Computer Problems

I am sorry for the lack of posts. My computer has died on me and I am trying to get a new one. I will post more when the problem is solved.

The 3 Japanese Shogunates

A while ago a friend asked me about the Japanese Shoguns. He wanted to know if the same shogun clan ruled all of Japan. I told him that Japan had 3 different Shogunates that ruled Japan. They were the Kamakura Shoguns (1185-1333 CE), Ashikage Shoguns (1338-1573 CE) and the Tokugawa Shoguns (1600-1868 CE).

The Kamakura Shoguns came from 3 different families. They were the Minamoto and Fujiwara clans. The last 6 shoguns were imperial princes. This group of shoguns take their name from the city that they made their capital. That was the City of Kamakura. The one fun fact about this shogunate is the fact that the real power was in the powerful regents. They all came from the same family, The Hojo Clan. The first picture is of the symbol of the Kamakura Shogunate and the next picture is of the first Kamakura Shogun (Minamoto no Yoritomo).

The Ashikage Shoguns all came from the same clan... The Ashikage Clan. There were 15 total shoguns that came from this family. Their capital was Hein-kyo or Kyoto. The shogunate fell when Oda Nobunaga installed a puppet shogun and then removed the said shogun. This picture is of the symbol of the Ashikage clan.

The Last Shogunate was the Tokugawa Shoguns and ruled by the powerful Tokugawa clan. A total of 15 Tokugawa shoguns ruled Japan until the emperor took back control of the country and the arrival of the Western powers. The one fun fact about this clan is that they are still around today and still trying to improve Japan for the better. The first picture is the symbol of the Tokugawa clan the last is of an old map of Tokugawa Japan.

So... to answer my friends question, there were several families or clans that have ruled Japan through their shoguns. But, the shogun system fell out of use when the Emperor took back control of the country in 1868 CE.

Top 5 Oldest Military Buildings on US Soil

A few days ago a friend asked by what was the oldest military building on US soil. I found a few places that matched his criteria. Castillo San Felipe del Morro, Fort Christian, Castillo de San Marcos, Blackbeard's Castle and Fort Niagara are the 5 oldest military building on US soil. Let's talk about all 5 of these places.

5. Fort Niagara: This fort was built by the French in 1678 CE in New York. The French lost the fort to the British in 1759 CE to the British in the French and Indian War. The fort stayed in British hands until 1783 CE, when it was ceded to the new nation of the United States. It fell out of use by the time WWI and WWII rolled around. It did serve was a POW camp for German soldiers. Today it serves as a base for the US Coast Guard and historic site.

4. Blackbeard's Castle: This watchtower was built in 1679 CE. It was built by the Danes on the island of St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands. It was build to help protect the city of Charlotte Amalie. No one knows when the tower took the name of Blackbeard's Castle... but the name has stuck.

3. Castillo de San Marcos: Is a fort located in Florida. Its was built in 1672 CE by the Spanish to protect the Spanish city of St. Augustine. The British gained Florida in 1763 CE. The Spanish regained Florida in 1783 CE. Then the US gained the territory in 1819 CE. The military used the fort until 1933 CE. It has been a historic site ever since.

2. Fort Christian: The Danes built this fort to protect the island of St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands in 1672 CE. The fort served as the government and defense headquarters on the island. The fort was turned over to US when the islands were sold to the US in 1917 CE. Today it is used as a museum.

1. Castillo de San Felipe del Morro: This fort was built by the Spanish in 1539 CE. The fort was built to protect the city of San Juan. The Spanish ruled Puerto Rico 1539 to 1898 CE. The fort survived many battles and wars. Most were against the French and British. The American took over the island and the fort in the Spanish-American War (1898). The US military retired the fort in 1961 CE and it became a historical site.

All of these buildings are great examples of military engineering from their time periods. All of these buildings are still around today and can be visited. I found pictures of all 5 sites online and added them to each section as I talked about them.

Non Egyptian Pyramids?!

When people talk about pyramids, most people talk about the ones in Egypt and Mexico. But did you know that there are pyramids located in Sudan. The are collected called the Nubian Pyramids. The Pyramids were build be the Kushite Kingdoms South of Egypt. That region was dominated the Kerma Kingdom (2500 BCE-1500 BCE), Napata or Nubia (1000-300 BCE) and Meroe (300 BCE-300 AD). All 3 kingdoms made pyramid in their time of power. These pyramids were made from granite and sandstone. Sadly most were partly destroyed by the Italian explorer, Giuseppe Ferlini in the 1830s CE. I did find a few photos of the Nubian Pyramids.

