles X, now king, was toppled in the July Revolution. The army participated in little fighting, and the king's cousin, the Duke of Orléans was installed as Louis-Philippe I in what was supposed to be a constitutional monarchy. The army transferred its allegiance to Louis-Philippe's Orléans Dynasty until his overthrow in 1848, when the short-lived Second Republic was established. From 1652 until 1685, French soldiers wore no specific uniforms. The first uniforms for the French Royal Army were designed in
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Mimar Sinan (1489-1588) is considered the greatest architect of the classical period and was responsible for the Suleiman mosque in Istanbul and many other magnificent constructions. Which political entity benefited from his genius?
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Juma-Jami Mosque, Yevpatoria Juma-Jami Mosque, Yevpatoria The Juma-Jami Mosque, (, , ) also known as the Friday Mosque, is located in Yevpatoria, Crimea. Built between 1552 and 1564, and designed by the famous Turkish architect Mimar Sinan. The Juma-Jami is the largest and most magnificent mosque of Crimea and was founded by Khan Devlet I Giray in 1552. The Khan commissioned Istanbul architect Mimar Sinan (1489–1588) to build the mosque. Sinan was a famous Turkish architect and engineer of the Ottoman period. He designed the Sinan Pasha Mosque and the Şehzade Mosque in Istanbul. Construction of the Juma-Jami Mosque was a long process.
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Mimar Sinan 4 issued on 14 November 2007 (60, 70, 70 & 80 Kurus - Sinan and his works). Mimar Sinan Koca Mi'mâr Sinân Âğâ (, "Sinan Agha the Grand Architect"; Modern Turkish: Mimar Sinan, , "Sinan the Architect") ( 1488/1490 – July 17, 1588) was the chief Ottoman architect () and civil engineer for Sultans Suleiman the Magnificent, Selim II, and Murad III. He was responsible for the construction of more than 300 major structures and other more modest projects, such as schools. His apprentices would later design the Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul, Stari Most in Mostar, and help design
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If you have to associate one person with the 'Kuomintang Party' between 1929 and 1948, who would it be?
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Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang party-owned institutions, such as party schools. Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang The Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang (abbreviated RCCK) is one of eight registered minor political parties (in addition to the Communist Party of China) in the People's Republic of China. It was founded in 1948 by left-wing members who broke with the main Kuomintang (KMT) during the Chinese Civil War, especially those who were against Chiang Kai-shek's policies. The party claims to be the true heir of Sun Yat-sen's legacy. By the end of June 2012, it had 101,865 members. Party members increased by 26,065 from 2012
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It Would Be You (song) reached number 7. The narrator describes a heartache, making many comparisons to the feeling, and says "But if we're talkin' 'bout a heartache, it would be you". The music video was directed by Gerry Wenner, who also directed the video for his previous top 10 hit "Her Man". It Would Be You (song) "It Would Be You" is a song written by Kent Robbins and Dana Hunt Black and recorded by American country music artist Gary Allan. It was released in February 1998 as the first single and title track from Allan's 1998 album of the same name. The reached
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Meaning 'Apple orchard' in Spanish, what is the collective name of the ten concentration camps in California where thousands of Japanese Americans were imprisoned during WWII?
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Lone Pine, California Mount Whitney, Sequoia National Park, Kings Canyon National Park, Mammoth Mountain, Death Valley National Park, and Yosemite National Park; many motels line the main road through town. The Manzanar National Historic Site (formerly the Manzanar War Relocation Center), a Japanese American internment camp during World War II, is located on Highway 395 north of Lone Pine and south of Independence. Manzanar (which means "apple orchard" in Spanish) is the most infamous of the ten camps in which Japanese Americans, both citizens (including natural-born Americans) and resident aliens, were encamped during World War II. Manzanar has been identified as the best
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Italian concentration camps in Libya lines critical to the resistance. Soon afterwards, the colonial administration began the wholesale deportation of the people of the Jebel Akhdar to deny the rebels the support of the local population. The forced migration of more than 100,000 people ended in concentration camps in Suluq, El Magrun, Abyar and El Agheila where tens of thousands died in squalid conditions. Overall, five main and ten smaller concentration camps were established. Badoglio proposed to convert the camps into permanent settlements, but this was prevented by the dismal living and economic conditions in the camps. Estimates of the people who died in these
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Ephialtes of Trachis was the traitor who showed the Persian forces a trail around the allied Greek position at the pass of Thermopylae, which helped them win the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC. He was portrayed as a severely deformed man in which blood-soaked 2007 movie?
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Battle of Thermopylae in popular culture Battle of Thermopylae in popular culture The Battle of Thermopylae of 480 BCE has long been the topic of cultural motivation, as it is perhaps the most famous military last stand of all time. This "against all odds" story is passed to us from the writings of the Greek Herodotus, who was not present at the battle himself. He relates the story of 300 Spartans and 700 Thespians defending the Pass of Thermopylae against almost "2 million" Persians on the third day of the battle. (For the first two days, the Greek force had numbered somewhere between 5,000 and 7,000.)
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Ephialtes of Trachis Ephialtes of Trachis Ephialtes (; , "Ephialtēs"; although Herodotus spelled it as , "Epialtes") was the son of Eurydemus () of Malis. He betrayed his homeland, in hope of receiving some kind of reward from the Persians, by showing the Persian forces a path around the allied Greek position at the pass of Thermopylae, which helped them win the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC. The allied Greek land forces, which Herodotus states numbered no more than 4,200 men, had chosen Thermopylae to block the advance of the much larger Persian army. Although this gap between the Trachinian Cliffs and
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What are 'Potemkin villages' which were purportedly erected at the direction of Russian minister Grigori Potemkin to impress Empress Catherine II during her visit to Crimea in 1787?
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Potemkin village the barge left, the village was disassembled, then rebuilt downstream overnight. Modern historians are divided on the degree of truth behind the Potemkin village story, and some writers argue that the story is an exaggeration. According to Simon Sebag-Montefiore, Potemkin's most comprehensive English-language biographer, the tale of elaborate, fake settlements with glowing fires designed to comfort the monarch and her entourage as they surveyed the barren territory at night, is largely fictional. Aleksandr Panchenko, an established specialist on 19th-century Russia, used original correspondence and memoirs to conclude that the Potemkin villages are a myth. He writes: "Based on the above
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Potemkin village Potemkin village In politics and economics, a Potemkin village (also Potyomkin village, translated from the , "potyomkinskiye derevni") is any construction (literal or figurative) built solely to deceive others into thinking that a situation is better than it really is. The term comes from stories of a fake portable village built solely to impress Empress Catherine II by her former lover Grigory Potemkin during her journey to Crimea in 1787. While modern historians claim accounts of this portable village are exaggerated, the original story was that Potemkin erected phony portable settlements along the banks of the Dnieper River in order
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What was the name of the notorious biological research unit of the Japanese Army that undertook lethal human experimentation during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) and WWII?
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Organization of the Imperial Japanese Army size below division. Cavalry units were formed in regiments most were either operating attached to infantry divisions or directly under a brigade attached to an army prior to the formation of the IJA Cavalry Group on 21 April 1933. There were three cavalry brigades: the IJA 1st Cavalry Brigade, IJA 3rd Cavalry Brigade, and IJA 4th Cavalry Brigade. Unit 731 were covert medical experiment units which conducted biological warfare research and development through human experimentation during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) and World War II. Unit 731 responsible for some of the most notorious war crimes. Initially set up as
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Combatants of the Second Sino-Japanese War Combatants of the Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between 1937 and 1945, involving the military forces of the China and Japan. With Chiang Kai-shek as the highest commander, the NRA is recognized as the unified armed force of China during the war. Throughout its lifespan, it employed approximately 4,300,000 regulars, in 370 Standard Divisions (), 46 New Divisions (), 12 Cavalry Divisions (), eight New Cavalry Divisions (), 66 Temporary Divisions (), and 13 Reserve Divisions (), for a grand total of 515 divisions. However, many divisions were formed from two or more other divisions, and
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On 31 October 1984, the English actor Peter Ustinov was waiting to interview which Asian leader when that person was assassinated?
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Peter Ustinov took second place to his work on behalf of UNICEF, for which he was a Goodwill Ambassador and fundraiser. In this role, he visited some of the neediest children and made use of his ability to make people laugh, including many of the world's most disadvantaged children. "Sir Peter could make anyone laugh", UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy is quoted as saying. On 31 October 1984, Ustinov was due to interview Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi for Irish television. She was assassinated on her way to the meeting. Ustinov also served as President of the World Federalist Movement from
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Peter Ustinov Until his death, Ustinov was a member of English PEN, part of the PEN International network that campaigns for freedom of expression. Ustinov received many honorary degrees for his work. Peter Ustinov Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov, ( or ; 16 April 192128 March 2004), was an English actor, voice actor, writer, dramatist, filmmaker, theatre and opera director, stage designer, screenwriter, comedian, humourist, newspaper and magazine columnist, radio broadcaster and television presenter. He was a fixture on television talk shows and lecture circuits for much of his career. An intellectual and diplomat, he held various academic posts and served as a
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Waitangi Day held each year on February 6 is the national day of New Zealand as a treaty instrumental in the country's history was signed at that place in 1840. The name 'Waitangi' means 'weeping waters' in which language?
