I think that although the governments separated...the power structures behind the governments continued along seamlessly....I see no evidence to the contrary.

I know next to nothing about Colonial history and the histories of the colonies' descending countries so I definitely appreciate the input, general Tsao.

Mercenary war

This is a slightly bigger topic than usual b/c I'm a great sucker for these kinds of stories. So Rome won the first Punic war in 241 BC and along with territorial acquisitions from Carthage, Rome gets a serious amount of gold paid in the form of instant reparations as well as extra payments for the next 10 years. This left Carthage unable to pay for the services of about 20 000 mercenaries. The problem eventually escalated to a merciless war between Carthage and the mercenaries allied with members of tribes that were subjects to the Carthaginians. Carthage won the war and killed a lot of enemy soldiers, about 50 000 of them in a single event known as the Battle of "the saw". Meanwhile, Rome occupied Sardinia and Hannibal's family became very influential in Carthage, so the stage from the Second Punic War set.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercenary_War

I can see this made into a movie.

Marian reforms

As far as I can gather, the thing that made Rome the formidable military power that it's remembered for. Opened the gates for a lot more people to get in the army, created a standing army, reorganized the whole thing, introduced benefits for the soldiers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marian_reforms

Yes, and it was a two-edged sword. Marius and his successors made Rome even more of a powerhouse (since they could rely on mercenaries rather than freeholding farmers to man the legions), but it also made the soldiers reliant on generals for their economic well-being (thus advancing generals' political ambitions), and centered much Roman policy on the military (because conquest ensured the enrichment of the Patricians and Equites). The Republic was unlikely to survive such radical changes to the military and social structure.

lets say one of several measures and developments
------------------------------

Carolingi History: The Reichsannalen

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichsannalen

The wiki-article is a basic overview. What is more interesting is one of the latest research trends concerning them: principally doubting everything they say and comparing it to the few other sources of that time in order to find inconsistencies.

Especially Charlemagne seems to have used them to rewrite some "minor" historic events in order to improve his image and his deeds. The trial of Tassilo III is a very interesting example for this. Some historians claim to have found out that 1.the trial could not have happened the way it has been described and 2. that the charges against him are at least doubt full (others say: completely made up).
From this perspective Charlemagne has been an emperor who basically did power politics but seems to have felt the need to give them a righteous and lawful look (and be it by rewriting history )- quite modern imho.

Antikythera mechanism

I think that this is a truly amazing piece of engineering and belongs here, although it's still to a degree a mystery as to what it was. It's the first known analog computer, believed to be a Greek invention, and was as sophisticated as a nearly 2000 years younger Swiss clock. It was designed to predict the position of the Sun, the Moon and other stuff. Btw, it's a geocentric model.

Sickest part? A guy built a LEGO replica and it correctly predicted a solar eclipse 12 years from now.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antikythera_mechanism

New York City Draft Riots (July 11-13, 1863):

http://www.civilwarhome.com/draftriots.htm

From link above:


"The nation is at this time in a state of Revolution, North, South, East, and West," wrote the Washington Times during the often violent protests that occurred after Abraham Lincoln issued the March 3, 1863, Enrollment Act of Conscription. Although demonstrations took place in many Northern cities, the riots that broke out in New York City were both the most violent and the most publicized.

With a large and powerful Democratic party operating in the city, a dramatic show of dissent had been long in the making. The state's popular governor, Democrat Horatio Seymour, openly despised Lincoln and his policies. In addition, the Enrollment Act shocked a population already tired of the two-year-old war.

By the time the names of the first draftees were drawn in New York City on July 11, reports about the carnage of Gettysburg had been published in city papers. Lincoln's call for 300,000 more young men to fight a seemingly endless war frightened even those who supported the Union cause. Moreover, the Enrollment Act contained several exemptions, including the payment of a "commutation fee" that allowed wealthier and more influential citizens to buy their way out of service.

Perhaps no group was more resentful of these inequities than the Irish immigrants populating the slums of northeastern cities. Poor and more than a little prejudiced against blacks-with whom they were both unfamiliar and forced to compete for the lowest-paying jobs-the Irish in New York objected to fighting on their behalf.

