Table of contents for No. 96 in All About History

It’s extraordinary how relevant and poignant the words of Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X remain after 60 years. Often quoted, sadly not always fully understood, these two men shaped a great deal of the vocabulary of racial justice around the globe. Reflecting on this is part of why we wanted to put both of them front and centre of this issue. While they have so often been considered in opposition to one another, we wanted to look at how they actually contrasted and inspired each other as well. In exploring this idea we could ask for no better guide than Dr Peniel E Joseph, author of The Sword And The Shield, a book released earlier this year that explores precisely the idea that Dr King and Malcolm X…

They didn’t hold high public office, they didn’t fight wars and they didn’t possess vast wealth and riches, and yet Dr Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X still managed to become two of the most iconic figures of the 20th century. Rising to prominence at the height of the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s, each became equally revered and reviled by different parts of the United States. Both would ultimately come to be the de facto leader of their groups and each would meet an untimely and violent end at the hands of assailants whose identities and motives continue to be hotly debated. In Dr King’s role as first president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and Malcolm X’s position as a minister and leading national spokesperson for…

There are many interesting stories to uncover in Kaufmann’s book Black Tudors, but the tale of Jacques Francis is one of the most fascinating. Born in Guinea, West Africa, in the 1520s, it is likely that Francis would have been trained as a pearl diver and, in fact, many Africans were skilled free-divers. In comparison most Tudors, including sailors, couldn’t even swim. Although we don’t know exactly how he ended up there, Francis found work as a salvage diver in Southampton, working for a Venetian salvage operator named Peter Paulo Corsi when he was around 18 years old. In July 1545, the Mary Rose – one of the largest ships in the English Navy – sank in the Solent, a tragedy witnessed by King Henry VIII himself from Southsea Castle.…

After WWII many of the volunteers lived varied and exciting lives, perhaps none more so than RAF navigator Cy Grant, who was born in British Guiana (now Guyana). Despite qualifying as a barrister, he became a singer and actor and during the 1950s regularly appeared on the Tonight programme singing the news to a calypso beat. It was as a result of this that Thunderbirds creator Gerry Anderson cast Grant as the first regular black character in one of his productions, as Lieutenant Green in Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons. Green was a member of secret organisation SPECTRUM alongside the title character. Far darker than Anderson’s previous series, a conscious effort appears to have been made to broaden the ethnicity of the show’s characters, with Grant seemingly Anderson’s only choice…

Upon her death, the she-king was buried in tomb KV20 in the Valley of the Kings, alongside her father Thutmose I. However, when renowned Egyptologist Howard Carter excavated the tomb in 1903, he found nothing but a sarcophagus bearing her name; Hatshepsut’s mummy was nowhere to be seen. In 2007, a fresh search was launched by the former Minister of State for Antiquities Affairs Zahi Hawass to find the missing pharaoh. A number of unidentified female mummies from the 18th Dynasty were lined up and examined using the latest technology. One of the prime suspects was a mummy from tomb KV60, just in front of tomb KV20, where two women had been found. One could be identified as Hatshepsut’s wet nurse thanks to the inscription on her coffin, the other…

23-26 October 1955 THE STATE OF VIETNAM REFERENDUM Prime Minister Ngo Dinh Diem called a national referendum to determine the future government of Vietnam. He defeated Bao Dai, the chief of state and former emperor, winning 98.2% of the vote amid claims of election rigging. On the 26th, three days after the referendum, Diem declared himself as the first president of the Republic of Vietnam. 11 October 1987 THE AIDS MEMORIAL QUILT The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt was displayed publicly for the first time on the National Mall in Washington, DC during the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. The quilt was conceived by Cleve Jones, a San Francisco gay rights activist, as a memorial to those who had died from AIDS as well as to…

At the height of World War II several thousand volunteers from Africa and the Caribbean travelled across the world to train and fight during Britain’s darkest hour. These individuals would participate as comrades in all three armed forces, as soldiers, sailors and members of the RAF. Yet despite the brave tales of heroism and derringdo, these volunteers are often ignored in military history. The stories of these RAF volunteers are some of the most fascinating and awe-inspiring of the entire war and yet we rarely see them discussed or portrayed in film and television. The organisation officially removed the so-called ‘colour bar’ in 1939, a rule that dictated that only white British men of European descent could join up. However, following the outbreak of war the policy was deemed outdated.…

01 Deployment at the windmill Edward III assembles his men on a hillside near Crécy-en-Ponthieu and divides them into three divisions. The Black Prince and the earl of Northampton command the English right and left flanks, while the king commands a reserve division at the hilltop windmill. A front line of archers connects Northampton’s and the prince’s divisions. 2 Philip VI arrives While the English rest in position, Philip VI’s extremely large French army comes onto the battlefield. It consists of enormous numbers of mounted men-at-arms and an unknown number of infantry. Enthusiasm is strong among the soldiers and local people to destroy the English. 03 The Genoese advance The French are so keen to fight that their large numbers create disorder. Philip orders Genoese crossbowmen to begin…

MALCOLM X Director: Spike Lee Starring: Denzel Washington, Angela Bassett, Albert Hall Country: USA Released: 1992 A sweeping biopic that seemingly leaves no stone unturned 01 Just as depicted in the movie, Malcolm lived in Harlem, New York, as a young man and became involved in criminal activities. He was arrested and convicted of larceny and breaking and entering in 1946. It was while in prison that he would find Islam. 02 Contrary to the movie, it was his siblings who introduced him to Islam, not a fellow prisoner. John Elton Bembry got him interested in reading, which later expanded to religion. In the movie a character named Baines takes on this role, merging the two stories. 03 Upon leaving jail Malcolm drops his surname Little and adopts X as…

