Archive for the ‘History’ Category
Ever heard of the all-black American fighter squadron?
December 8th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
Not many people have – but it is a remarkable story. The Tuskegee Airmen – named after their training base – were the first African-American military aviators in the United States armed forces and fought in the Second World War. Formally, they formed the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group of the United States Army Air Corps […]
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How the worldwide population of airworthy Spitfires might be about to be doubled
December 2nd, 2012 by Roger Darlington
A team led by Lincolnshire farmer David Cundall has strong grounds for believing that they are about to unearth dozens of Mark 14 Spitfires that were buried on the edge of a Burmese airport at the end of the Second World War. It’s a remarkable story which you can read here. I have a lifelong […]
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Is the United States becoming more aggressive?
November 12th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
I have just started reading: “The Next 100 Years” by George Friedman. He admits that: “The United States is, historically, a warlike country.” Consider these figures in the book: The US has been at war for about 10% of its existence. During the 20th century, the US was at war 15% of the time. In […]
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An introduction to Big History
November 3rd, 2012 by Roger Darlington
In this TED talk, David Christian gives us the history of the world in 18 minutes.
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The arrival of Big History
October 28th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
One of my many interests is history which is why this blog has a history section and why my book reviews have three sections on history. Some of the problems with history, however, are that it tends to start with Ancient Egypt or at least the arrival of humankind, that too much of it is […]
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Why does the statue of Gladstone have red hands?
October 19th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
As I explained in my previous posting, yesterday I was visiting London’s East End to view a participating location in this week’s Get Online Week events. While I was in the area, I noticed a rather fine statue of the Liberal statesman William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898) who managed to serve four terms as Chancellor of the […]
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Who are the 25 richest people ever?
October 17th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
The web site Celebrity Net Worth has done a calculation which takes account of inflation and come up with some fascinating results. You’ve probably never heard of the top guy – they’re all men – who was the King of Mali Mansa Musa (c.1280-c.1337). In fact, only three people alive today feature on the list.
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Two things happened half a century ago today
October 5th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
1) The Beatles released their first single “Love Me Do” and four lads from Liverpool changed the world – see more here. 2) As a 14 year old, i spent a day at school in Manchester where I did badly in a Physics test, did a bit better in a Latin test, and started on […]
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The city of Nanjing: 1937 and 2000
September 4th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
In 1937, Japanese troops occupied Nanjing, then the capital of China, and massacred up to 300,000 Chinese. I have just seen an impressive Chinese film on the atrocity called “City Of Life And Death” which I have reviewed here. On the first of my three visits to China in 2000, I visited Nanjing and I […]
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The war that Canada won
September 3rd, 2012 by Roger Darlington
Most people in the Britain have never heard of the War of 1812 whose 200th anniversary is of course this year. Many Americans know little about it either. But the event has a special resonance in Canada. The war was between the United States and Britain and, in course of it, the Americans made repeated […]
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