Historical

Grace Fryer | Women of History
Grace Fryer’s life and death were instrumental in shaping occupational labor laws. As one of the Radium Girls, she changed the way companies treated their employees in a precedent-setting case. This is the incredible story of Grace Fryer, the subject of this edition of Women of History.
By Shea Keating5 years ago in FYI
Caligula, Emperor of Rome
When people think of evil Roman Emperors, Caligula tends to come pretty high up the list. He was only the third that they had had, so the prospects for what was to come did not look all that promising!
By John Welford5 years ago in FYI
The US Was Terrified of Tomatoes
People might love a pasta sauce, but they may hate the actual tomato. Historically, this is an echo of, at least in the US, our huge, weird relationship with tomatoes. It’s crazy that people don’t talk about it more often. I mean, I don’t know if anybody else had this misconception, but when I was quite young, I just kind of assumed tomatoes were Italian because I associated them with pasta sauce, but they’re not. They’re Mesoamerican. We have proof that the tomato was eaten in the Aztec culture as early as 700 AD.
By Blessing Akpan5 years ago in FYI
Jhansi ki Rani – Rani Lakshmi Bai
Early life of Jhansi ki Rani – Rani Lakshmi Bai She was born to a Maharashtrian family at Kashi (now Varanasi) in the year 18 November 1835. During her childhood, she was called by the name Manikarnika. Affectionately, her family members called her Manu. At a tender age of four, she lost her mother. As a result, the responsibility of raising her fell upon her father. While pursuing studies, she also took formal training in martial arts, which included horse riding, shooting and fencing. To know the complete life history of Jhansi ki Rani – Rani Lakshmi Bai, read on.
By raj5 years ago in FYI
Maximinus Thrax, Emperor of Rome
It would be difficult to imagine a greater contrast between successive emperors than when Maximinus Thrax (meaning Thracian) seized the imperial throne from Alexander Severus. The “mummy’s boy”, killed along with his mother on the orders of Maximinus, was succeeded by a former shepherd from Thrace (modern northern Greece and southern Bulgaria) who was a giant of a man reputed to have been eight feet tall and extremely sweaty.
By John Welford5 years ago in FYI
Matthew Webb: the first man to swim from England to France
Swimming the 21 miles of the English Channel is now quite a regular event, with a large number of successful crossings made every year, whether as solo, team or relay attempts. However, this feat was believed by many people to be impossible before Matthew Webb achieved it in 1875.
By John Welford5 years ago in FYI
Galileo Galilei life biography
The New New Sciences (1638) is a summary of Galileo's life and work in motion science, energy, and materials. In addition to the telescope and its many mathematical and scientific discoveries, Galileo built a hydrostatic equilibrium in 1604 to measure small objects.
By Sita Dahal5 years ago in FYI
Louis Pasteur Life Biography
Louis Pasteur struggled to convince surgeons that germs do exist, that they cause disease, and that there is nothing wrong with the air, as popular opinion has suggested. Instead, he emphasized that germs spread through human contact with medical instruments and that pasteurization (fertility) were essential to prevent the spread of disease.
By Sita Dahal5 years ago in FYI
The pernicious Hamitic Heritage
It should come as no surprise when people seek to justify immoral actions by appealing to a Biblical precedent. That was the case with the enslavement of black people by whites, which they claimed was sanctioned in the Book of Genesis.
By John Welford5 years ago in FYI
Constantine I, Emperor of Rome
Constantine was one of the most influential of all the emperors of Rome. His reign marked a definite turning point in the history of the empire, which would never be the same again. He must also be counted as the last “great” emperor of Rome. Nobody who followed was of anything like the same quality.
By John Welford5 years ago in FYI
History of the Olympics
While the modern Olympic Games go back to 1896, the ancient Olympic Games reach back as far as 776 B.C. and beyond. Though historians hang the beginning on that date, it seems the Games had been going on for several centuries before the 8th century B.C. Held originally in Olympia, Greece — a sister city of my town of Colorado Springs, the home of the U.S. Olympic Training Center — the games were dedicated to Zeus, father of the Olympian gods, and the site was one of the most important religious centers in Greece.
By Bill Petro5 years ago in FYI
Hanging Gardens of Babylon
Many ideas about the structure and location of the gardens continue. A study of the historical significance of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, has led Oxford historians to conclude that the foundations of the great Assyrian Empire Sennacherib, whose palace was a major rival of Babylon in Nineveh, show trees growing on the balcony of Babylon. Layard painter hired by bass authorized by Dr. Dalley, who imitated gardens and produced Layard's book Nineveh, published in London in 1853.
By Sita Dahal5 years ago in FYI