Résultats lu par "Daniel Houle" dans Toutes les catégories

Project Gemini is a neglected part of the US space program. Sandwiched between the excitement of Project Mercury and the sending of the first American astronauts to space and the euphoria of the Apollo Moon landings, Gemini was a step forward rather than a dramatic leap. However, this project achieved many important firsts, including the first spacewalk, the first rendezvous and docking between two spacecraft, the first flights of more than one week’s duration, and many more.

In terms of geopolitics, perhaps the most seminal event of the Middle Ages was the successful Ottoman siege of Constantinople in 1453. The city had been an imperial capital as far back as the fourth century, when Constantine the Great shifted the power center of the Roman Empire there, effectively establishing two almost equally powerful halves of antiquity’s greatest empire.

The 15th century was a pivotal era for Europe, during which it transitioned from a social and religious union under Christendom into a disparate collection of nation-states, and it was during this period that the Middle Ages came to an end and the Modern Period began. Less than a century earlier, in the mid-14th century, the Vatican called upon England and sought financial aid in the hopes of boosting papal defenses against French forces

About 2,000 years ago, a prophet named John wrote a book about his strange visions while he was in Patmos, a small Greek island in the Aegean Sea. This John, the Seer, the Revelator, was long believed to be one of Jesus’ apostles, but recent historians have determined that he was a second-generation disciple. In fact, he was likely a political exile, writing for Christians under the threat of persecution by the Roman Empire, and his book, the Book of Revelation, was controversial, obscure, and rejected by many local churches as early as the 2nd century CE.

By revolutionizing and modernizing Russian arms, including the creation of Russia’s first naval force, Peter was able to pursue an aggressive and expansionist foreign policy that set the stage for the way the European map would be redrawn again and again over the coming centuries. Some of those forays were memorably countered by Western Europeans and the Holy League, but the Ottomans’ most frequent foe was the Russian Empire, which opposed them for both geopolitical and religious reasons.

During the presidential campaign in 1864, the outcome of the Civil War was still very much in doubt, and while the Republicans renominated Lincoln for the presidency, they made an unprecedented move by nominating a Democrat, Andrew Johnson, for vice president. Senator Johnson was notable for being the only senator to remain loyal to the Union even when his state, Tennessee, had seceded. At the time, nominating Johnson seemed to be a mere token of goodwill - little did Republicans know what would happen the following April.

Yuri Bezmenov was among the first Soviet whistleblowers to attract attention on a global scale, and interest in his story has recently been revived thanks to his surprising cameo in the teaser trailer for Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War in August 2020. This came despite the fact he was far from the first ex-KGB agent or Russian to pull back the curtains on the Russian government and reveal the harrowing “truths” they were once sworn to harbor.

While Waco remains notorious more for the federal agents’ siege of David Koresh’s compound and the deaths of the Branch Davidians, it was followed a few years later by a mass suicide carried out by one of the most notorious doomsday cults in American history. On paper, the extraordinarily unorthodox ideology spouted by Heaven's Gate ranks near the top of the list of most outlandish end-of-the-world prophecies, and it was built on a blend of Christian, Gnostic, supernatural, New Age, and extraterrestrial lore.

For a period of just under 100 years, the city of Mari in northern Mesopotamia (Eastern Syria) was one of the most, if not the most, important cities in the Near East. Mari was ruled by a dynasty of powerful Amorite kings who were not afraid to use their military power to keep subordinate provinces in line and their enemies at bay, but more often, they relied upon a combination of diplomacy and trade to establish their dominance.

The Pleistocene spans a period from around 2.5 million years ago (mya) to just over 12,000 years ago, and it was an epoch of enormous change on Earth, mainly characterized by climate changes involving fluctuations between periods of extreme heat and long periods of glaciation. This period is commonly known as the Ice Age, despite the fact there were actually a number of separate periods of cold. The Pleistocene Era: The History of the Ice Age and the Dawn of Modern Humans looks at the development of the era, what life on Earth was like, and the origins of archaic humans.

During the Revolution, relatively little consideration had been given to the role of the federal government in the new nation, and the precise role and authority of an overarching entity with responsibility for all states within the union was a major problem. One of the most urgent tasks Washington faced was the establishment of a treasury to oversee the finances of America and regulate its currency. The Panic of 1792 examines the origins of America’s financial system, and how it was disastrously affected so shortly after the Constitution was ratified.

The question of man’s place in the extended universe has been pondered by every known culture since the beginning of recorded history. Naturally, as technological advances and the creation of flying aircraft became realities, the sighting of UFOs increased, as did the interest in potential contact with aliens. While incidents like the one at Roswell led to conspiracies and a craze among those who insisted the government was hiding proof of extraterrestrials’ existence, governments across the world were actually secretly studying UFO sightings by the mid-20th century.

Life in Jamaica changed rapidly with the arrival of the Spanish, beginning a torturous history of European colonization that only resulted in Jamaica’s independence in 1962. Imperialism not only affected indigenous people, but also gave rise to modern nationalist movements and famous advocates like Marcus Garvey. Modern Jamaica: The History of the Caribbean Island from Christopher Columbus to Today chronicles how the island’s history progressed, from Columbus’ historic voyages to the modern era. You will learn about Jamaica like never before.

Despite being unsuccessful in overthrowing the system, the German Coast Uprising showed a level of organization, leadership, and coordination unseen before by slaves in America, and it was totally unexpected by White owners and officials, which made it a precursor to its much more famous successor. The 1811 German Coast Uprising: The History and Legacy of America’s Largest Slave Revolt chronicles the critical but often overlooked uprising, from its origins to its results.

The Romans were master builders, and much of what they built has stood the test of time. Throughout their vast empire, they have left grand structures, from the Forum and Pantheon in Rome, to the theatres and hippodromes of North Africa, and the triumphal gates in Anatolia and France. Wherever they went, the Romans built imposing structures to show their power and ability, and one of their most impressive constructions was built on the northernmost fringe of the empire.

The Middle Ages witnessed almost constant warfare in Europe, so mercenaries were a constant on the battlefield, but the 15th century also saw the rise of mercenary usage by the increasingly wealthy aristocracy. At the time, England and France existed in smaller versions than in the modern age, while the Spanish had unified into a few large kingdoms and were slowly pushing the Moors off the Iberian Peninsula. Norway and Hungary were larger than they are now, but otherwise, most of Europe was a patchwork quilt of small, constantly warring states.

World history is replete with many examples of nomadic barbarian hordes that swept into the kingdoms and countries of sedentary peoples, often leaving just as quickly as they had come. Sometimes, the hordes stayed in the territories they conquered and adopted the cultural attributes of the more sophisticated sedentary groups. It is important to know that barbarian invasions throughout history were usually not led by individuals or groups that hated or wanted to see the larger, often more powerful sedentary kingdoms or empires destroyed.

Dreams and Death in African Mythology: The History of Legends and Folk Stories About Dreams and Death Across Africa examines the various stories that sought to explain death and dreams, from their origins to their evolution across different cultures.

The Bozeman Trail ran through the Powder River country, which included the traditional hunting grounds of Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho peoples. Attempts by the natives to prevent encroachment and armed defense of settlers along the trail led to conflicts in short order. Due to the presence of the Sioux in the region, as early as 1864, travelers were advised not to traverse the Bozeman Trail except in very large wagon trains.

The Holodomor: The History and Legacy of the Ukrainian Famine Engineered by the Soviet Union examines the events that brought about the famine and its terrible toll.