Vikings and Before

The second introductory post of my journey to Lübeck and Schleswig: The open air museum in Haithabu near Schleswig - on the peninsula that separates the Baltic Sea from the North Sea - has been on my list for some years. Because Vikings. *grin* Actually, the site is of historical interest beyond some reconstruced houses and shiny finds. King Heinrich the Fowler conquered the town, then in Danish possession, in 934, and his sons kept having trouble with the Danes in the years to come not least because of the importance of Haithabu.

The reconstructed Viking village of Haithabu seen from the wall

Ναγκόρνο-Καραμπάχ: γιατί δεν θα γίνει πόλεμος.

\

Η σύγκρουση του Ναγκόρνο-Καραμπάχ ξέσπασε το Φεβρουάριο του 1988, όταν η αυτόνομη αυτή περιοχή  που κατοικείται κυρίως από Αρμένιους ανακοίνωσε την πρόθεσή της να αποχωρίσει από τη Σοβιετική Δημοκρατία του Αζερμπαϊτζάν.

WWII war wrecks & relics from around the world

We tend to think that we have found all the wrecks and relics from the battlefields of the world wars. But, when you realise how vast the wars were it shouldn’t really come as a surprise to us when machines of war are discovered. Here is a collection of wrecks and relics that have been found.

IL-2 Sturmovik

Freshly retrieved from ‘Crooked Lake’ near the town of Severomorsk in the Murmansk region of Russia is the IL-2 Sturmovik wreck pictured below. The wreck was lifted on 21st June 2012 by a team named ‘Icarus’ from the city of Zaozersk. This particular IL-2 served with 46th Air Assault Regiment of the Northern Fleet and made an emergency landing on the ice covered ‘Crooked Lake’ on November 25th 1943. It was part of a group of 16 IL-2s that were part of a raid on a German airfield at Luostari. 25 Me-109’s rose to intercept them and the resulting engagement cost the Russians 11 planes and the Germans 23.

B-25

After the B-25 had taken off from the Army Air Base outside Columbia, South Carolina, on a skip-bombing training mission over the lake’s island targets, its left engine had lost power. The base was a good six miles away, so Henry Mascall, the bombardier, urged pilot William Fallon to land on the lake. The airplane ditched about two miles west of Dreher Shoals Dam. The crew climbed out onto the wings, then inflated a life raft and set it in the water. Sewall Oliver eventually rescued them all in his speedboat.  About seven minutes after impact, the aircraft began sinking. It finally ended up at the bottom of Lake Murray, at a depth of 150 feet—too deep for the U.S. Army Air Forces to salvage it. It was written off as a loss.

Operation Sealion: Hitler’s Plan to Invade Britain

• FEATURED
• INSTANT ARTICLES
• WORLD WAR II

by Andrew Knighton - Apr 13, 2016

Great Britain’s success in holding out against Nazi Germany has become the stuff of national legend. The only country in Western Europe to successfully stand against the Nazis throughout World War Two, it was kept safe by the English Channel, thanks to which only the Channel Islands were invaded by Hitler’s troops.
But Hitler had a plan to invade Britain, and he came close to executing it.

Reaching for Peace

Munich Conference in 1938

The attitude of Nazi Germany towards the United Kingdom was a complicated one. On the one hand, the Nazis admired the British, with their strong military tradition, their overseas empire and their northern European heritage. They saw them as kindred spirits.

On the other hand, Britain was one of the countries that had humiliated Germany in the Treaty of Versailles at the end of the First World War, and on whom Hitler intended revenge. Britain remained allied with France, one of Germany’s staunchest enemies, and had been making diplomatic manoeuvres aimed at containing Germany.

The Battle of the Coral Sea: A New Form Of War At Sea

 

-

From the 4th to 8th May 1942, the Japanese and American fleets in the Pacific made history. For the first time ever, a naval battle took place in which neither fleet came within sight of the other. It showed where naval warfare was heading in the 20^th century, with planes and later rocketry meaning that fleets could strike across the horizon. As a strategic encounter, it was costly but indecisive.

Hypatia: The last of the great philosophers who was also a mathematician extraordinaire

Posted By: Dattatreya Mandal 

Was not Hypatia the greatest philosopher of Alexandria, and a true martyr to the old values of learning? She was torn to pieces by a mob of incensed Christians not because she was a woman, but because her learning was so profound, her skills at dialectic so extensive that she reduced all who queried her to embarrassed silence. They could not argue with her, so they murdered her.

