Posts

A Gallipoli Misconception

Image
A Gallipoli Misconception  Many British, Australian and New Zealanders assume that Gallipoli is a sacred site only for their nations.  Yet, two-to-three million Turkish visitors journey to Gallipoli (Çanakkale) every year, largely to honour Kemal Atatürk, who is credited with halting the ANZAC advance on 25 April 1915 and founding the Turkish republic in 1923.  Turkish visitors commemorate at many sites unknown to us, and we at sites unfamiliar to them.  Some symbols of commemoration and national pride are easy to see. For example, the crowning height of ANZAC - Chunuk Bair - is adorned with a giant Turkish flag that is visible from all corners of the old battlefield. Other symbols are harder to discern but just as powerful. For instance, the Turkish national football team is renowned for aspiring to ‘defend like at Çanakkale’, in international matches, no doubt drawing inspiration from their forebears’ exploits. This statue of Corporal Seyit, is one striking example of a revered Çanak
Post a Comment
Read more

During the 1980s, Carmelo “Carlo” Profeta was part of Roy DeMeo's famous crew, known as "The Murder Machine".

Image
During the 1980s, Carmelo “Carlo” Profeta was part of Roy DeMeo's famous crew, known as "The Murder Machine".  This crew of the Gambino family sold drugs in large quantities, stole luxury cars to resell them abroad, and its members killed 75 known people (the true number of people killed by this crew is actually estimated at nearly 200 people) around New York.  All these crimes lead to a trial in 1989. Profeta was sentenced to eight years in prison. After his release from prison, Profeta joined the Lucchese family and he and Private John "Johnny V" Vanasco (image) became good friends. They have since gone through thick and thin together. At the beginning of 2002, Profeta and Vanasco both extorted the manager of a fuel oil company, threatening him with bodily harm and even more if he did not approve their request. In September 2002, they were both convicted of extortion by a federal jury in Manhattan. In December 2003, a Brooklyn court again found the two men gui
Post a Comment
Read more

29 Jun, 1941 - Germany invaded and occupied Lvov, in eastern Galicia, in the Ukraine. Thousands of people were slaughtered.

Image
29 Jun, 1941 - Germany invaded and occupied Lvov, in eastern Galicia, in the Ukraine. Thousands of people were slaughtered. At the start of World War II, Lvov changed hands, this time falling under the control of the Soviets, who entered the city on September 22, 1939 and immediately annexed it together with the rest of Eastern Galicia. Refugees poured into the city from German-occupied western Poland, and the Jewish population ballooned to more than 200,000.  In the summer of 1940, many of them were expelled to the remote regions of the Soviet Union. Under the Soviets, Lvov underwent a process of “Ukrainization,” whereby Jewish shopkeepers were forced to sell their stocks, and later liquidate their businesses, and synagogues were forced to close down. Schools were instructed to adopt Soviet curriculums, and the Ukrainian language was gradually introduced at the expense of Yiddish. However, about 100,000 Jewish refugees from western Poland gathered in Lvov during this time, which led t
Post a Comment
Read more

This day, June 17th, in 1936 electrical engineer Edwin H. Armstrong demonstrated a revolution in radio broadcasting - FM!

Image
This day, June 17th, in 1936 electrical engineer Edwin H. Armstrong demonstrated a revolution in radio broadcasting - FM! "Up until the late 1930s, AM (amplitude modulation) radio frequencies were the only ones available for those listening in. The broadcasts were typically full of static and created a problem for engineers to eliminate. While there were many ideas to get rid of the problem, they were met with little success until Armstrong began researching a solution. Through trial and error, he eventually was able to modify the frequency of audio signals and created a 'wide-band' FM (frequency modulation) system. At a conference of radio experts, Armstrong played a jazz phonograph record first at an AM frequency and then switched to FM. An article capturing this event from the San Bernadino Sun stated: '...if the audience of 500 engineers had shut their eyes, they would have believed the jazz band was in the same room.' It was later described as the most importa
Post a Comment
Read more

This is Roopkund, a small glacial lake located at an altitude of about 5,029 metres in the Indian Himalayas

Image
This is Roopkund, a small glacial lake located at an altitude of about 5,029 metres in the Indian Himalayas. This lake wouldn't be particularly interesting were it not for the skeletons found in the shallows. Roopkund is frozen for most of the year, but when the snow and ice melts, the lake reveals a disturbing sight—skeletal remains belonging to hundreds of individuals, some of which still have flesh. In 1942 a forest ranger rediscovered the skeletons. Initially it was believed that all the remains belonged to a Japanese invasion force. There is also a local legend that tells of a king and his entourage perishing in a hailstorm. It was believed that all the skeletons were deposited in a single event, but carbon dating on the skeletal remains of 38 individuals, 23 males and 15 females, has revealed that some of the skeletons date to between c. AD 700 and 1000, while others date to c. 1800. The earlier individuals who died at Roop Kund had South Asian ancestry, but those of 1800 had
Post a Comment
Read more

It’s Fossil Friday, so soar into the weekend with Archaeopteryx!

Image
It’s Fossil Friday, so soar into the weekend with Archaeopteryx! When this dinosaur was first described in 1861, it caused a sensation.  Discovered shortly after Charles Darwin proposed the theory of evolution by means of natural selection, Archaeopteryx provided an example of evolution in action—a fossil that showed the transition between non-avian dinosaurs and birds.  The first Archaeopteryx fossils ever found included exquisitely preserved skeletons with clear imprints of wings and feathers, but also teeth and a bony tail.  Today, scientists think Archaeopteryx wasn’t able to fly very well, but the species still represents a turning point in paleontologists’ understanding of the relationship between ancient dinosaurs and modern birds in the design of both its body and brain.
Post a Comment
Read more

The Inuit people can't be imagined without their signature parkas, fashioned from fur and hide of the local wildlife

Image
The Inuit people can't be imagined without their signature parkas, fashioned from fur and hide of the local wildlife. One of the many reasons why early European voyages into the Arctic circle failed is because they were underprepared for the extreme weather conditions of the north.  They wore wool clothing, which kept them hot on the inside, but made them sweat a lot, which made their clothing freeze in the extreme temperatures. The Inuit never faced this problem, as they have been making their parkas from caribou deer or seal hide from as early as 22,000 BC (Siberia).  The production of these parkas took weeks, and the tradition of making them was passed down from mother to daughter, taking years to master. Depending on the geographical location of the tribes, the design of the parkas varied according to the types of animals available. Beadwork, fringes and pendants frequently decorated the clothing.  Roald Amundsen was the first explorer who outfitted his crew with Inuit clothing
Post a Comment
Read more