 

The Only Poet Named Battleship... The Dante Alighieri

One of my friends was reading one of my naval stories and asked about battleships and some of their naming system. He asked me about the oddest named battleship. I found one battleship that might fit. The Italian battleship Dante Alighieri. It is the only battleship to be named after a poet. Here is what I could find on this ship.

She served in the Italian navy from 1913 to 1928 CE. She was every little action. She was the flagship during the Battle of Durazzo in 1918 CE. The ship did not fire its guns once during the battle. The Dante Alighieri did not once fire its guns in anger during her entire naval career. Due to a crashing economy in Italy after WWI, the navy decided to scrap this ship and many others to save on costs. They did this in 1928. The Dante Alighieri had a short career and a very peaceful one compared to other battleship from this time period. I found a few old photos of the ship online to share with you.

Anglo-Zanzibar War... The Shortest War in History

Some friends and I were talking about some famous wars in history. We talked about some of the longest and shortest wars in history. We could not agree on which wars were the shortest. So like a good scholar I am, I did some digging and I found the answer to this question. The answer is the Anglo-Zanzibar War. It lasted 38 minutes. Yes... you saw that correctly. The war was over in under an hour.

The Anglo-Zanzibar War happened on August 27 1896. This war was part of the Scramble for Africa that happened in the last half of the 1800s and the first half of the 1900s. The war started with the death of the pro-British Sultan and the appointment of an anti-British Sultan. The British did not like this and so started the war. The British bombardment the Sultan's Palace ended the war and the independence of the Sultanate of Zanzibar. I found a few pictures. The first is a map of the Sultanate of Zanzibar. The 2nd picture is of the remains of the bombed out building of the Sultan's harem. The last picture is the placement of the armed forces involved the war.

Famous Manhattan Trees

I was talking to a friend awhile ago about famous animals, people, places and things. One topic kept popping up. That was famous trees in history. We spent the next 3 hours talking about trees. To make a long story short, we talked about the oldest trees in New York City. Most of these trees are the most famous in the United States. That list my friend and I talked about was very long... so I shortened that list to the island of Manhattan. There are only 3 trees that meet these parameters. The Hangman's Elm, The Stuyvesant Pear Tree and Inwood Hill Tulipwood. Let's talk about all 3 of these trees.

1. The Hangman's Elm is an English Elm that is over 300 year old. It is located in Washington Square Park and there are no records of any hanging to this hanging tree. There are records of an arsonist that was hung in 1820 in the cities' gallows.

2. Stuyvesant Pear Tree was a Pear tree located on the corner of 13th Street and 3rd Avenue. This tree was planted by Peter Stuyvesant while he served as the governor of Dutch New Amsterdam. The tree was lost some time around the 1860's.

3. Inwood Hill Tulipwood or the Minuit Tulipwood is Tulipwood located in the Inwood Hill Part. This tree was claimed to be the location where the Dutch purchased Manhattan from the local Native Americans in 1626. The Tree was destroyed in a storm in 1933.

Sadly, only the Hangman's Elm is still standing today. I know that there are dozens of other trees in New York City that meets these parameters of being the oldest trees. But, this blog entry would then be pages long. I found a few pictures of these 3 trees. The first picture is of the Hangman's Elm, the second is of the pear tree and the last pictures is of the Tulipwood.

Most Successful US Submarine in History

I wrote awhile ago about the most successful submarine in history. It was a German U-Boat called U-35 with 224 confirmed ships sunk. This got me thinking... What is the most successful US submarine in history? I did some digging and found the answer, the USS Tang. It has 33 confirmed ships that it sank. Which equals 116,454 tons. I was shocked by these numbers. She had a really short career. 1943 to 1944. She did 5 patrols in the Pacific during WWII. She was sunk in 1944 by one of her own torpedoes. Most torpedoes during WWII used by the US were duds and were worse that useless. I found a few pictures of the USS Tang. The first is of the USS Tang and the second is of the blueprints of the USS Tang after its sinking.  

Damascus Steel... A Lost Art

Awhile ago I was asked. "What are some of arts or techniques lost in time?". Well it took some time to research to find some examples, but in the end I found two examples that I thought I should share with you readers. One is Damascus Steel. First lets talk about Damascus Steel. This steel is made from wootz steel and it as very interesting patterns and bands on the steel. The steel is forged in India and the Middle East. Most of the steel sold to the West was through Damascus. Now what is so important about this steel is that modern scientist and blacksmiths have not been able to copy or remade this ancient steel alloy. The steel was used a lot by the Arabs during the Crusade time period. The art of making this steel alloy was lost about the 1750s. Some historians agree that the practice was lost to protect the secret from French and British colonizers. I found a few pictures of weapons made form the steel and some metalsmiths that made the alloy around 1900.