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Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975 Zealand Wars, had occurred in the nineteenth century, and the Tribunal was powerless to investigate these. Some people (Māori as well as others), including many in the National Party opposition, opposed the Act on the grounds that it would be divisive. Waitangi Day, named after Waitangi where the Treaty of Waitangi was first signed, commemorates a significant day in the history of New Zealand. Ceremonies take place each year on 6 February to celebrate the signing of the treaty, New Zealand's founding document, on that date in 1840. The day is a public holiday, unless it falls on a Saturday
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Waitangi Day Waitangi Day Waitangi Day is the national day of New Zealand, and commemorates the signing, on 6 February 1840, of the Treaty of Waitangi. Ceremonies take place at Waitangi, Northland to commemorate the signing of the treaty, which is regarded as New Zealand's founding document. The day is observed annually and is designated a public holiday, unless 6 February falls on a Saturday or Sunday, when the Monday that immediately follows becomes the public holiday. The Treaty of Waitangi was first signed on 6 February 1840 on the grounds of James Busby's house—now known as Treaty House—at Waitangi, in the
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Kåre Kristiansen, a member of the Nobel Committee resigned in 1994 in protest at the awarding of the Peace Prize to which person, calling the awardee a terrorist?
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Nobel Prize controversies Korea to attend the summit, several "unconverted long-term prisoners" kept by South Korea were released and returned to North Korea. The 1994 prize went to Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres, and Yitzhak Rabin "for their efforts to create peace in the Middle East". Arafat's critics have referred to him as an "unrepentant terrorist with a long legacy of promoting violence" Kåre Kristiansen, a Norwegian member of the Nobel Committee, resigned in protest at Arafat's award, citing his sponsorship of terrorism through the PLO and calling him the "world's most prominent terrorist". On the other hand, Edward Said was critical of Peres
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Nobel Peace Prize at the time of Nobel's death. The Norwegian Nobel Committee speculates that Nobel may have considered Norway better suited to awarding the prize, as it did not have the same militaristic traditions as Sweden. It also notes that at the end of the 19th century, the Norwegian parliament had become closely involved in the Inter-Parliamentary Union's efforts to resolve conflicts through mediation and arbitration. The Norwegian Parliament appoints the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which selects the Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Each year, the Norwegian Nobel Committee specifically invites qualified people to submit nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize. The statutes of
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Who was executed by hanging at Ramla prison in 1962 and remains the only person to have been executed by an Israeli civilian court?
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Hanging its criminal law to use the death penalty for extraordinary crimes, it has only been used twice. On 31 May 1962, Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann was executed by hanging. Meir Tobianski was summarily executed for espionage during the Israeli War of Independence, but he was later exonerated. On 23 December 1948, Hideki Tojo, Kenji Doihara, Akira Mutō, Iwane Matsui, Seishirō Itagaki, Kōki Hirota, and Heitaro Kimura were hanged at Sugamo Prison by the U.S. occupation authorities in Ikebukuro in Allied-occupied Japan for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes against peace during the Asia-Pacific theatre of World War II. On
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Lists of people executed in Texas Lists of people executed in Texas The list of people executed by the U.S. state of Texas, with the exception of 1819-1849, is divided into periods of ten years. Since 1819, 1,313 individuals (all but nine of whom have been men) have been executed in Texas as of December 11, 2018. Between 1819 and 1923, 390 people were executed by hanging in the county where the trial took place. During the American Civil War, three Confederate deserters and a man convicted of attempted rape were executed by firing squad. The law was changed in 1923 requiring executions to be carried
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What two countries fought the six-day 'Football War' or the '100-hours War' in 1969?
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Football War Football War The Football War (; colloquial: Soccer War or the 100 Hours War) was a brief war fought between El Salvador and Honduras in 1969. Existing tensions between the two countries coincided with rioting during a 1970 FIFA World Cup qualifier. The war began on 14 July 1969, when the Salvadoran military launched an attack against Honduras. The Organization of American States (OAS) negotiated a cease-fire on the night of 18 July (hence "100 Hour War"), which took full effect on 20 July. Salvadoran troops were withdrawn in early August. Although the nickname "Football War" implies that the conflict
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Six-Day War Six-Day War The Six-Day War (Hebrew: , "Milhemet Sheshet Ha Yamim"; Arabic: , "an-Naksah", "The Setback" or , "Ḥarb 1967", "War of 1967"), also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War, or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between 5 and 10 June 1967 by Israel and the neighboring states Egypt (known at the time as the United Arab Republic), Jordan, and Syria. Relations between Israel and its neighbours were not fully normalised after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. In 1956 Israel invaded the Sinai peninsula in Egypt, with one of its objectives being the reopening of the Straits of Tiran
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What sporty term popularized by Rudyard Kipling in Kim was used to describe the rivalry between the British Empire and the Russian Empire in their quest for supremacy in Central Asia in the 19th century?
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The Great Game 1895 signing of the Pamir Boundary Commission protocols, when the border between Afghanistan and the Russian empire was defined. The 1901 novel "Kim" by Rudyard Kipling made the term popular and introduced the new implication of great power rivalry. It became even more popular after the 1979 advent of the Soviet–Afghan War. The term "the Great Game" was used well before the 19th century and was associated with games of risk, such as cards and dice. The French equivalent "Le grand jeu" dates back to at least 1585 and is associated with meanings of risk, chance and deception. In the
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British responses to the anti-Jewish pogroms in the Russian Empire British responses to the anti-Jewish pogroms in the Russian Empire The word ‘pogrom’ is derived from the Russian word ‘погром.’ In Russia, the word pogrom was first used to describe the anti-Semitic attacks that followed the assassination of Tsar Alexander II in 1881. There was a second wave of pogroms in the early 20th century, between 1903 and 1906. Despite there being only two ‘waves’ of pogroms, there had been a culture of anti-Semitism existing for centuries. Most, if not all of the pogroms took place within the Pale of Settlement. The Jews of Russia were forced to exist within
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Literally called 'The Righteous and Harmonious Society Movement', what is the more popular western name for the Chinese rebellion took place from 1899 to 1901 against foreign influence during the final years of the Manchu rule?
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China–United States relations the whole, the American dream of getting rich by investing in China or selling to hundreds of millions of Chinese was almost always a failure. Standard Oil did succeed in selling kerosene to the China market, but few others made a profit. In 1899, a movement of Chinese nationalists calling themselves the Society of Right and Harmonious Fists started a violent revolt in China, referred to by Westerners as the Boxer Rebellion, against foreign influence in trade, politics, religion, and technology. The campaigns took place from November 1899 to September 7, 1901, during the final years of Manchu rule in
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Chinese Righteous Among the Nations Chinese Righteous Among the Nations , 2 Chinese people have been recognized by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations for rescuing Jews during the Holocaust. Below is a list of the Chinese Righteous Among the Nations. Feng-Shan Ho (), sometimes translated as He Fengshan (born in Yiyang, Hunan on 10 September 1901 – died in San Francisco, California on 28 September 1995), was a Chinese diplomat who saved hundreds, probably thousands of Jews during the early years of World War II. He is known as “China’s Schindler”. Ho Feng Shan came from a poor family, and his father died
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What generic term for all African American soldiers was originally applied to the members of the U.S. 10th Cavalry Regiment by the native Apache Indians?
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10th Cavalry Regiment (United States) Cavalry Regiment served at a variety of posts in the Southwestern United States (Apache Wars) and Great Plains regions. They participated in most of the military campaigns in these areas and earned a distinguished record. Thirteen enlisted men and six officers from the Buffalo Soldiers (four regiments including the 10th) earned the Medal of Honor during the Indian Wars. The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States. Three members of the 10th Cavalry Regiment, earned the Medal of Honor during the Indian Wars. They were: William McBryar Sergeant, K Troop, 10th Cavalry Regiment at
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10th Arkansas Cavalry Regiment (Witt's) 10th Arkansas Cavalry Regiment (Witt's) Witt's 10th Arkansas Cavalry (1863–1865) was a Confederate Army Cavalry regiment during the American Civil War from the state of Arkansas. The unit was originally known as the 10th Arkansas Infantry Regiment, but was converted to cavalry after being exchanged following the fall of Port Hudson, La. The unit was mustered into Confederate Service in July 1861 at Springfield in Conway County. Its members were drawn from the counties of Cleburne, Van Buren, Conway, and Perry. The unit comprised the following volunteer companies: The unit was originally commanded by Colonel T. D. Merrick, who had
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The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, was destroyed on July 21, 356 BC in an act of arson. Historian Plutarch remarked that the goddess was preoccupied with the birth of whom that occurred on the same day to save her temple?