Fast Facts! Hitler Gambles Everything: The Battle of the Bulge

by Andrew Knighton - Mar 11, 2016

4.09k SHARES

FacebookTwitter

A desperate gamble by a struggling army, the Battle of the Bulge was Hitler’s last great attempt to end the Second World War on terms short of abject failure. A plan that even senior German commanders considered doomed, it was a last dynamic attack by a regime that had briefly conquered half of Europe through such strategies, but which would soon be gone.

Officially sanctioned by Adolf Hitler – the amazing Mercedes-Benz T80

Mercedes-Benz Museum, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. source

Mercedes, has quite the history time line. From ties with the Nazis, to engineering some of the craziest cars of all times. Hitler was a huge fan of automotive racing and wanted Germany to have the best of anything.
World-renowned German auto racer Hans Stuck’s pet project was to take the world land speed record and he convinced Mercedes-Benz to build a special racing car for the attempt. In the decade just before World War II broke out, two German car manufacturers were having their own private wars against each other. We’re talking about Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union, which, in part thanks to a load of cash and a couple of direct orders coming from none other than Adolf Hitler himself, were set to become the most prodigious car manufacturers in the world.
The Mercedes-Benz T80 was a six-wheeled vehicle built by Mercedes-Benz, developed and designed by Ferdinand Porsche. It was intended to break the world land speed record, but never made the attempt, having been over-taken by the outbreak of WWII.

Lost Caravaggio May Have Been Discovered in French Attic

by Benjamin Sutton on April 13, 2016

A work some have attributed to Michelangelo Merisi, aka Caravaggio, “Judith beheading Holofernes” (ca 1604–05), 144 x 173 cm (image courtesy Eric Turquin) (click to enlarge)

A painting that a French family found in their attic while investigating a leaky roof may be a long-lost Caravaggio. The large canvas depicts the Old Testament scene of Judith beheading the Assyrian general Holofernes, and several experts claim it is the second version, long presumed lost, of Caravaggio’s famous “Judith Beheading Holofernes” (1598–99), which is in the collection of the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica in Rome.
The possible Caravaggio is currently on view in the Paris office of Old Master painting dealer Eric Turquin who, along with auctioneer Marc Labarde, has been working to authenticate the work since it was first found by a family in Toulouse in April 2014. It is being offered for sale to the French state for €120 million (~$135 million), and culture minister Audrey Azoulay has designated it a national treasure, which means it is barred from leaving the country for 30 months.

Caravaggio, “Judith Beheading Holofernes” (1598–99) (Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica, Rome, via Wikimedia Commons) (click to enlarge)

“The ‘Judith Beheading Holofernes’ that has just been identified in a private collection in Toulouse must be considered, by far, the most important painting discovered in the last 20 years, and by one of the universal geniuses of painting,” Turquin said in a statement sent to Hyperallergic. “The rediscovered painting is in exceptional condition for a work four centuries old, and it is perfectly documented.”

10 Surprising Facts About the American Civil War

by Shahan Russell -

The Battle of Chickamauga

1.10k SHARES

FacebookTwitter

The American Civil War was fought from April 12th, 1861 to May 9th, 1865 between the Confederate States and the Union. Most believe it was about ending slavery, but that’s a myth.
The Civil War was about bringing the rebellious Confederate States back into the Union. That slavery ended in the aftermath was just icing on the cake. There’s a lot more about the Civil War that most don’t know about, including the following ten.

The blue and yellow States formed the Union in 1861. Those in blue banned slavery while those in yellow allowed it. The bright red states seceded after 15 April 1861 while the dark red states formed the Confederacy. The gray areas were not yet states. – Source

10 Things You Need To Know About Hermann Goering

by Nikola Budanovic -

1.11k SHARES

FacebookTwitter

Hermann Goering was born on 12 January 1893, as a son of a wealthy German diplomat, Heinrich Goering, who pursued an overseas career, serving as the Governor-General of the German protectorate of South-West Africa (modern day Namibia). Later, he was employed as a consul in Haiti.
Heinrich Goering had five children from his first marriage and five more with Franziska Tiefenbrunn, Hermann’s mother. His other siblings were Karl, Olga, Paula, and Albert. As a child, he didn’t spend much time with his parents, as his father was often on duty in exotic, overseas countries. In 1893, when Hermann was born, his mother joined her husband in Haiti, leaving the baby in Bavaria. She stayed in Haiti for three years.