USS Kearsarge... The Only Non State Named Battleship

About a month ago I wrote a couple of articles on battleships (South American Battleships & Last Battleship), while I was researching these ships I found one that I found was interesting. I found the USS Kearsarge. This was the only US battleship to not be named after a state. That is what I found interesting. The ship was named after Mount Kearsarge in New Hampshire and the US Civil War ship, (USS Kearsarge), that defeated the Confederate raider CSS Alabama. The battleship Kearsarge served in both World Wars. She was a training and troop carrying ship in WWI. She was converted into a crane ship in the 1920s and served in WW2 as a crane ship. She is famous for serving the Great White Fleet from 1907-1909 CE. She is most famous for raising the submarine USS Squalus in 1939 CE. She was decommissioned in 1955 and sold for scrap. She had a relatively long career for a ship built in the late 1890s, (1896-1955) and surviving two World Wars. I found three good pictures of the Kearsarge as a battleship and one as a crane ship.

Saint Olga of Kiev and Pigeons as Weapons

While I was researching war pigeons, I came across an interesting person. Her name is Saint Olga of Kiev. There are two things that she was famous for. One, bring Christianity to the Kievan Rus and the other was using pigeons to burn the village or city of an enemy. Yes... you heard me correctly, she used pigeons to fight her enemies. Here is her info. Historians don't have her birth info, but they do know when she died (969 CE). She married to Igor of Kiev and helped him rule the Kievan Rus. They had a son named Sviatoslav. Igor died while Sviatoslav was young and Olga became regent. During her time as regent she tried to spread Christianity and conquer the enemies around her son. There was a tribe, the Drevlains, they killed Igor in 945 CE. Olga got her and her son's revenge. She killed their leaders and nobility. She later had her military send pigeons with torches and burnt one of their cities to the ground. Her legacy to her people and the world is beginning Christianity to Russia and turning pigeons into fire bombs. I found a view pictures of a few famous paintings. One is of Saint Olga and the last is a painting of Olga attending her husbands funeral.

Franch Avallon Theory

Everyone knows the myths and legends about King Arthur, Merlin, Camelot, the Round Table and Avalon. Some historians are even trying to match real historical figures and places to these legends. Most historians agree that these places and people were located in England. But there was one theory that is different from the others. According to this theory King Arthur was a Romano-British king named Riothamus. He fought many battles in France. Then he disappeared (died), near the town of Avallon, France. If you read the accounts of Riothamus and compare them to King Arthur's stories, you will see the similarities between Riothamus and King Arthur. Could Avallon in France be the mystical Island of Avalon? Could Riothamus be the legendary King Arthur? Could the French Avallon Theory be true? What do you think? The pictures are of famous paintings of the death of King Arthur and Island of Avalon.

War Pigeons... Messengers Before the Radio

War Pigeons... When most people hear this they laugh. But, pigeons were used in war times to deliver messages to and from the front lines. I did some digging and found some more information on this. Most of these war pigeons were from one of two breeds, (Homing & Racing). Another term used for war pigeons, it was messenger pigeons. The history of using messenger pigeons goes all the way back to 6th century with the Persian king Cyrus the Great. He used them to carry messages from across his massive empire. There are stories about Julius Caesar using them to deliver messages to use troops in Gaul (France). War pigeons were used up until WWII. But, some of the most famous war pigeons happened during WWI. One was Cher Ami. She served with the American army during WWI. She served in the war from 1914 to 1918CE. Another pigeon was John Silver, who served with the American military during WWI. He got the name from surviving a canon blast. His care takers carved a wooden leg and an eye patch for the bird. They nicked named him Long John Silver after the pirate. War pigeons became obsolete due to the radio. Most of the world stopped using pigeons by the 1950s. I found a few pictures online for John Silver, Cher Ami and an unknown pigeon wearing a camera during WWI.

The 6 Powerful Julii Women + 1 Extra

A while ago I was researching ancient Rome and the powerful men that ruled their nation. While I was researching these men I found that each family has a bunch of powerful women in it as well. One family peeked my interest. They were the Julii. Yes... The powerful women that were related to Julius Caesar. There are 6 women that stood out.