Ingredients • 100g plain flour • 100g caster sugar • 100g butter, plus extra for greasing • 85g rolled oats • 85g desiccated coconut • 2 tbsp boiling water • 1 tbsp golden syrup • 1 tbsp bicarbonate of soda Anzac biscuits are named after the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC), which fought at Gallipoli, Turkey, in 1915. It’s commonly believed that these biscuits were sent to the troops but this is a myth – the biscuits that they ate were rock-hard and could break teeth, unlike Anzac biscuits. Instead, Anzac biscuits were eaten by those at home, usually at events such as galas held to raise funds for the war effort, and so they subsequently became associated with the soldiers. Today, Anzac biscuits are widely available and…

1500 SETTLING 1500 Māori populations become more settled in specific areas as the abundance of resources dries up. As a result agriculture increases in importance. 1769 Captain Cook arrives 1769 On 6 October 1769 Captain James Cook sights New Zealand from his ship. Two days later he lands and has an initial hostile encounter with Māori, killing many. Following this event, more peaceful contact occurs. 1816 FIRST MĀORI SCHOOL 1816 The Reverend Thomas Kendall of the Church Missionary Society sets up the first school exclusively for Māori children. Previously he had published the first book in Māori. Musket Wars 1818 Inter-tribal warfare is altered dramatically by the introduction of muskets brought by European settlers. An estimated 20,000 people are killed in the resulting conflicts, significantly altering tribal boundaries. It is…

Commonly referred to as Māori treasure boxes, papa hou were used to store precious personal ornaments known as taonga, which means ‘treasured possessions’ in Māori. This included items such as combs, jewellery and feathers for the hair – in fact, in Māori the word ‘papa’ means chest or box and ‘hou’ means feather. These wooden treasure boxes were considered to have the mana (spiritual power) of their owners because they contained prized items that came into contact with the body. For example, feathers were considered highly tapu (sacred) amongst the Māori because they were worn in the hair and thereby came into contact with the head, which was considered the most sacred part of the body. To keep the papa hou and their contents safe, they were hung on cords…

MARCUS GARVEY 17 AUG 1887 – 10 JUNE 1940 An early proponent of Black Nationalism, Marcus Garvey believed in a pan-African movement that involved global mobilisation of black people against oppression. He founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and even launched the Black Star Line to build trade links between Africa and America. ELIJAH MUHAMMAD 7 OCT 1897 – 25 FEB 1975 The man who would become the head of the Nation of Islam was born to former-slave sharecroppers in Georgia. He took over the NOI from its founder Wallace D Fard after he mysteriously disappeared. He was a strong advocate for black separatism and helped develop Malcolm X and his own successor, Louis Farrakhan. ELLA BAKER 13 DEC 1903 – 13 DEC 1986 While Baker worked with Martin Luther…

It’s frequently assumed that black people who lived in England prior to the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 must have been enslaved. However, among the numerous discoveries to come to light in Kaufmann’s research for Black Tudors is the fact that there were no enslavement laws in Tudor England. This will come as surprise to many, especially considering that the future British Empire would become one of the major slave-trading nations of the transatlantic slave trade. While Portugal, the Netherlands, France and, indeed, the English colonies in America all introduced law codes on slavery between the 15th and 17th centuries, Parliament never passed any legislation regarding the status of slaves in England. In fact, Pero Alvarez, an African slave who arrived in England from Portugal, was set free by King…

The African and Caribbean volunteers who travelled to Britain to assist with the war effort were, in most cases, without lodgings when they arrived. The Royal Navy housed its Caribbean seamen in segregated hostels and paid them only one-third of what was paid to their white European comrades. War Workers Hostels were set up by the authorities to concentrate African and Caribbean volunteers where health services and other necessities could be provided. Unfortunately, this policy was also partially due to the fact that following America’s entry into the war the British government complied with the segregationist policies of its ally. Although this only occurred where American troops were involved, it led to the creation of separate lodgings.…

It is a summer’s day in northern France, and on a Picardy hillside tens of thousands of soldiers have assembled to engage in a battle of two kings. One is defending his kingdom while the other has come to claim it. Two other monarchs are also present, but common soldiers dominate this noticeably regal battle. Genoese crossbowmen are ordered by the French king, Philip VI, to attack the positions of his English rival, Edward III. As they advance a thunderstorm breaks out, and when it clears deadly arrows replace the raindrops. The sun then shines into the crossbowmen’s eyes so that they are now blind as well as beleaguered. The Genoese flee. This momentous engagement became known as the Battle of Crécy, and it was the first of three major…

The thought of losing our homes and being forced onto the road is surely one of our worst nightmares. Yet it’s a horrifying reality that’s faced by millions of people every day and throughout history. Europe during the 20th century in particular saw many civilians forced to leave their homes and countries due to the threat of either war or persecution. Following the Spanish Civil War of 1936 1939, thousands of loyalists fled to France. And during World War II, many Jewish children were able to escape persecution by the Nazis in so-called Kindertransport. Now, as we face another refugee crisis, an estimated 68.5 million people have been forcibly displaced throughout the world. A new exhibition at the Imperial War Museum London, Refugees: Forced To Flee, highlights the struggles faced…