Αλμανάκ Βασική Έκδοση 14 Απριλίου

• Γιορτάζουν:  Αρίσταρχος, Τρόφιμος.

Προβάλλονται μόνο τα σημαντικότερα!

 

ΓΕΓΟΝΟΤΑ ΓΕΝΝΗΣΕΙΣ ΘΑΝΑΤΟΙ

μ. Χ.

1528

Ο πρώτος Έλληνας που πατάει το πόδι του στην Αμερική είναι κάποιος Θεόδωρος, που αποβιβάζεται στην περιοχή της Φλώριδας. Προς τιμήν του, έχει ανεγερθεί άγαλμα στην πόλη Κλίαργουοτερ της Φλώριδας.

1821

Μάχη στο Λεβίδι. Οι Έλληνες επαναστάτες κατατροπώνουν τους Τούρκους. Η ηρωική αντίσταση του Αναγνώστη Στριφτόμπολα και των παλικαριών του, οι οποίοι είναι οχυρωμένοι μέσα στα σπίτια, δίνει το χρόνο να φτάσουν ενισχύσεις υπό τους Δημήτριο Πλαπούτα και Σταύρο Δημητρακόπουλο, ώστε να λυθεί η πολιορκία.

Meet Wojtek – A soldier bear, a weapons carrier for the Polish Аrmy during WWII

Wojtek (1942–1963) usually spelled Voytek in English, was a Syrian brown bear found in Iran and adopted by soldiers of the 22nd Artillery Supply Company of the Polish II Corps. He was later officially enlisted as a soldier of the company with the rank of Private and subsequently became a Corporal. During the Battle of Monte Cassino, Wojtek helped move crates of ammunition. The name “Wojtek” is a diminutive (Hypocorism) form of “Wojciech”, an old Slavic name that is still common in Poland today and means “he who enjoys war” or “joyful warrior”.

He was the largest and undoubtedly most intimidating fighting force of the Polish Army. source

In the spring of 1942, the newly formed Anders Army left the Soviet Union for Iran, accompanied by thousands of Polish civilians who had been deported to the gulags following the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939. During a rest stop near the town of Hamadan while en route to Tehran on 8 April 1942, a group of Polish soldiers encountered a young Iranian boy who had found a bear cub after its mother had been shot by hunters. One of the civilian refugees in their midst, eighteen-year-old Irena Bokiewicz, was very taken with the cub, which prompted lieutenant Anatol Tarnowiecki to purchase the young bear, who spent the next three months in the Polish refugee camp that was established near Tehran, principally under the care of Irena. In August the bear was donated to the 2nd Transport Company, which later became the 22nd Artillery Supply Company, and he was given the name Wojtek by the soldiers.

Κωνσταντίνος Παπαρρηγόπουλος 1815 – 1891

Ο μεγαλύτερος ιστορικός συγγραφέας της νεώτερης Ελλάδας. Αποκαλείται και «εθνικός ιστορικός», διότι με το έργο του επηρέασε την ελληνική ιστοριογραφία, αλλά και γενικότερα την πνευματική πορεία της χώρας.
Ο Κωνσταντίνος Παπαρρηγόπουλος γεννήθηκε στην Κωνσταντινούπολη το 1815. Ο πατέρας του, Δημήτριος, γεννημένος στην Βυτίνα Αρκαδίας, είχε εγκατασταθεί στην Πόλη, όπου ασχολήθηκε με τραπεζιτικές εργασίες. Με την κήρυξη της Ελληνικής Επανάστασης το 1821, οι Τούρκοι έσφαξαν τον πατέρα του (4 Απριλίου) και η μητέρα του πήρε τα παιδιά της και εγκαταστάθηκε στην Οδησσό. Εκεί, ο Κωνσταντίνος άρχισε τις σπουδές του στο Λύκειο Ρισελιέ και τις συνέχισε αργότερα στο Ναύπλιο με δάσκαλο το Γεώργιο Γεννάδιο.