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Temple of Artemis to the wooden roof-beams, seeking fame at any cost; thus the term "herostratic fame". For this outrage, the Ephesians sentenced the perpetrator to death and forbade anyone from mentioning his name; but Theopompus later noted it. In Greek and Roman historical tradition, the temple's destruction coincided with the birth of Alexander the Great (around 20/21 July 356 BC). Plutarch remarked that Artemis was too preoccupied with Alexander's delivery to save her burning temple. Alexander offered to pay for the temple's rebuilding; the Ephesians tactfully refused, and eventually rebuilt it after his death, at their own expense. Work started in 323
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Temple of Artemis Temple of Artemis The Temple of Artemis or Artemision (; ), also known less precisely as the Temple of Diana, was a Greek temple dedicated to an ancient, local form of the goddess Artemis. It was located in Ephesus (near the modern town of Selçuk in present-day Turkey). It was completely rebuilt three times, and in its final form was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. By 401 AD it had been ruined or destroyed. Only foundations and fragments of the last temple remain at the site. The earliest version of the temple (a "temenos") antedated the
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What is the name of the Polish trade union founded in September 1980 at the Gdańsk Shipyard that was originally led by Lech Wałęsa?
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Solidarity (Polish trade union) Solidarity (Polish trade union) Solidarity (, pronounced ; full name: Independent Self-governing Labour Union "Solidarity"—"Niezależny Samorządny Związek Zawodowy "Solidarność"" ) is a Polish labour union that was founded on 17 September 1980 at the Lenin Shipyard under the leadership of Lech Wałęsa. It was the first trade union in a Warsaw Pact country that was not controlled by a communist party. Its membership peaked at 10 million members at its September 1981 Congress, which constituted one third of the total working-age population of Poland. In the 1980s, Solidarity was a broad anti-bureaucratic social movement, using the methods of civil resistance
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Egao no Kimi wa Taiyō sa / Kimi no Kawari wa Iyashinai / What is Love? Egao no Kimi wa Taiyō sa / Kimi no Kawari wa Iyashinai / What is Love? Egao no Kimi wa Taiyou sa / Kimi no Kawari wa Iyashinai / What is LOVE? (Japanese 『笑顔の君は太陽さ／君の代わりは居やしない／What is LOVE?』) is Morning Musume's 55th single, and the first to be released under the name of Morning Musume '14. It was released on January 29, 2014 in 6 editions: 2 regular and 4 limited editions. "Kimi no Kawari wa Iyashinai" will be the official cheer song for the 2014 Winter Olympics Japanese Team, while "What is LOVE?" was the ending theme for the NHK World
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In 1954, which country suggested that it should join NATO to preserve peace in Europe but this proposal was rejected as the other countries felt that it would weaken the alliance?
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History of NATO peace in Europe. The NATO countries, fearing that the Soviet Union's motive was to weaken the alliance, ultimately rejected this proposal and on 17 December 1954, the North Atlantic Council approved MC 48, a key document in the evolution of NATO nuclear thought. MC 48 emphasized that NATO would have to use atomic weapons from the outset of a war with the Soviet Union whether or not the Soviets chose to use them first. This gave SACEUR the same prerogatives for automatic use of nuclear weapons as existed for the commander-in-chief of the US Strategic Air Command. The incorporation of
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Montenegro–NATO relations countries membership into the organization that year. Analysts confirmed this as a sign that NATO members are becoming skeptical about further Eastern expansion following Russia's annexation of Crimea, due to worries about Russian retaliation to new security guarantees to countries so close to its borders. In June 2014, then NATO secretary-general Anders Fogh Rasmussen suggested that NATO would open "intensified talks" with the aim of inviting Montenegro to join the alliance by the end of 2015, but that Montenegro would not get an invitation to join the NATO summit in September. Further assessment of Montenegro's progress was expected by the
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The usage of the what derogatory phrase referring to the Ottoman Empire is attributed to Tsar Nicholas I of Russia?
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History of Russia required numbers, which fit the philosophy of Nicholas I. When the Revolutions of 1848 swept Europe, however, Russia was quiet. The Tsar sent his army into Hungary in 1849 at the request of the Austrian Empire and broke the revolt there, while preventing its spread to Russian Poland. The Tsar cracked down on any signs of internal unrest. Russia expected that in exchange for supplying the troops to be the policeman of Europe, it should have a free hand in dealing with the decaying Ottoman Empire—the "sick man of Europe." In 1853 Russia invaded the Crimea peninsula and other regions,
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Nicholas I of Russia Ottoman Empire was to use the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca (1774), which gave Russia a vague right as protector of Orthodox peoples in the Balkans, as a way of placing the Ottoman Empire into the Russian sphere of influence, which was felt to be a more achievable goal than conquering the entire Ottoman Empire. Nicholas actually wanted to preserve the Ottoman Empire as a stable but weak state that would be unable to stand up to Russia, which was felt to serve Russia's interests. Nicholas always thought of Russia as first and foremost a European power and regarded Europe as
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What was the famous one-word reply of General McAuliffe of the US to a German demand for surrender during the Battle of the Bulge in WWII?
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Battle of the Bulge Gen. Anthony McAuliffe, acting commander of the 101st, was told of the Nazi demand to surrender, in frustration he responded, "Nuts!" After turning to other pressing issues, his staff reminded him that they should reply to the German demand. One officer, Lt. Col. Harry Kinnard, noted that McAuliffe's initial reply would be "tough to beat." Thus McAuliffe wrote on the paper, which was typed up and delivered to the Germans, the line he made famous and a morale booster to his troops: "NUTS!" That reply had to be explained, both to the Germans and to non-American Allies. Both 2nd Panzer
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Battle of the Bulge order of battle Erich Brandenberger General der Kavallerie Edwin von Rothkirch General der Infanterie Franz Beyer General der Infanterie Baptist Kniess II Fighter Corps <br> Genmaj. Dietrich Peltz III Flak Corps <br> Genlt. Wolfgang Pickert Battle of the Bulge order of battle This is the order of battle of German and Allied forces during the Battle of the Bulge — specifically, at a point near the end of the battle, which lasted from 16 December 1944 until 25 January 1945. As with any large Army organization in extended combat, forces and their assignments shifted over the course of the battle. For example, when
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In 1948, which Latin American country became the first in the world to constitutionally abolish its army?
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Latin American migration to the United Kingdom Latin American migration to the United Kingdom Latin American migration to the United Kingdom dates back to the early 19th century. However, up until the 1970s, when political and civil unrest became rife in many Latin American countries, the United Kingdom's Latin American community was not particularly large. Latin Americans in the UK are now a rapidly growing group consisting of immigrants from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Belize Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay and Venezuela. Large numbers of refugees and asylum seekers moved to the UK
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British home army in the First World War British home army in the First World War The British home army in the First World War served the dual purpose of defending the country against invasion and training reinforcements for the army overseas. Initial responsibility for defending the nation lay with the Territorial Force, a part-time auxiliary designed in 1908 as a means of expanding the army in a major foreign conflict but, as a result of political compromise, implemented as a home defence army. It was supported in this role by 42,000 regular army troops, primarily belonging to the Royal Garrison Artillery and the Royal Engineers. The 14
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"Whose last words before he drank poison reportedly were ""Crito, we owe a cock to Asclepius. Pay it and do not neglect it.""?"
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Karolinska Institute snake became coiled around the staff borne by the god. The snake bowl was originally depicted together with Asclepius' daughter, the virgin goddess of health Hygieia or Hygiea. The snake ate from her bowl, which was considered to bring good fortune. There is nothing to support the notion that the snake would secrete its venom into the bowl. The cockerel symbolises new life and was sacrificed to Asclepius by those who had recovered from illness. This is the meaning behind the Greek philosopher Socrates' last words after he drank the poisoned cup: "Crito, we owe a cock to Asclepius. Do
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Baseball Before We Knew It baseball. They could have migrated to England. In Block's words, the field is clear for the French to claim "parental rights over America's National Game." Block also notes in the book that American researchers during the past half-century "have made only minimal effort to document baseball's early history and for the most part have not been inclined to go looking to European sources for clues." Baseball Before We Knew It Baseball Before We Knew It: A Search for the Roots of the Game is a 2005 book by David Block about the history of baseball. Block looks into the early
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A motto of which lethal 20th century regime was 'To keep you is no benefit. To destroy you is no loss' referring to civilian Cambodians?
