OPIUM: BBC Documentary Series, A Complete History
11 Nov
“The great Opium War of 1840 and the resulting transfer of Hong Kong Island to Britain. How Jardine and Matheson profited from the illegal trade of opium and convinced England to launch an assault on China. Tea and opium are intrinsically linked and one sixth of Britain’s economy was due to trade in opium, an illegal substance.”
10 Amazing Women Who Led Rebellions
11 Nov10 Amazing Women Who Led Rebellions
“Male revolutionaries such as Che Guevara have gone down as heroes for leading rebellions against “the Man.” But forgotten by history are the women who took on far greater powers than Fulgencio Batista. Throughout the ages, women have led rebellions and revolutions which took on the might of the Roman Empire and the vast wealth of the British East India Company.”
HISTORY OF VETERAN’S DAY (or Remembrance Day in some countries)
11 Nov
“On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities, was declared between the Allied nations and Germany in the First World War, then known as “the Great War.” Commemorated as Armistice Day beginning the following year, November 11th became a legal federal holiday in the United States in 1938. In the aftermath of World War II and the Korean War, Armistice Day became Veterans Day, a holiday dedicated to American veterans of all wars.”
Qin Shi Huang Di
10 Nov“…Qin Shi Huang Di made life a little easier for the rest of China. He standardized all the measurments, roads, writing and other stuff so that it wouldn’t be so fucking confusing to travel around the country there. He built some wooden walls which would become the basis for the Great Wall of China, one of the greatest and most balls-out construction projects in human history. Sure, he was oppressive, tyrannical and brutal, but he was also pretty damn efficient and he laid the groundwork for a Chinese national identity that has lasted upwards of two thousand years.
He was also totally paranoid. Early in his reign, some jerk assassin named Jing Ke tried to stab Qin Shi Huang with a fan and even though Qin managed to whip out his sword and kill the shit out of Jing, he was pretty much untrusting of anyone from that point on. His paranoia led him to relocate the leaders of each of the states he conquered to live in the capital of Qin so that he and his men could keep an eye on them. He had royal food tasters try everything before he ate it. He rarely came out in public. He burned scholarly works that disagreed with his philosophy of Legalism and buried Confucian scholars alive so that they wouldn’t fuck with him. While there’s really nothing cool about burning books and executing scholars, you sort of have to respect the fact that Qin Shi Huang was willing to go that extra mile to ensure the longevity of his reign.”
Qin Shi Huang Di
America’s Revolution Was Fought By The Poor, Not The Citizens
10 NovAmerica’s Revolution Was Fought By The Poor, Not The Citizens
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The impoverished, the disenfranchised, and the “filth” (Washington’s words not ours), fought for and won all the lofty freedoms conceived of in town halls, alehouses, and eventually Philadelphia. That didn’t just happen at random, either. That’s exactly how America’s wealthier colonists planned it.
When the war became reality, there was a remarkable dearth of ardent patriots willing to stop a musket ball for “liberty.” Overwhelmingly, colonists of any means whatsoever paid drifters and vagabonds to take their place in the fight against the British. Or, if they had them available, a wealthy colonist might order a slave or servant to join the army. Is there anything nobler than risking the life of another for your ideals? Apparently not, since it wasn’t just the powdered wig wearers who bought the military service of the poor. Middle and lower-class colonists alike often pooled their monies together to hire a “down and outer” for three years’ service. When all else failed, colonies (especially the southern ones) released convicts and enrolled them in the army.”
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FAMOUS PEOPLE WHO MARRIED THEIR COUSINS
10 Nov
“A weekly show hosted by John Green, where knowledge junkies get their fix of trivia-tastic information. This week, John looks at some rather famous people who married their cousins including Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin and Queen Victoria.”
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY SESAME STREET!!!
10 Nov
“The preschool educational television program Sesame Street was first aired on public broadcasting television stations November 10, 1969, and reached its 44th season in 2013. The history of Sesame Street has reflected changing attitudes to developmental psychology, early childhood education and cultural diversity. Featuring Jim Henson’s Muppets, animation, live shorts, humor and celebrity appearances, it was the first television program of its kind to base its content and production values on laboratory and formative research, and the first to include a curriculum “detailed or stated in terms of measurable outcomes”.[1] Initial responses to the show included adulatory reviews, some controversy and high ratings. By its 40th anniversary in 2009, Sesame Street was broadcast in over 120 countries, and 20 independent international versions had been produced”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Sesame_Street
November 10 1969 Sesame Street debuts
10 NovUse to be my favorite show.
On November 10th 1969, “Sesame Street,” a pioneering TV show that would teach generations of young children the alphabet and how to count, made its broadcast debut.