On Sunday, July 12, the names of the draftees drawn the day before by the Provost Marshall were published in newspapers. Within hours, groups of irate citizens, many of them Irish immigrants, banded together across the city. Eventually numbering some 50,000 people, the mob terrorized neighborhoods on the East Side of New York for three days looting scores of stores. Blacks were the targets of most attacks on citizens; several lynchings and beatings occurred. In addition, a black church and orphanage were burned to the ground.

All in all, the mob caused more than $1.5 million of damage. The number killed or wounded during the riot is unknown, but estimates range from two dozen to nearly 100. Eventually, Lincoln deployed combat troops from the Federal Army of the Potomac to restore order; they remained encamped around the city for several weeks. In the end, the draft raised only about 150,000 troops throughout the North, about three-quarters of them substitutes, amounting to just one-fifth of the total Union force.


-Zeno

Riots? I know a good one:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_riots_in_Bavaria

Riots in Bavaria because the beer price was raised. While the rest of Germany was fighting for civil rights and more democratic structures, Bavarians preferred to fight for lower beer prices - seems quite stereotypical to me

edit: oh well not just a german phenomenon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lager_Beer_Riot

I like personal stories from history and i'm fond of the story of
Wilmer McLean.

It is said that the American Civil War started in Wilmer McLean's front yard and ended
in his front room.

Nice wee bit of coincidence.

The first major land battle of the Civil War, First Manassas, took place in northern Virginia on June 21, 1861. McLean owned a farm in the area, and his house served as the headquarters for Confederate Brigadier General P.G.T. Beauregard. Due to the location of these headquarters, the fighting of this short battle took place right in front of McLean’s house. It was so close, in fact, that a Union cannonball struck the house and landed in McLean’s kitchen. After the battle ended, McLean decided he’d had enough of the war and moved to a new location: Appomattox Court House.

Nearly four years later, in April of 1865, the Civil War was nearing its end. At Appomattox Court House, Confederate General Robert E. Lee and Union General Ulysses S. Grant met on the battlefield one final time. Unlike at First Manassas, this was a Union victory, and Lee surrendered his army by the day’s end. Grant drew up the terms of surrender and Lee signed the document … in Wilmer McLean’s front parlor

So, as McLean supposedly said at the war’s end: “The war began in my front yard and ended in my front parlor.”

Source: http://butternutandblue.wordpress.co...wilmer-mclean/

The financial crisis of 33AD

A big business in the trading industry went into the gutter.

One bank had lent them a ton of cash, a run on the bank followed.

Then an even bigger bank was rumored to be involved with the loans.

The larger bank had invested in the Belgae's nobility, which went berserk, payments were suspended and the bank had no liquidity.

Emperor Tiberius had decided that the agricultural sector in Italy nedded fresh investments and had ordered that a third of the Senators' worth be invested into Italian agriculture. The deadline to comply was around this time.

So, the interest rate went from 12% to 0%.(My guess would be that 12% is OK given the life expectancy and the dangers of plunder etc., still beats a credit card...).

With banks defaulting all over the Empire and wealthy men reduced to begging, Graccus, the paetor responsible for bankrupty cases, rushed a Senate meeting and sent a letter to Tiberius asking him to relax the law about investing in Italy. Tiberius was in Capri at the time and I find it hilarious that it took the response 4 days to reach Rome. Tiberius relaxed the law and bailed out the credible banking houses.

Still, some previously rich guys never made it back.

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_In...anic_of_33_A.D.




Oh yeah, and Jesus was supposedly killed the same year.

The name of this forum: always reminds me of a popular thesis from the beginning of the nineties: The End of History .

When the iron curtain fell and the USA remained as the only superpower, there was this feeling that "we won!" The enemy was defeated and no other opponent in sight.
In his famous essay Francis Fukuyama claimed that the end of the cold war did not only signal the triumph of the liberal democratic model which would soon be the most dominant/the only form of organized community on this planet but also the end of the progression of human history. The essay received a lot of attention and was widely discussed.