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New People One of the Khmer Rouge mottos, in reference to the New People, was "To keep you is no benefit. To destroy you is no loss." New People New People were civilian Cambodians who were controlled and exploited by the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia (officially then known as Democratic Kampuchea) from 1975 to 1979. Generally, anyone who was from an urban area was made a "New Person" and people from rural areas were made Old People. New People were not allowed any property and they were forced to work at least 10 hours a day, and often more. Their food
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If You Don't Want Me to Destroy You Is (Not) The Song That Will Save The Welsh Language" "The Man Don't Give a Fuck" was originally intended to be released as a B-side on the "If You Don't Want Me to Destroy You" single, however Steely Dan frontman Donald Fagen refused to clear a sample of the track "Show Biz Kids" which features prominently on the track and it was replaced by "Guacamole". All songs by Super Furry Animals. If You Don't Want Me to Destroy You "If You Don't Want Me to Destroy You" is the fourth single, and the last to be taken from the album
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What is the name of the village on the border between North and South Korea where the 1953 armistice that halted the Korean War was signed?
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North Korea in the Korean War Yalu River, the border between North Korea and Communist China, the Chinese started to worry about protecting themselves from what they called "armed aggression against Chinese territory." Chinese leader Mao Zedong (1893-1976) sent troops to North Korea and warned the United States to keep away from the Yalu boundary unless it wanted full-scale war. Finally, in July 1953, the Korean War came to an end. Truman and his new military commanders started peace talks at Panmunjom. Still, the fighting continued along the 38th parallel as negotiations were stalled. Both sides were willing to accept a ceasefire that maintained the 38th
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North Korea in the Korean War North Korea in the Korean War The Korean War started when North Korea invaded South Korea, and ended on July 27, 1953 with the armistice creating the well-known Korean Demilitarized Zone. In August 1945, two young aides at the State Department divided the Korean peninsula in half along the 38th parallel. The Russians occupied the area north of the line and the United States occupied the area to its south. On June 25, 1950, the Korean War began when some 75,000 soldiers from the North Korean People’s Army poured across the 38th parallel, the boundary between the Soviet-backed Democratic People’s
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What South African island was used as a gaol for political prisoners while the country was under the policy of apartheid?
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Billy Nair Billy Nair Billy Nair (27 November 1929 – 23 October 2008) was a South African politician, a member of the National Assembly of South Africa, an anti-apartheid activist and a political prisoner in Robben Island. Nair was a long-serving political prisoner on Robben Island along with Nelson Mandela in the 'B' Block for political prisoners. His Prison card is the copy used in the post-reconciliation prison tours to illustrate the conditions of the prisoners of the time. He was elected to the African National Congress (ANC) executive committee in 1991 and was a South African member of parliament for two
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Sporting boycott of South Africa during the apartheid era end of apartheid, sports rapidly ended their boycotts and South Africa was readmitted in the International sports federations. The European Community announced its member governments' ending of the boycott in June 1991. India, which vehemently opposed South Africa's apartheid policy and was at the forefront of isolating the country internationally at all levels, ended its boycott in 1991 by inviting the South African cricket team to the country for an ODI series and subsequently allowed the Indian cricket team to tour South Africa for a Test and ODI series in late 1992. The country's hosting and winning of the 1995
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What burning-liquid weapon was used by the Byzantine Greeks to great effect as it could continue burning even on water?
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Byzantine science century and half years later again by historians. The next case of separating conjoined twins will be recorded first about 700 years later in the year 1689 in Germany. Greek fire was an incendiary weapon used by the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantines typically used it in naval battles to great effect as it could continue burning even on water. It provided a technological advantage, and was responsible for many key Byzantine military victories, most notably the salvation of Constantinople from two Arab sieges, thus securing the Empire's survival. Greek fire proper however was invented in c. 672, and is ascribed
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Burning glass antiquity. Vases filled with water used to start fires were known in the ancient world. Burning lenses were used to cauterise wounds and to light sacred fires in temples. "Plutarch" refers to a burning mirror made of joined triangular metal mirrors installed at the temple of the Vestal Virgins. Aristophanes mentions the burning lens in his play "The Clouds" (424 BC). Archimedes, the renowned mathematician, was said to have used a burning glass as a weapon in 212 BC, when Syracuse was besieged by Marcus Claudius Marcellus. The Roman fleet was supposedly incinerated, though eventually the city was taken and
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What weapon do many historians call 'the machine gun of the Middle Ages'?
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Infantry in the Middle Ages weapon which had range of 370–500 metres. It shot bolts or quarrels that could pierce most medieval armour. Other advantages of the crossbow were that it required only few specialists with extensive training and tools to construct while the use of the weapon required little training. The crossbow and the longbow are two different weapon systems with solely their quick succession rate of shot compared in many modern assessments (precision, endurance, exploitation of opportunities are usually not taken into these comparisons). In the Middle Ages both weapons co-existed, including the use of mounted crossbowmen on the British Islands and longbowmen
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Historians of England in the Middle Ages Historians of England in the Middle Ages Historians of England in the Middle Ages helped to lay the groundwork for modern historical historiography, providing vital accounts of the early history of England, Wales and Normandy, its cultures, and revelations about the historians themselves. The most remarkable period of historical writing was during the High Middle Ages in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, when English chronicles produced works with a variety of interest, wealth of information and amplitude of range. However one might choose to view the reliability or nature of particular works, it is from these that much of our
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The Battle of Austerlitz, one of Napoleon's greatest victories is also known by what name that references Emperor Francis and the Russian Czar along with Napoleon himself?
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Battle of Austerlitz Battle of Austerlitz The Battle of Austerlitz (2 December 1805/11 Frimaire An XIV FRC), also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of the most important and decisive engagements of the Napoleonic Wars. In what is widely regarded as the greatest victory achieved by Napoleon, the "Grande Armée" of France defeated a larger Russian and Austrian army led by Emperor Alexander I and Holy Roman Emperor Francis II. The battle occurred near the town of Austerlitz in the Austrian Empire (modern-day Slavkov u Brna in the Czech Republic). Austerlitz brought the War of the Third Coalition to
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Napoleon at Austerlitz Napoleon at Austerlitz Napoleon at Austerlitz is a painting on a theatre drop curtain at the Brown Grand Theatre in Concordia, Kansas. It is a reproduction of a Horace Vernet painting and actually depicts the Battle of Wagram. The original curtain was presented on opening night at the theatre on September 17, 1907 by Earl Brown as a "gift" to his father, Napoleon Bonaparte Brown (namesake of Napoleon Bonaparte), in recognition of his father's contribution to the community and to the theatre. The original curtain painting was created in 1907 for use at the theatre. Over the years, the work
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Idries Shah who achieved prominence as an authority on Sufism is credited with popularizing the stories of which 13th folk figure of Turkey known for his wit and humor?
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Idries Shah was "the man who introduced Mulla Nasrudin to the West, and he has done an incredible service. He cannot be repaid. [...] Idries Shah has made just the small anecdotes of Nasrudin even more beautiful ... [he] not only has the capacity to exactly translate the parables, but even to beautify them, to make them more poignant, sharper." Richard Smoley and Jay Kinney, writing in "Hidden Wisdom: A Guide to the Western Inner Traditions" (2006), pronounced Shah's "The Sufis" an "extremely readable and wide-ranging introduction to Sufism", adding that "Shah's own slant is evident throughout, and some historical assertions are
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The Idries Shah Foundation involved in ICR). While involved in ISF, Idries Shah's three children – Saira Shah, Safia Shah and Tahir Shah – are not trustees. As owners of Shah's copyrights there would be a possible conflict of interest. 2014 marked the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of Idries Shah's first book on Sufism, "The Sufis", which award-winning author Doris Lessing, writing in "The Washington Post", describes as “a seminal book of the century, even a watershed.” New paperback and ebook editions of the work were published that year by the newly formed ISF Publishing, in association with The Idries Shah Foundation, to
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Sequels featuring which character who originally appeared in a 1913 novel were published as Glad Books from 1915 onward?