“Sesame Street,” with its memorable theme song (“Can you tell me how to get/How to get to Sesame Street”), went on to become the most widely viewed children’s program in the world.
It has aired in more than 120 countries.
The show was the brainchild of Joan Ganz Cooney, a former documentary producer for public television.
Cooney’s goal was to create programming for preschoolers that was both entertaining and educational.
She also wanted to use TV as a way to help underprivileged 3- to 5- year-olds prepare for kindergarten.
“Sesame Street” was set in a fictional New York neighbourhood and included ethnically diverse characters and positive social messages.
Taking a cue from “Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In,” a popular 1960s variety…
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To what extent did the populations of rural Lithuania and Poland engage in hostilities and Nazi collaboration against Jewish fugitives and partisans surviving in forests? (Part 1, by Jack Watt)
10 Novinteresting….keep it up
The forest is a hugely significant, but somewhat marginalised landscape of the Holocaust. Initially woodland was the chosen site of the Einsatzgruppen shooting squads, helping to facilitate the mass murder and disposal of thousands of Jews. However, they later became one of the few places where Jews could escape and attempt to survive either individually or in small groups and family camps, and even engage in violent acts of partisan resistance to impede German progress. Up to 80,000 Jews fled into the forests of Eastern Europe , where they could evade the continuous gaze of their oppressors, which plagued the experiences of ghetto and camp life.
However, there were still numerous other groups and actors in the forest landscape and its immediate periphery, including local collaborators, bystanders and righteous gentiles (those who aided the Jews). The title of this study, which isolates the relationship between Jews and local inhabitants, is…
View original post 992 more words
The Association of Religion Data Archives.
8 NovThe Association of Religion Data Archives.
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The Association of Religion Data Archives (ARDA) strives to democratize access to the best data on religion. Founded as the American Religion Data Archive in 1997 and going online in 1998, the initial archive was targeted at researchers interested in American religion. The targeted audience and the data collection have both greatly expanded since 1998, now including American and international collections and developing features for educators, journalists, religious congregations, and researchers. Data included in the ARDA are submitted by the foremost religion scholars and research centers in the world. Currently housed in the Social Science Research Institute, the College of Liberal Arts, and the Department of Sociology at the Pennsylvania State University, the ARDA is funded by the Lilly Endowment, the John Templeton Foundation, Chapman University and the Pennsylvania State University.”
Ancient Kingdom Discovered Beneath Mound in Iraq Oct 1, 2013 10:00 AM ET // by Owen Jarus, LiveScience
8 Nov“
In the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq archaeologists have discovered an ancient city called Idu, hidden beneath a mound.
Cuneiform inscriptions and works of art reveal the palaces that flourished in the city throughout its history thousands of years ago.
Located in a valley on the northern bank of the lower Zab River, the city’s remains are now part of a mound created by human occupation called a tell, which rises about 32 feet (10 meters) above the surrounding plain. The earliest remains date back to Neolithic times, when farming first appeared in the Middle East, and a modern-day village called Satu Qala now lies on top of the tell.”
Can’t Buy Me Love: How Romance Wrecked Traditional Marriage
3 NovCan’t Buy Me Love: How Romance Wrecked Traditional Marriage
“Love was considered a reason not to get married. It was seen as lust, as something that would dissipate.”
For most of recorded human history, marriage was an arrangement designed to maximize financial stability. Elizabeth Abbott, the author of “A History of Marriage” explains that in ancient times, marriage was intended to unite various parts of a community, cementing beneficial economic relationships. “Because it was a financial arrangement, it was conceived of and operated as such. It was a contract between families. For example, let’s say I’m a printer and you make paper, we might want a marriage between our children because that will improve our businesses.” Even the honeymoon, often called the “bridal tour,” was a communal affair, with parents, siblings, and other close relatives traveling together to reinforce their new familial relationships.”
I Love History...and Research 