Πέρσι Σλετζ 1941 – 2015

Αμερικανός τραγουδιστής του ριθμ εντ μπλουζ και της σόουλ, γνωστός για τη διαχρονική επιτυχία του «When a Man Loves a Woman», μία «κλασική  μπαλάντα για τους ρομαντικούς κάθε ηλικίας», όπως τη χαρακτήρισε ο σπουδαίος ροκ κριτικός Ντέιβ Μαρς.
Ο Πέρσι Σλετζ (Percy Sledge) γεννήθηκε στις 25 Νοεμβρίου 1941 στο Λέιτον της Αλαμπάμα. Δούλεψε από μικρός στα χωράφια και στη συνέχεια ως νοσοκόμος στο νοσοκομείο του Σέφιλντ στην Αλαμπάμα. Παράλληλα, τα Σαββατοκύριακα περιόδευε στην περιοχή με τον συγκρότημα «Esquires Combo».

Top 10 Reasons Why Hitler Lost WWII

by Joris Nieuwint - 

Adolf Hitler, a man who swept the Germans up to incredible victories was also one of the main reasons Germany ultimately lost the war. Refusing to accept reality, taking no advice from anybody and thus making poor decision greatly contributed to a relatively quick end of Nazi Germany.
Here follow 10 reasons why he lost the war.

Tragedy At Sea – The Untold Story Of PT347, PT350 & PT346 – Sunk By Friendly Fire

by Guest Blogger -

PT-105, an 80' Elco boat similar to PT-346

Daniel Williams writes: My father’s story began early on the morning of April 29th, 1944 when during a mission aboard PT347 along with the PT350 to seek out any Japanese predawn traffic. His PT boat in which he was Skipper, the 347 runs up onto a reef at a location called Lassul Bay. This bay is located on the North/West corner of the island of New Britain on the Gazelle Peninsula. One and a half miles West of Cape Pulmas. In New Guinea. (later to be called Papua New Guinea)
The exact location of where this incident happened is very relevant. The U.S. military’s demarcation line dividing the South Pacific from the Southwest Pacific ran through Cape Lambert to the Northwest. The spot in which they ran aground was approximately six miles from this line.
What is also relevant to this tragedy is how good the weather was.
The weather was clear, the sea was calm, with a visibility of fifteen miles.

Ομαδικός τάφος στο Φαληρικό Δέλτα παραπέμπει στο Κυλώνειον Άγος

Σημαντικότατα ευρήματα στο φως

Λεπτομέρεια από την ομαδική ταφή. Το αγγείο ανάμεσα στους σκελετούς, αναμένεται να οδηγήσει με ακρίβεια στην χρονολόγηση των ευρημάτων

 Νέα, εντυπωσιακά ευρήματα, έχουν έρθει στο φως τις τελευταίες 20 ημέρες, στο πλαίσιο της ανασκαφής που πραγματοποιείται στο Φαληρικό Δέλτα, όπου κατασκευάζεται το Κέντρο Πολιτισμού του Ιδρύματος «Σταύρος Νιάρχος».

Συγκεκριμένα, στο νότιο τμήμα του σκάμματος ανακαλύφθηκε πολυάνδριο, ομαδική ταφή 80 ατόμων με δεσμά στα χέρια. Θεωρείται ότι η ανακάλυψη παραπέμπει στην εποχή του Κύλωνα και στο Κυλώνειον Άγος.

ΜΝΗΜΕΙΟ ΝΤΡΟΠΗΣ ΚΑΙ ΔΙΑΣΤΡΟΦΗΣ ΤΗΣ ΑΛΗΘΕΙΑΣ

Μια χυδαία απόφαση

Αριστείδης Χατζής
Αστυνομία έξω από την ΕΣΗΕΑ. Η Ενωση Συντακτών είναι αυτή που «αστυνομεύει» πλέον…
INTIMENEWS/ΛΙΑΚΟΣ ΓΙΑΝΝΗΣ
Με την απόφασή της να τιμωρήσει δημοσιογράφους που άσκησαν κριτική στην κυβέρνηση η ΕΣΗΕΑ κατάντησε από προστάτιδα της ελευθερίας του Τύπου σε στρατευμένο διώκτη της ελευθερίας του λόγου
9 ΑΠΡΙΛΙΟΥ 2016