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Pollyanna Pollyanna Pollyanna is a best-selling 1913 novel by Eleanor H. Porter that is now considered a classic of children's literature, with the title character's name becoming a popular term for someone with the same very optimistic outlook: a subconscious bias towards the positive is often described as the Pollyanna principle. The book was such a success that Porter soon produced a sequel, "Pollyanna Grows Up" (1915). Eleven more "Pollyanna" sequels, known as "Glad Books", were later published, most of them written by Elizabeth Borton or Harriet Lummis Smith. Further sequels followed, including "Pollyanna Plays the Game" by Colleen L. Reece,
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Heat Wave (novel) Heat Wave (novel) Heat Wave is the first in a series of mystery novels featuring the characters Nikki Heat, an NYPD homicide detective, and Jameson Rook, a journalist. The novel and its sequels are published by Hyperion Books as a tie-in to the U.S. crime series "Castle", and are attributed to that show's lead character Richard Castle. "Heat Wave" was published in 2009 and has been followed by "Naked Heat" (2010), "Heat Rises" (2011), "Frozen Heat" (2012), "Deadly Heat" (2013), "Raging Heat" (2014) and "Driving Heat" (2015). Richard Castle is a best-selling author who has published the final book in
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Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky a current-day husband and wife team are known for what type of contribution to literature?
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Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky (, ) are a couple who are best known for their collaborative translations. Most of their translations are of works in Russian, but also French, Italian, and Greek. Their translations have been nominated three times and twice won the PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize (for Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina" and Dostoevsky's "The Brothers Karamazov"). Their translation of Dostoevsky's "The Idiot" also won the first Efim Etkind Translation Prize. Richard Pevear was born in Waltham, Massachusetts on 21 April 1943. Pevear earned a B.A. degree from Allegheny College in 1964, and a M.A.
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Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky prose by her brother, Anri Volokhonsky (published in: Modern Poetry in Translation, New series. Ed. Daniel Weissbort. Vol 10, Winter 196, Grand Street,Spring 1989, ed. Ben Sonnenberg). Together with Emily Grossholz she translated several poems by Olga Sedakova (Hudson Review, Vol. 61, Issue 4, Winter 2009). Volokhonsky is mostly known for her work in collaboration with Richard Pevear on translation of Russian classics. Volokhonsky met Pevear in the United States in 1976 and they married six years later. The couple now live in Paris and have two trilingual children. Pevear and Volokhonsky began working together when Pevear was reading Dostoyevsky's
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Who was the English editor and avid compiler of military information who published All the World's Fighting Ships in 1898?
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Jane's Fighting Ships Jane's Fighting Ships Jane's Fighting Ships is an annual reference book (also published online, on CD and microfiche) of information on all the world's warships arranged by nation, including information on ship's names, dimensions, armaments, silhouettes and photographs, etc. Its annual editions cover the warships used by the different national naval and paramilitary forces, and provide data on their characteristics. It was originally published by John F. T. Jane (usually known as "Fred T.") in London in 1898 as "Jane's All the World's Fighting Ships", in order to assist the public in playing naval wargames. Its success launched a number
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Jane's Fighting Ships of military publications carrying the name "Jane's". It is a unit of Jane's Information Group, which is now owned by IHS. The following is a list of major works which followed the format of Jane's original work: The Jane's editions of 1898, 1905, 1906, 1914, 1919, 1924, 1931, 1939 and 1944 were reissued in facsimile reprints by Arco Publishing in 1969. Jane's Fighting Ships Jane's Fighting Ships is an annual reference book (also published online, on CD and microfiche) of information on all the world's warships arranged by nation, including information on ship's names, dimensions, armaments, silhouettes and photographs, etc.
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Captain George Pollard, Jr., who inspired an all-time great 1851 novel, was the captain of Essex that was attacked and sunk by what?
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George Pollard Jr. George Pollard Jr. George Pollard Jr. (1791–1870) was the captain of the whalers "Essex" and "Two Brothers", both of which sank. Pollard's life, including his encounter with the sperm whale that sank "Essex", served as inspiration for Captain Ahab, the whale-obsessed character in Herman Melville's "Moby-Dick". George Pollard was born in Nantucket, Massachusetts, the son of Tamar (Bunker) and George Pollard, a ship's captain, at a time when the principal industry there was hunting sperm whales to harvest the oil contained in their blubber and spermaceti. By the time he was 23 he had served on the "Essex" for four
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The Captain (novel) The Captain (novel) The Captain is a 1967 novel by Dutch writer Jan de Hartog. It is a sequel of a sort to his 1940 book "Captain Jan", though not having the same characters as the earlier book. The frame story has Martinus Harinxma, a senior tugboat captain home after a long voyage, catching up on correspondence. He opens a letter from a young man who is the son of a Canadian naval officer killed aboard Harinxma's ship during escort duty during Second World War. In the letter, the son asks the Captain, "How was my father killed, and what
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Who is the popular author who served as Chancellor of Moratuwa University in Sri Lanka from 1979 to 2002?
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Sexual minorities in Sri Lanka Jay can be considered a pop song featuring a queer theme. "Flying with One Wing" (තනි තටුවෙන් පියාඹන්න) (2002) – written and directed by Asoka Handagama, it features a Sri Lankan woman who passes for a man in the society and in her personal relationship. "Flower of Six Petals" (සයපෙති කුසුම) is a movie about a same-sex male relationship. Katuyahana - a 2003 play by Visakesa Chandrasekeran Arthur C. Clarke was an ethnic-British gay sci-fi fiction author that included LGBT characters in his work. He lived in Cinnamon Gardens in Sri Lanka until his death in 2008. Shyam Selvadurai is
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Sri Lanka Clarke served as Chancellor of Moratuwa University in Sri Lanka from 1979 to 2002. Sri Lanka has an extensive road network for inland transportation. With more than 100,000 km of paved roads, it has one of the highest road densities in the world (1.5 km of paved roads per every 1sq.km. of land). E-grade highways are the latest addition to Sri Lanka's road network. These are access-controlled, high-mobility roads with permitted speeds up to 100 km/h. These highways connect local communities together, by-passing busy and congested town centers. A and B grade roads are national (arterial) highways administered by Road
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"Algernon Blackwood's 1907 story, called by H. P. Lovecraft as the ""finest supernatural tale in English literature"" is titled after what type of trees? (hint: cricket)"
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The Willows (story) The Willows (story) "The Willows" is a novella by English author Algernon Blackwood, originally published as part of his 1907 collection "The Listener and Other Stories". It is one of Blackwood's best known works and has been influential on a number of later writers. Horror author H.P. Lovecraft considered it to be the finest supernatural tale in English literature. "The Willows" is an example of early modern horror and is connected within the literary tradition of weird fiction. Two friends are midway on a canoe trip down the River Danube. Throughout the story, Blackwood personifies the surrounding environment —river, sun,
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Supernatural Horror in Literature Poe (who merits his own chapter). Lovecraft names as the four "modern masters" of horror: Algernon Blackwood, Lord Dunsany, M. R. James, and Arthur Machen. "An H. P. Lovecraft Encyclopedia" terms the work "HPL's most significant literary essay and one of the finest historical analyses of horror literature." Upon reading the essay, M. R. James proclaimed Lovecraft's style "most offensive". However, Edmund Wilson, who was not an admirer of Lovecraft's fiction, praised the essay as a "really able piece of work...he had read comprehensively in this field—he was strong on the Gothic novelists—and writes about it with much intelligence". David
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In which Somerset Maugham's short-story does missionary Alfred Davidson try to reform a prostitute but ultimately succumbs to her charm?
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Rain (short story) Rain (short story) "Rain" is a short story by the British writer W. Somerset Maugham. It was originally published as "Miss Thompson" in the April 1921 issue of the American literary magazine "The Smart Set". The story is set on a Pacific island: a missionary's determination to reform a prostitute leads to tragedy. In December 1916 during a tour of the Pacific, Maugham and his secretary/companion Gerald Haxton, on the steamer "Sonoma", visited Pago Pago, the capital of American Samoa. Delayed by a quarantine inspection, Maugham, Haxton and others took lodgings there. Other passengers on the "Sonoma" included a "Miss
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W. Somerset Maugham W. Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham, CH ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965), better known as W. Somerset Maugham, was a British playwright, novelist and short story writer. He was among the most popular writers of his era and reputedly the highest-paid author during the 1930s. After both his parents died before he was 10, Maugham was raised by a paternal uncle who was emotionally cold. Not wanting to become a lawyer like other men in his family, Maugham eventually trained and qualified as a physician. The initial run of his first novel, "Liza of Lambeth" (1897),
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Polynesia the parrot teaches animal language to what literary character?
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Doctor Dolittle or too dull. The stories are set in early Victorian England, where Doctor John Dolittle lives in the fictional English village of Puddleby-on-the-Marsh in the West Country. Doctor Dolittle has a few close human friends, including Tommy Stubbins and Matthew Mugg, the Cats'-Meat Man. The animal team includes Polynesia (a parrot), Gub-Gub (a pig), Jip (a dog), Dab-Dab (a duck), Chee-Chee (a monkey), Too-Too (an owl), the Pushmi-pullyu, and a white mouse later named simply "Whitey". One inspiration for his character appears to be the Scottish surgeon John Hunter. "The Story of Doctor Dolittle: Being the History of His Peculiar
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Parrot assembly language virtual machine, and it does not allow pointer arithmetic. Parrot assembly language has more instructions than hardware assembly languages, even CISC processors. This is because the marginal cost of creating a new instruction in Parrot is low compared to the marginal cost of doing so in hardware, and the creators of Parrot had no particular goal of minimalism. Parrot assembly language The Parrot assembly language (PASM) is the basic assembly language used by the Parrot virtual machine. PASM is the lowest level assembly language in the Parrot stack. The Parrot intermediate representation (PIR) is PASM extended to simplify development of
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The name of what literary swashbuckler is the answer to the final question in the Oscar winning Slumdog Millionaire?
