History
-
Some pieces of jewelry are bought in the spur of the moment. Often an impulsive buy: a pair of earrings for your wife because you think they look nice, or a necklace for your girlfriend because, although it may not be expensive, it is still something nice for her to have. But buying a ring…
-
On this day in 1835, the first in a series of six articles announcing the supposed discovery of life on the moon appears in the New York Sun newspaper. Known collectively as “The Great Moon Hoax,” the articles were supposedly reprinted from the Edinburgh Journal of Science. The byline was Dr. Andrew Grant, described as a colleague…
-
When you think of popes, you wouldn’t believe that a small country like the Netherlands would ever produce a pope, but it did. Pope Adrian VI: The Dutch Reformer of the Papacy Pope Adrian VI, born Adriaan Florensz Boeyens, holds the unique distinction of being the only Dutchman to ascend to the papacy. His brief…
-
Juan Pujol García Double agent Juan Pujol García (codenamed “Garbo”) alongside his wife, Araceli González Carballo (BBC) Juan Pujol García was a chicken farmer who became a Spanish spy and worked as a double agent loyal to the United Kingdom against Nazi Germany during World War II, by relocating to Britain to carry out fictitious…
-
Forgotten History-The Hardaga & the Kabiljo families:Holocaust and Bosnian Muslim Genocide survivors
(originally posted in April 2016) There really isn’t such a thing as a happy Holocaust story but I think this is probably could be seen as a ‘happy’ story. It doesn’t only portray extreme bravery but also that deep down, good people are the same, regardless of what religious differences they have. Especially in the…
-
The Freckleton air disaster remains one of the most devastating aviation tragedies of the Second World War—not because it was the result of enemy action, but because a catastrophic accident brought the dangers of wartime aviation directly into the heart of a peaceful Lancashire village. On Wednesday, 23 August 1944, an American B-24 Liberator bomber…
-
On 15 November 1943, Himmler ordered that Romani and “part-Romanies” were to be put “on the same level as Jews and placed in concentration camps.” Between 1933 and 1945, Roma and Sinti in Europe were targets of Nazi persecution. The Nazi regime, building on long-held prejudices, viewed Roma as “a-socials” (outside “normal” society) and as…
-
Captain Brian Brownscombe was murdered by a Nazi officer after being taken prisoner.Brian “Basher” Brownscombe was a son of Herbert Henry and Edith May Brownscombe of Watchet, Somerset.He served with 181 Airlanding Field Ambulance. The medical officer had been awarded the George Cross after keeping a wounded soldier afloat for five hours, following the disastrous Sicily…
-
Jews began to live in Kielce in an approved legal status in the mid 1800s. They had a decent life except for violent pogroms, the last in 1918. A few Jews left to prestate Israel, and a few went to the USA, but most stayed because they had hope the situation would resolve. No Gentile…
-
One of the most extraordinary episodes in Irish history saw a French naval flotilla sail to the Northern coast of Mayo in 1798 to help Ireland in its long fight to break with Britain. The 1789 French Revolution had been a huge source of inspiration for Irish nationalists and in the wake of the second…
