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.