1.  Julia Cornelia, she was the wife the powerful consul and general Cornelius Sulla. She is Julius Caesar's Cousin on his father's side of the family.
2. Julia, She was the wife of Gaius Marius. He was a powerful general and consul of Rome 7 times. Julia was Caesar's aunt.
3. Julia Antonia, She was the mother of Mark Antony. She was also another cousin of Caesar's.
4. Julia Major, She was one of the older sisters of Caesar's. Little is written about her.
5. Julia Minor, She was the grandmother of the future Emperor Augustus.
6. Julia Pompeia, She was the daughter of Julius Caesar. She was married to Pompey the Great. He was a powerful consul, general and conqueror.

There was one other powerful woman in the Julii family. Her name was Aurelia Cotta. She was the mother of Julius Caesar. She was a huge influence in Caesar's life and later raised Caesar's daughter. I found a few pictures. The first picture is of Caesar's mother and the last one is of Caesar's daughter.

Haakon the Crazy... Fierce Not Insane

While I was looking into Eric the Memorable I found another interesting character. His name is Haakon the Crazy. That is one interesting name. Not a lot of people in history have the nickname of Crazy and not be insane. You heard that correctly, he was not insane. Let him tell you what I found out about Haakon the Crazy. He was a Jarl in Norway during the Civil War Era in Norway (1130-1240). He was born in the 1170s and dies in 1214 CE. He controlled a good chuck of Western Norway. He served and fought under several kings. Those included: King Sverre, Magnus V and Guttorm. He got his nickname by being fierce in battle, which can be translated as frenzied, furious or crazy. Other then that there really not a lot of info in this guy. I could not find a picture of Haakon, but I did find a photo of a painting depicting a famous story from the Civil War Era in Norway.

The Unmemorable Eric the Memorable

Eric the Memorable... You would think with a name like that people would remember who he was. That is not the case with Eric II of Denmark. Most historians can not find a thing on why people should remember this king. I will tell you what I have found. He was born around 1090 CE and died in 1137 CE. He ruled Denmark from 1134 to 1137 CE. He gave land and titles to his followers to keep them happy. He went on a Crusade to Rugen Island in the Baltic Sea in 1136 CE. He was killed by an upset noble in 1137 CE. His nephew Eric III was elected to replace him. Here is one of the only pictures I could find of Eric the Memorable.

BC/AD VS. BCE/CE

Someone asked me what is the difference between BC/AD and BCE/CE. Well BC is short for Before Christ. AD is short for Anno Domini which is Latin for Year of Our Lord. BCE is short Before the Common Era. CE is short for Common Era. AD and CE are used to show dates that happened after year 1 or the birth of Jesus. CE and BCE are used to show dates that happened before year 1. Here are a few examples: 453 BC, 33BCE, 1453 AD and 1988 CE. Other then the religious side of the two systems they are the same. So... it is just which system you want to use. I found a few pictures of the people who promoted these two systems. The first picture is a photo of a statue of Charlemagne. He made the people of his kingdom use BC/AD. The second picture is of Johannes Kelper. He tried to get the BCE/CE system installed in Europe and the BC/AD system removed or replaced.

From Constantinople to Istanbul

A friend of mine asked me the other day about the cities of Constantinople and Istanbul. He wanted to know about the name change. I told him that the city was also called Byzantium. The early Greeks settled there and called their city Byzantium. The city kept this name from 657 BCE to 330 CE. The city was later taken over by the Romans and a later Roman Emperor, Constantine the Great changed the name of the city to Constantinople, in honor of himself. The city kept this name from 330 CE until 1453 CE. In 1453 the Ottoman Turks captured the city and yet again changed the name of the city to Istanbul and till this day the city is called Istanbul. So... I told my friend an easy way to remember all of the changes: Byzantium is Greek, Constantinople is Roman and Istanbul is Turkish. I have also found a couple of maps. One is a map of the Roman city of Constantinople and the second is of Istanbul in modern Turkey.

The Last Battleship

While I was researching the South American battleships I found one that peeked my interest. The HMS Vanguard was the ship that I found. It is called the last Battleship. She was commissioned in 1940 and served the United Kingdom until 1960. The ship was constructed too late to see service in WWII. She was the biggest and fastest battleship that the Royal Navy had in it's service. the Vanguard served mostly as a royal yacht for the British royal family. The ship was also in films, one was Sink the Bismarck! in 1960. The ship played the roles of Bismarck, Hood and the King George V. Out of all of battleships from that era the Vanguard had one of shortest careers in naval history. I found a few pictures online of the HMS Vanguard.