From 1968 to 1998, Northern Ireland was the battleground of a guerrilla war known as The Troubles. On one side was the Protestant majority called the Unionists, who wanted Northern Ireland to remain part of the United Kingdom. On the other side were the Nationalists, a Catholic minority who sought to become part of the…
Category: Historical Study
Ancient History: 10 Recent Discoveries
Not very long ago, the common consensus was that “civilization” developed slowly in Europe. Outside of the Mediterranean civilizations of Greece and Italy, ancient Europe was a backwater full of barbaric tribesmen who mostly lived in hut-like dwellings. Most laymen and many historians would say that compared to Sumer, Babylon, China, Egypt, and the Indus…
Modern Texas History: The Worst Industrial Disaster in U.S. History
The deadliest industrial disaster in U.S. history occurred on April 16, 1947, in Texas City, Texas. When the French ship SS Grandcamp exploded, a thousand buildings were destroyed and hundreds of people were killed. Among the dead were half the firefighters in the Texas City Fire Department. All of their firefighting equipment was destroyed, too,…
History of the Middle Ages: King John, The Worst Monarch in English History?
I would be amiss not to mention the excellent Sword-play movie set during this very time period, Ironclad, with Paul Giamatti playing the role of King John. -SF When it comes to Kings (and Queens) of England, there is strong competition as to who can claim the title of being the worst in the nation’s…
Holocaust History: The Salvadoran Savior of 25K Jews During WW2
At least 25,000 were rescued from Nazi hands by diplomat Jose Arturo Castellanos’s false citizenship papers RIO DE JANEIRO — An army colonel and diplomat from El Salvador who helped save tens of thousands of Jews from Nazi persecution during World War II by providing them with false Salvadoran identity papers was honored in…
World War II History: Los Angeles Examiner Publishes a Map in 1937 Predicting How Japan Could Attack America
On November 7, 1937, the Los Angeles Examiner published a prescient map predicting how Imperial Japan could attack the US during World War II. Created by Howard A. Burke, the map imagined a Japanese attack on the US that closely predicted the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor four years later on December 7, 1941. Burke…
Historical Fiction Book of The Month: The Revenant
Picador Publishing, 272pp I have been interested in the history of Mountain Men, the Old West and the American Indian since I was a kid. I remember watching movies such as the original Man in the Wilderness (Based on the life of Hugh Glass), The Mountain Men, Jeremiah Johnson and Death Hunt with my dad and…
Soldier Superb: Australian Infantry Training in WW2
Outstanding article on a subject too many WW2 buffs no little about: How the Australian Army’s Trained for the Tough Pacific Campaign they fought.
Historical Study: The Making of the Modern Middle East
Dr. Neil Faulkner gives a short interview on his new book Lawrence of Arabia’s War: The Arabs, The British and the Remaking of The Middle East in WW1. Below is an article discussing the Sykes-Picot Deal, a very important key aspect in Understanding the Making of the Modern Middle East as it exist today….
World War I History: The Liberators!
This is a pretty widely-published photo, but it sure is a good one. It also shows very clearly the US’ horrible excuse for a backpack of the time. For the record, the soldier on the left has a Chauchat in 8mm Lebel (sans magazine) and the soldier on the right has an M1903 Springfield rifle….