Of course the 2nd Gulf War was a huge hit for this thesis - but still, right after this conflict, a general again claimed that now at last the "End of History" had come.

Only 20 years later we know all too well how wrong he was...

In general the discussion about Fukuyama´s essay shows the general mood of this time - pride and triumph as well as insecurity.

Essay from 1989:
http://www.wesjones.com/eoh.htm

Jebe The Arrow


Jebe (died 1225) was one of the prominent Noyans (generals) of Genghis Khan.

When Genghis Khan attacked this tribe, Jebe was said, according to The Secret History of Mongols (one of the prime sources related to the life of Genghis Khan and his followers) to have shot and injured Genghis Khan in the neck during the battle. After the battle, Genghis Khan asked the defeated to reveal who shot "his horse" in the neck (euphemizing his own injury as his horse's in an apparent attempt to conceal his injury, or possibly to prevent false confessions).

Jebe is said to have voluntarily confessed that he shot Genghis Khan himself and not his horse, and further said, that "if Genghis Khan desired to kill him, it was his choice, but if he would let him live, he would serve Genghis Khan loyally". Genghis Khan, in his own usual custom, highly valued honesty and loyalty in his soldiers and so, in the traditions of nomadic chivalry, pardoned him and praised him on this account. He then gave him a new name, Jebe, which means both "arrow" and "rust" in Mongolian.

Jebe is further known to have become one of the best and most loyal commanders of Genghis Khan in later conquests. His ability as a general puts him in one rank with Subutai ba'atur.

The Secret History of the Mongols is an excellent book.

FYP.

Lord Haw-Haw (William Joyce) was an American citizen who illegally obtained a British passport to take up residence there (having an English mother).

After WWII, he was hanged for treason by the British for broadcasting Nazi propaganda from Germany during the war.

The British retroactively changed the treason legislation to ensure he did not escape the hangman's noose.

(I read a fantastic book on this years ago but it's all there in Wikipedia.)

Robin Hood is a heroic outlaw in English folklore. A highly skilled archer and swordsman, he is known for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his "Merry Men Traditionally Robin Hood and his men are depicted wearing Lincoln green clothes The origin of the legend is claimed by some to have stemmed from actual outlaws, or from ballads or tales of outlaws.

Robin Hood became a popular folk figure starting in the medieval period continuing through modern literature, films, and television. In the earliest sources Robin Hood is a yeoman, but he was often later portrayed as an aristocrat wrongfully dispossessed of his lands and made into an outlaw by an unscrupulous sheriff.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Hood

Sounds like the main character in Kurt Vonnegut's "Mother Night"

This is crazy. I'd love to read more about him.

War Plan Red

Was a plan for the United States to make war with Great Britain. Approved in May 1930 by the Secretary of War and the Secretary of Navy, updated in 1934–35, and officially withdrawn in 1939, following the outbreak of the Second World War.

The war was intended to be a continental war, waged primarily on North American territory between the United States and the British Empire. The assumption was that Canada would represent the primary theater of operations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Plan_Red

Sounds like he might have had more unconfirmed kills with his fists than confirmed kills with his sniper rifle.

Wow never heard about this before.

Nor have I... Is it just me or is it a little weird that there is not one citation in that entire wikipedia page?

edit: must be real but strange there are no citations.

In 1991 communist hardliners staged a coup against Mikhail Gorbachev in order to revert the course of history. New, as yet unpublished documents now give a deeper insight into the events behind the scenes.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/...779277,00.html

You guys might want to check this out ~ a lot of history here:

50 most interesting articles on wikipedia

http://copybot.wordpress.com/2009/04...-on-wikipedia/

On September 6, 1976, Lieutenant Viktor Belenko defected with his Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 to Hakodate, Japan. After being inspected by the Foreign Technology Division of the United States DoD, the Mig-25 was released to Japan who then returned it in pieces to the Soviet Union. Russians estimated that he caused close to $4 billion worse of damage to USSR, forcing them to change "friend-foe" system for entire fighter jet fleet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavlov%27s_House