The History Thread

This might have been posted already but anyway...



The Oldest known musical melody performed by the very talented Michael Levy on the Lyre. This ancient musical fragment dates back to 1400 B.C.E. and was discovered in the 1950's in Ugarit, Syria.
 
Once you get beyond the first 30 seconds you can really start to get into it.



I know why they All died out now
 
50 years ago yesterday the Soviet Union informed the government of Egypt that Israel was massing troops in the Galilee with the intent to invade Syria and overthrow the regime in Damascus, thus setting off a chain of events that would lead to the Six-Day War less than four weeks later.
 
Footage from 1982 of Al Qaeda's al-Zawahiri in an Egyptian prison:



I think this was after him and his organization were rounded up following the assassination of President Sadat.
 
2cents said:
50 years ago yesterday the Soviet Union informed the government of Egypt that Israel was massing troops in the Galilee with the intent to invade Syria and overthrow the regime in Damascus, thus setting off a chain of events that would lead to the Six-Day War less than four weeks later.
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Actually the chain of events were probably already in motion, given Syrian shelling of Israel that had been on-going. also the reports from the USSR were at best an over exaggeration of what was going on along the Syrian border, at worse at out right lie by the USSR.
 
JustAFan said:
Actually the chain of events were probably already in motion, given Syrian shelling of Israel that had been on-going. also the reports from the USSR were at best an over exaggeration of what was going on along the Syrian border, at worse at out right lie by the USSR.
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The back-and-forth between the Syrians and the Israelis had been going on since the year before though. It was the Soviet warning which provoked Nasser to bring Egypt into it by evicting the UN from the Sinai and closing the Gulf of Aqaba.

And yes, the Soviet warning was a lie and one of the great mysteries in the history of the region is what exactly they were trying to do.

In any case, yeah I agree war was inevitably coming sooner or later, everybody knew it.
 
Joan of Arc ring returns to France after auction sale

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-35728604
 
Six Day War kicked off 50 years ago today:

 
Here is an interesting little tidbit from history. Certainly we have read case of brothers who fought on opposite sides in various civil wars, and there are probably cases in other wars I have never heard about. But here is a case from WW2 brothers who fought on opposite sides during WW2, two for the United States and two for Japan. Then to add a bit of a twist to the story, they all later fought in the Korean War with the US Army.

https://blogs.ancestry.com/cm/broth...xid=79750&o_lid=79750&o_sch=Content+Marketing

The Akune family had 4 brothers who fought in World War II.

But it wasn’t until the war was over that the incredible story, as detailed in records, surfaced.

Though they had all fought in the same war, they had not fought on the same side. Two had fought for the U.S. and two for Japan.

The American Dream, Then Tragedy
In 1918, many immigrants were coming to the United States in search of the American Dream. Among these immigrants were Ichiro and Yukiye Akune, who came to California.

They opened a grocery store, building a life for themselves and the nine children they soon brought into the world.

Tragedy took the life of Yukiye in 1933, after which the children were sent to Japan to live with relatives, followed shortly after by Ichiro.

Harry (Masami) and his brother Ken (Kenjiro) returned to California to find work once they were old enough to do so. Then came the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.


Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941 [public domain]
Harry and Ken found the country in which they were born and to which they returned was becoming increasingly hostile to citizens of Japanese heritage.


Harry and Ken Enlist in the U.S. Army
In 1942, Harry and Ken were among the approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans forcibly relocated to internment camps despite their U.S. citizenship.

The brothers were sent to a camp in Colorado, where they were actively recruited by the U.S. Army, which was seeking volunteers who could speak Japanese.

And enlist they did, as shown in World War II enlistment records.


Kenjiro Akune’s World War II enlistment record [via Ancestry]
In an environment rife with hostility even from fellow U.S. soldiers, the brothers played a vital role in the war effort.


They used their proficiency in the Japanese language to provide translations, question Japanese soldiers, and create propaganda used to encourage opposing forces to surrender.

I_cease_resistance.jpg

Propaganda leaflet targeted to Japanese troops [public domain]
Surprise: Brothers Saburo and Shiro Fought for Japan
Unbeknownst to Harry and Ken, their younger brothers, Saburo and Shiro, were fighting diligently in the war as well—for the Japanese.

The nature of military service of these pairs of Akune brothers were unknown to each other until a family reunion in Japan led to the revelation that the brothers had fought on opposing sides of the war.


Discharged Japanese soldiers on their way home after the end of World War II [via Wikimedia Commons]
Ichiro, their father, quickly brokered a peace among his sons, and all four of the veterans returned to California and later fought on the same side (for the U.S.) in the Korean War.
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Another article on them.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/11/11/vets.brothers.japan/index.html
 
100 years today the Arab Revolt captured Aqaba from the Ottoman Empire. Here's the famous scene from Lawrence of Arabia:

 
My grandad was in the Imperial Camel Corps, part of the Indian army. He and his faithful camel singlehandedly defeated the evil Turks at Ismailia, so saving the Suez canal, and thus the entire far eastern Empire.