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Slumdog Millionaire free. Jamal's final question is the name of the third musketeer in "The Three Musketeers", which he never learned. Jamal uses his "Phone-A-Friend" lifeline to call Salim's phone, as it is the only phone number he knows. Latika answers the phone, and, while she does not know the answer, tells Jamal that she is safe. Relieved, Jamal arbitrarily picks Aramis, the right answer, and wins the grand prize. Javed hears Latika on the show and realises that Salim has betrayed him. He and his men break down the bathroom door but Salim kills Javed before he is shot, gasping, "God
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Reactions from India and the Indian diaspora to Slumdog Millionaire Slumdog..., without taking away anything from Boyle and the kids. But, Indian movies are underestimated there." Filmmaker Mrinal Sen also questioned whether winning the Oscar qualifies "Slumdog Millionaire" as a good film, stating that other great cinematic performers and filmmakers have not won the Oscar. Director and filmmaker Priyadarshan criticized "Slumdog Millionaire" as a "mediocre version of those commercial films about estranged brothers and childhood sweethearts that Salim-Javed used to write so brilliantly in the 1970s." He also stated that he viewed the film at the Toronto Film Festival and that "the Westerners loved it. All the Indian[s] hated it.
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Which prolific author created a men-only dining group called The Black Widowers for a series of mystery stories?
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Black Widowers few "Black Widowers" tales have been written by other authors as tributes to Asimov. One is "The Overheard Conversation" by Edward D. Hoch, which appears in the festschrift anthology "Foundation's Friends" (1989); another is "The Last Story", by Charles Ardai, in "The Return of the Black Widowers" (2003). The books and the stories collected in them are: Black Widowers The Black Widowers is a fictional men-only dining club created by Isaac Asimov for a series of sixty-six mystery stories that he started writing in 1971. Most of the stories were first published in "Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine", though a few
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A Nero Wolfe Mystery were Nero Wolfe novels: "Where There's a Will" (1940), "The Rubber Band" (1936), "The Red Box" (1937) and "The League of Frightened Men" (1935). "The Red Box" was the most-searched mystery title in August 2003, and the novel remained as number two on the list in 2004. In 2006, "Too Many Women" (1947) was fifth on BookFinder.com's list of most-sought out-of-print thrillers, whodunits, classics and modern mystery titles. In 2007, "The Black Mountain" was in the number five position. Most of the Nero Wolfe stories adapted for "A Nero Wolfe Mystery" became available through Bantam's Rex Stout Library, a series
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The phrase 'motiveless malignity' was used by S. T. Coleridge to describe which diabolic villain of literature?
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Iago and personal motives". Draper argues that Iago "seized occasions rather than made them". According to his theory, Iago "is the first cause, but events, once under way, pass out of his control". Following this logic, Draper concludes that Iago "is neither as clever nor as wicked as some would think; and the problem of his character largely resolves itself into the question: was he justified in embarking upon the initial stages of his revenge?” Iago has been described as a "motiveless malignity" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. This reading would seem to suggest that Iago, much like Don John in "Much
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Sara Coleridge the "Essays on his Own Times, by S. T. Coleridge", and the Introduction to the "Biographia Literaria". In 1850, Coleridge discovered a lump in her breast. Her physician decided not to operate, prescribing cod liver oil and opium. Knowing there was no cure, she waited for the disease to take its course. "I live in constant fear," Coleridge wrote, "like the Ancient Mariner with the Albatross hung about his neck, I have a weight always upon me." Shortly before she died she amused herself by writing a little autobiography for her daughter. This, which reaches only to her ninth year,
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A 1978 contemplative travel book of Peter Matthiessen concerned him tracking what elusive creature of the Himalayas?
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Peter Matthiessen of the marriage. Matthiessen was diagnosed with leukemia in late 2012. He died at his home in Sagaponack on April 5, 2014, aged 86. Peter Matthiessen Peter Matthiessen (May 22, 1927 – April 5, 2014) was an American novelist, naturalist, wilderness writer, zen teacher and CIA agent. A co-founder of the literary magazine "The Paris Review", he was the only writer to have won the National Book Award in both fiction and nonfiction. He was also a prominent environmental activist. Matthiessen's nonfiction featured nature and travel, notably "The Snow Leopard" (1978) and American Indian issues and history, such as a
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Peter Matthiessen leukemia for more than a year. He died on April 5, 2014, three days before publication of his final book, the memoir "In Paradise" on April 8. Matthiessen was born in New York City to Erard Adolph Matthiessen (1902-2000) and Elizabeth (née Carey). Erard, an architect, joined the Navy during World War II and helped design gunnery training devices. Later, he gave up architecture to become a spokesman and fundraiser for the Audubon Society and the Nature Conservancy. The well-to-do family lived in both New York City and Connecticut where, along with his brother, Matthiessen developed a love of animals
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Just as Edward Bulwer-Lytton is associated with bombastic writing, what is the similarly famous poem of William McGonagall?
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William McGonagall at which the poem was published often has no bearing on when it was written; the "Address to the Rev. George Gilfillan" and "Requisition to the Queen" were amongst McGonagall's earliest written poems, yet they appear in "More Poetic Gems" and "Last Poetic Gems" respectively. William McGonagall William Topaz McGonagall (March 1825 – 29 September 1902) was a Scottish weaver, poet and actor. He won notoriety as an extremely bad poet who exhibited no recognition of, or concern for, his peers' opinions of his work. He wrote about 200 poems, including "The Tay Bridge Disaster" and "The Famous Tay Whale",
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Edward Bulwer-Lytton Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest attempts to find the "opening sentence of the worst of all possible novels". Bulwer-Lytton was born on 25 May 1803 to General William Earle Bulwer of Heydon Hall and Wood Dalling, Norfolk and Elizabeth Barbara Lytton, daughter of Richard Warburton Lytton of Knebworth House, Hertfordshire. He had two older brothers, William Earle Lytton Bulwer (1799–1877) and Henry (1801–1872), later Lord Dalling and Bulwer. When Edward was four, his father died and his mother moved to London. He was a delicate, neurotic child and was discontented at a number of boarding schools. But he was precocious and Mr.
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In Alan Moore's graphic novel V for Vendetta the anarchist wears a mask of which real-life person?
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Alan Moore the scaly lord, for, as Moore maintains, the imagination is just as real as reality." Moore is a member of Northampton Arts Lab and takes walks with the novelist Alistair Fruish. Moore politically identifies as an anarchist, and outlined his interpretation of anarchist philosophy, and its application to fiction writing in an interview with Margaret Killjoy, collected in the 2009 book, "Mythmakers and Lawbreakers": In December 2011, Moore responded to Frank Miller's attack on the Occupy movement, calling his more recent work misogynistic, homophobic and misguided. Worldwide, Occupy protesters have adopted the Guy Fawkes mask from "V for Vendetta". The
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V for Vendetta V for Vendetta V for Vendetta is a British graphic novel written by Alan Moore and illustrated by David Lloyd (with additional art by Tony Weare). Initially published in black and white as an ongoing serial in the short-lived UK anthology "Warrior", it morphed into a ten-issue limited series published by DC Comics. Subsequent collected editions have been typically published under DC's more specialized imprint Vertigo. The story depicts a dystopian and post-apocalyptic near-future history version of the United Kingdom in the 1990s, preceded by a nuclear war in the 1980s which had devastated most of the rest of the
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"Whose interview in Life magazine is said to have led to an upsurge in the sales of James Bond books? After a private screening of Dr. No, he also reportedly said ""I wish I had had James Bond on my staff."""
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James Bond fandom centenary of the author's birth, the gallery exhibited the cover art for the various editions of the James Bond books. This attracted much attention from fans. A parallel exhibition at the Imperial War Museum likewise attracted Bond buffs. US President John F. Kennedy was a fan of the Bond novels, naming "From Russia with Love" as one of his ten favorite books in a 1961 "Life" magazine article. Jacqueline Kennedy gave Allen Dulles a copy of the book. Dulles, then director of the CIA, and Fleming admired each other and entered into a correspondence. Dulles encouraged the CIA to develop
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I Wish I Was James Bond I Wish I Was James Bond "I Wish I Was James Bond" was the fifth single from Scouting for Girls' debut album, Scouting for Girls. It is the tenth track on the album, and on the album version it is followed by a hidden track called "Michaela Strachan You Broke My Heart (When I Was 12)". The single peaked at #40 in the UK Singles Chart. The song is about the spy James Bond from Ian Fleming's books and the James Bond movies and his world in general (girls, gadgets, 00 status, licence to kill and vodka martinis). It mentions
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Polydactyl cats (born with more than the usual number of toes) are associated with which writer who was known for his love for them?
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Polydactyl cat of which are polydactyl). Because of his love for these animals, polydactyl cats are sometimes referred to as "Hemingway cats". Nicknames for polydactyl cats include "Hemingway cats", "mitten cats", "conch cats", "boxing cats", "mitten-foot cats", "snowshoe cats", "thumb cats", "six-fingered cats", and "Cardi-cats". Two specific breeds recognized by some cat fancier clubs are the American Polydactyl and Maine Coon Polydactyl. American Polydactyl cats are bred as a specific cat breed, with specific physical and behavioral characteristics in addition to extra digits. The American Polydactyl is not to be confused with the pedigree Maine Coon polydactyl. The polydactyl form of the
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Polydactyl cat mutant Maine Coon cats were variable (polyphenism) and second, the number of extra toes followed a discontinuous statistical distribution. They were not equally distributed as one might expect of an identical single point mutation. The example demonstrates that the variation is not explained completely by the mutation alone. Polydactyl cat A polydactyl cat is a cat with a congenital physical anomaly called polydactyly (or polydactylism, also known as hyperdactyly), which causes the cat to be born with more than the usual number of toes on one or more of its paws. Cats with this genetically inherited trait are most commonly
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"George Orwell in his whimsical 1946 essay Decline of the English Murders considers high profile cases like Dr. Palmer of Rugeley, Neill Cream, and several more but leaves out whose notable spree saying it was ""in a class by itself""?"
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Decline of the English Murder point of view, the "perfect" murder: middle class criminals, sex or respectability as a motif, mostly poisoning, deaths slow to be seen as due to crime, a dramatic coincidence or unbelievable occurrence, the aim of getting hold of a certain known sum of money - usually small, and domestic victims against an essentially domestic background. Orwell excluded Jack the Ripper's murder spree as being "in a class by itself" and considered the cases of Dr. Palmer of Rugeley, Neill Cream, Mrs. Maybrick, Dr. Crippen, Frederick Seddon, Joseph Smith, Armstrong, Bywaters and Thompson, and an unnamed case from 1919, wherein the
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Decline of the English Murder Decline of the English Murder "Decline of the English Murder" is an essay by English writer George Orwell, wherein he analysed the kinds of murders depicted in popular media and why people like to read them. "Tribune" published it on 15 February 1946, and Secker and Warburg republished it after his death in "Shooting an Elephant and Other Essays" in 1952. Orwell identified several common features which 'have given the greatest amount of pleasure to the British public' during 'our great period in murder, between roughly 1850 and 1925' and may be considered from a "News of the World" reader's
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Which writer wrote the introduction for Robert Frank's influential photography book The Americans (1958) that contained images from Frank's travels across the US?
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The Americans (photography) "Popular Photography", for one, derided Frank's images as "meaningless blur, grain, muddy exposures, drunken horizons and general sloppiness." This stands in contrast to Walker Evans' "American Photographs", a direct inspiration to Frank, with its rigidly framed images shot via large-format viewcamera. Though sales were also poor at first, Kerouac's introduction helped it reach a larger audience because of the popularity of the Beat phenomenon. Over time and through its inspiration of later artists, "The Americans" became considered a seminal work in American photography and art history, and the work with which Frank is most clearly identified. Sociologist Howard S. Becker
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The Americans (photography) endpaper. As he has done for every edition of "The Americans", Frank changed the cropping of many of the photographs, usually including more information, and two slightly different photographs were used. The Americans (photography) The Americans is a photographic book by Robert Frank which was highly influential in post-war American photography. It was first published in France in 1958, and the following year in the United States. The photographs were notable for their distanced view of both high and low strata of American society. The book as a whole created a complicated portrait of the period that was viewed as
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The text of what ancient classic is a set of oracular statements represented by 64 sets of six hexagrams, with each hexagram in turn composed of six lines of Yangs or Yins?
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Hexagram (I Ching) Hexagram (I Ching) The "I Ching" book consists of 64 hexagrams. A hexagram in this context is a figure composed of six stacked horizontal lines (爻 yáo), where each line is either Yang (an unbroken, or solid line), or Yin (broken, an open line with a gap in the center). The hexagram lines are traditionally counted from the bottom up, so the lowest line is considered line one while the top line is line six. Hexagrams are formed by combining the original eight trigrams in different combinations. Each hexagram is accompanied with a description, often cryptic, akin to parables. Each
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I Ching King Wen of Zhou, the Duke of Zhou, and Confucius, but this traditional attribution is no longer generally accepted. The basic unit of the "Zhou yi" is the hexagram (卦 "guà"), a figure composed of six stacked horizontal lines (爻 "yáo"). Each line is either broken or unbroken. The received text of the "Zhou yi" contains all 64 possible hexagrams, along with the hexagram's name (卦名 "guàmíng"), a short hexagram statement (彖 "tuàn"), and six line statements (爻辭 "yáocí"). The statements were used to determine the results of divination, but the reasons for having two different methods of reading the
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What is the better known nickname of Greg Heffley whose hilarious memoirs are now a hit book franchise?
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Greg Heffley Greg Heffley Gregory "Greg" Heffley is a fictional character and the protagonist of the realistic fiction novel series "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" created by American cartoonist Jeff Kinney. He serves as the antihero and unreliable narrator of the series. Greg Heffley is mischievous, lazy, paranoid, arrogant, and dishonest. He is known to become jealous easily. He also tends to be a poor friend, something even he agrees with. He doesn't like taking the blame for negative events, and attempts to twist any situation he can in his favor, so that he may go up his "popularity ladder." Despite all
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Greg Heffley to the baseball game and ruined the father and son bonding that their mother attempted to set up for them. In the movie series, however, Rodrick and Greg seem to get along much better than in the books. Their bonding was the main focus of the movie adaption of "Rodrick Rules". Unlike the book, in which Greg only once willingly helps Rodrick, Greg and Rodrick work together several times, including cleaning up after the party (after Rodrick points out that Greg will get busted along with him should their parents find out, whereas in the book Rodrick simply blackmails Greg),
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The slave girl Morgiana, the protagonist's elder brother Cassim and the cobbler Baba Mustafa are three prominent characters in what 'seedy' oriental story?
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Ali Baba Morgiana, a clever slave-girl from Cassim's household, with the task of making others believe that Cassim has died a natural death. First, Morgiana purchases medicines from an apothecary, telling him that Cassim is gravely ill. Then, she finds an old tailor known as Baba Mustafa whom she pays, blindfolds, and leads to Cassim's house. There, overnight, the tailor stitches the pieces of Cassim's body back together. Ali Baba and his family are able to give Cassim a proper burial without anyone suspecting anything. The thieves, finding the body gone, realize that another person must know their secret, and they set
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Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl he gave Benny and Ellen. Harriet Jacobs uses fictional names to protect the identities of persons and alters events and characters for dramatic effect. The characters are believed by scholars to generally correspond to Jacobs and people in her life. Linda Brent (stand for Harriet Jacobs), the book's protagonist and a pseudonym for the author. William Brent is John Jacobs: Linda's brother, to whom she is close. William's escape from Mr. Sands shows that even a privileged slave desires freedom above all else. Ruth Nash is Margaret Horniblow. Emily Flint is Mary Matilda Norcom, Dr. Flint's daughter and Linda's legal
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What 1899 poem of Rudyard Kipling whose racist title alludes to Western aspirations to dominate the developing world was written after the American colonization of the Philippines?
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The White Man's Burden The philosophic perspective of "The Black Man's Burden [A Reply to Rudyard Kipling]" (1920), by the social critic Hubert Harrison, describes moral degradation as a consequence of being a colonized coloured man and of being a white colonizer. Moreover, since the late 20th-century contexts of post-imperial decolonisation and of the developing world, the phrase "The white man's burden" communicates the false good-intentions of Western neo-colonialism for the non-white world: civilisation by colonial domination. The White Man's Burden The White Man's Burden: The United States and the Philippine Islands (1899), by Rudyard Kipling, is a poem about the Philippine–American War (1899–1902),
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The Sweepers (poem) The Sweepers (poem) "The Sweepers" is a poem written by Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936), and set to music by the English composer Edward Elgar in 1917, as the fourth of a set of four war-related songs on nautical subjects for which he chose the title "The Fringes of the Fleet". Like the others in the cycle, it is intended for four baritone voices: a solo and chorus. It was originally written with orchestral accompaniment, but was later published to be sung with piano accompaniment. The poem was called by Kipling ""Mine Sweepers"", and is about the British ships called minesweepers which
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The 5th Wave cartoons by Rich Tennant are interspersed throughout the books of what reference series?