Unfortunately he died before I was born, of tropical diseases and wounds received. My mum was very bitter as the government weaselled out of paying a war pension. (Could have got them diseases anywhere missus).
 
On this day in history...Liverpool celebrate winning the title with a parade:

CBNDuvzUIAIlwPY.jpg
 
SteveJ said:
'The Shakespeare authorship question is the argument that someone other than William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon wrote the works attributed to him. Anti-Stratfordians—a collective term for adherents of the various alternative-authorship theories—believe that Shakespeare of Stratford was a front to shield the identity of the real author or authors, who for some reason did not want or could not accept public credit.'

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespeare_authorship_question
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Why are you posting this here, now? Has something new happened? :confused:
 
No, mate. This thread is a bit of an exception to the board's 'current events' theme really.
 
Shakespeare 2: This Tyme 'Tis Personale
 
SteveJ said:
'The Shakespeare authorship question is the argument that someone other than William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon wrote the works attributed to him. Anti-Stratfordians—a collective term for adherents of the various alternative-authorship theories—believe that Shakespeare of Stratford was a front to shield the identity of the real author or authors, who for some reason did not want or could not accept public credit.'

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakespeare_authorship_question
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We do know many of the stories pre-dated and his main claim to fame is the literary structure.

There seems to be quite a bit of stretching in some of their arguments. I don't think I can see a rationale that a nobleman would hide his achievements and have a commoner pass them off as his own. That doesn't seem logical.

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=HLY8AAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

EDIT: the above very small book does actually present a somewhat plausible theory that it would be deemed unacceptable for a nobleman to write poetry. But it also seems to almost not accept that a commoner could write to such a standard.

I can accept the question marks over Shakespeare's parents and daughters literacy. Although girls had less educational opportunities than boys. Shakespeare's poor hand writting doesn't indicate he's barely literate, otherwise all doctors would be barely literate too.

Were other writters and contributers involved in the Shakespeare's playhouse? Possibly. Could he have plagerised other work. Quite possibly and would it even be poorly thought of then? Can we reliably attribute the works of Shakespeare to any historical figure over Shakespeare himself? Ofcourse not. Does any of it even matter?
 
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I've always wondered why this debate actually matters.

If they are written by someone else then who cares?

Is is the attribution of these works to Shakespeare that earned his plays and poems their cultural and historical significance? Does he live beyond his works or is the name 'Shakespeare' simply still remembered because he is the author? If he is remembered simply as the author then does it matter if that author's name is Shakespeare, Lord Bacon, or Dr Cockfingers?

The only answer I can come up with is if we argue that 'Shakespeare' has actually become a catch all term for several different authors, but as far as I'm aware mostly people contend that they were all still the work of one person.
 
NinjaFletch said:
I've always wondered why this debate actually matters.

If they are written by someone else then who cares?

Is is the attribution of these works to Shakespeare that earned his plays and poems their cultural and historical significance? Does he live beyond his works or is the name 'Shakespeare' simply still remembered because he is the author? If he is remembered simply as the author then does it matter if that author's name is Shakespeare, Lord Bacon, or Dr Cockfingers?

The only answer I can come up with is if we argue that 'Shakespeare' has actually become a catch all term for several different authors, but as far as I'm aware mostly people contend that they were all still the work of one person.
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Dr. Cockfingers Romeo and Juliet.
 
The British Empire is 'something to be proud of'

By three to one, British people think the British Empire is something to be proud of rather than ashamed of – they also tend to think it left its colonies better off, and a third would like it to still exist

Britain has long found it difficult to evaluate its former empire. Imperial nostalgia on television has been shamed by historians, and modern prime ministers have expressed ‘deep sorrow’ for Britain’s role in slavery – but they have also called on British people to celebrate the legacy of the Empire.
British%20Empire.png


Among the British public, feelings tend to be positive. A new YouGov survey finds that most think the British Empire is more something to be proud of (59%) rather than ashamed of (19%). 23% don't know. Young people are least likely to feel pride over shame when it comes to the Empire, though about half (48%) of 18-24 year olds do. In comparison, about two-thirds (65%) of over 60s feel mostly proud.

Economically, the British Empire invested in infrastructure, established trading routes and installed institutions – but it also extracted resources, oversaw famines and in some cases left behind instability. Though many (36%) are unsure, British people do tend to think that, overall, former British colonies are now better off for having been part of the empire, by 49-15%.

A third of British people (34%) also say they would like it if Britain still had an empire. Under half (45%) say they would not like the Empire to exist today. 20% don’t know.

The Commonwealth Games in Glasgow this year are the latest reminder of the British Empire, and of a determination to present its legacy as constructive. YouGov also asked which countries British people would especially like to do well at the events, with Australia, New Zealand and Canada being most favoured.
 


The long-standing belief in bloodletting as a treatment is one which has often bugged me.
 
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