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The 5th Wave (comic strip) the Agricultural Age is the First Wave, the Industrial Age is the Second Wave, and the Information Age is the Third Wave. Tennant wanted to call his comic "The Fourth Wave", but "through a series of missteps and miscommunications", it was first published in a newspaper under the title "The 5th Wave", and the name stuck. The 5th Wave (comic strip) The 5th Wave is a weekly gag cartoon by Rich Tennant, published on Sundays. Started in 1981, the comic usually deals with computers and technology. Tennant's cartoons regularly appear in the "For Dummies" book series, and have appeared in
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The 5th Wave (series) The 5th Wave (series) The 5th Wave is a trilogy of young adult post-apocalyptic sci-fi novels written by American author Rick Yancey. The series started in May 2013 with the first book, "The 5th Wave". A sequel titled "The Infinite Sea" was published in 2014. The trilogy concluded in 2016 with the final book, "The Last Star". Earth is systematically attacked by a group of aliens known as "the Others". They exist in unknown form, and attack through a series of waves. After the first four waves have decimated the human population, the remaining populace is terrifyingly awaiting the arrival
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The French commune of Illiers adopted the name Illiers-Combray in homage to which author whose vivid recreation of the town (through recollection) opens his vast magnum opus?
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Illiers-Combray Illiers-Combray Illiers-Combray is a commune in the Eure-et-Loir department in north central France. "Combray" was the writer Marcel Proust's name for the village of Illiers (near the Cathedral town of Chartres), vividly depicted by him in the opening chapters of his vast semi-autobiographical novel "In Search of Lost Time". The home of Proust's "Aunt Léonie" in the heart of the village, where he spent much of his childhood, has been transformed into a museum to the writer's memory. It provides visitors with a delightful view of 19th-century provincial life as well as of the many Proustian mementos on display. It
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Magnum opus (alchemy) Magnum opus (alchemy) The Great Work (Latin: Magnum opus) is an alchemical term for the process of working with the prima materia to create the philosopher's stone. It has been used to describe personal and spiritual transmutation in the Hermetic tradition, attached to laboratory processes and chemical color changes, used as a model for the individuation process, and as a device in art and literature. The magnum opus has been carried forward in New Age and neo-Hermetic movements which sometimes attached new symbolism and significance to the processes. It originally had four stages: The origin of these four phases can
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"Fill in the missing word in this famous quote of Jorge Luis Borges that is very appropriate coming from a writer! ""I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of ___."""
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Jorge Luis Borges Jorge Luis Borges Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo (; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator, and a key figure in Spanish-language literature. His best-known books, "Ficciones" ("Fictions") and "El Aleph" ("The Aleph"), published in the 1940s, are compilations of short stories interconnected by common themes, including dreams, labyrinths, philosophy, libraries, mirrors, fictional writers, and mythology. Borges' works have contributed to philosophical literature and the fantasy genre, and have been considered by some critics to mark the beginning of the magic realist movement in 20th century Latin American literature.
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Jorge Luis Borges Borges translated Oscar Wilde's "The Happy Prince" into Spanish. It was published in a local journal, but Borges' friends thought the real author was his father. Borges Haslam was a lawyer and psychology teacher who harboured literary aspirations. Borges said his father "tried to become a writer and failed in the attempt", despite the 1921 opus "El caudillo". Jorge Luis Borges wrote, "as most of my people had been soldiers and I knew I would never be, I felt ashamed, quite early, to be a bookish kind of person and not a man of action." Jorge Luis Borges was taught
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What 1953 short story by Isaac Singer tells the story of a simpleton bread-maker who is cheated by everyone his entire life but still retains his goodness?
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Gimpel the Fool the village in order to get revenge for the many injustices the villagers have forced him to endure over the years. He does so, but is scolded by the spirt of his deceased wife. He destroys the tainted bread and becomes a homeless wandering shoemaker; at night he talks with the spirt of Elka. Gimpel the Fool "Gimpel the Fool" (1953) is a short story by Isaac Bashevis Singer, translated into English by Saul Bellow in 1953. It tells the story of Gimpel, a simple bread maker who is the butt of many of his town's jokes. It also gives
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The Maker of Moons (short story) The Maker of Moons (short story) "The Maker of Moons" is an 1896 short story by American writer Robert W. Chambers. It is the title story of the collection "The Maker of Moons". The narrator states his wish to reveal all he can of Yue-Laou and the Xin. He describes how he met his friend, Godfrey, at a gold-shop, where Godfrey showed him a golden chain. In the middle of the conversation they notice a strange creature is crawling in Godfrey's pocket. Godfrey says: Another friend arrives at the shop, a secret agent named Barris, who tells them that gold
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No sleuthing allowed. What struggling doctor wrote The Narrative of John Smith that was published in 2011 about 130 years after it was first written?
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The Narrative of John Smith The Narrative of John Smith The Narrative of John Smith (2011) is a novel written in 1883 by Arthur Conan Doyle, published posthumously by The British Library. In a work of narrative fiction, Doyle writes from the perspective of a middle-aged bachelor named John Smith recovering from rheumatic gout. Unlike his later work in detective fiction, fantasy, and science fiction, this novel unfolds through a series of tangential, essay-like thoughts stemming from observations on everyday life. The subjects are of a “personal-social-political complexion”. Each day is represented by a chapter. Beginning with John Smith's diagnosis of rheumatic gout, the doctor
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It Was Written through". Despite calling the album "adequate" and commending Nas for his lyricism and flow, Krisex concluded that "It Was Written" "isn't nearly as satisfying as his first one." "NME" wrote that "Nas' neat, considered lyrics treat the violence that surrounds him with a mixture of remorse, resignation and ebullience." Christopher John Farley of "Time" stated "The lyrics in "It Was Written" could be sharper, but the music, energetic and engaging on many tracks, helps drive his message home." "Q" magazine called Nas's performance "angry, lean and full of drive." Both the "Chicago Tribune" and "Chicago Sun-Times" were favorable of the
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Which 17th century literary classic ends with the title character stipulating in his will that his niece will be disinherited if she marries anyone who reads about chivalry?
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Don Quixote setting off. Upon returning to his village, Don Quixote announces his plan to retire to the countryside as a shepherd, but his housekeeper urges him to stay at home. Soon after, he retires to his bed with a deathly illness, and later awakes from a dream, having fully recovered his sanity. Sancho tries to restore his faith, but Quixano (his proper name) only renounces his previous ambition and apologizes for the harm he has caused. He dictates his will, which includes a provision that his niece will be disinherited if she marries a man who reads books of chivalry. After
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Will Parry (His Dark Materials) and they manage to escape when Mrs Coulter is attacked by two of Lord Asriel's Gallivespian spies. The four of them make it safely to a window Will had opened previously and move into another world. Lyra then tells Will about a dream she had during her long sleep in which she talked to her old friend Roger "(who she accidentally led to his death at the end of Northern Lights)", whose soul is now trapped in the World of the Dead. Will agrees to go there with her to try and save him, if he can get Iorek to
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What term that is a mechanism for the disappearance of inconvenient documents comes from George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four in which it is a slot into which officials deposit records to be destroyed?
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The Memory Hole (web site) tribute to the "memory hole" from George Orwell's novel "Nineteen Eighty-Four", a slot into which government officials deposit politically inconvenient documents and records for destruction. One of the most noticeable actions was the publication of several hundred photos depicting the coffins of U.S. soldiers fallen in Iraq. These were obtained by Kick by filing a request based on the Freedom of Information Act. The photos sparked a controversy regarding the publication of war photos, public opinion and the behavior of the U.S. government. The website is the 2005 winner of the Project on Government Oversight's "Beyond the Headlines" Award. A
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Sexcrime (Nineteen Eighty-Four) (song) Sexcrime (Nineteen Eighty-Four) (song) "Sexcrime (Nineteen Eighty-Four)" is a song written and performed by the British duo Eurythmics. It was released as the first single from their album "1984 (For the Love of Big Brother)", which served as the soundtrack to the film "Nineteen Eighty-Four", an adaptation of the novel of the same name by George Orwell. The song was produced by Dave Stewart. "Sexcrime" is a song which features heavy sampling of Lennox's voice, utilizing snippets of her vocal performance to produce a stuttering effect. Also prominently featured is the voice of Stewart, with the aid of a vocoder,
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