Table of contents for No. 131 in All About History

SCAN TO GET OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER It’s rare that we get the chance to sit on the borderline of myth and history. The two rarely meet in a satisfying way. However, in the case of the city of Troy, while the myth may be fantastic, the true history is still revealing itself in exciting ways. After decades of archaeological research, with the city long thought by many to be as fictional as the Cyclops and Sirens of Homer’s epic poems, we have some confidence in its location and long heritage. But what more can we say for certain about Troy and the Trojan War? Was the Greek fleet real? Was Helen abducted? Was there really a Trojan Horse? We hope to answer as many of those questions as possible, delving…

Open public spaces are common in many cities around the world, but Tiananmen Square in Beijing is especially notable due to its vast size and cultural and political significance. Spanning 100 acres, it was once considered to be the largest public square in the world. The plaza was originally built in 1651, but on a much smaller scale than it stands today, during the rule of the Qing dynasty. However the oldest part of the Square is the Tiananmen Gate, or the Gate of Heavenly Peace, which was constructed between 1415 and 1420 by the Yongle Emperor. The Tiananmen Gate functioned as the main entrance to the Imperial City, which surrounds the Forbidden City – the home of the Chinese emperors from the 15th to the 20th century. The original…

TROY I c. 3500 - 2550 BCE The earliest examples of settlement were found 32 metres above the plain under a mound made from debris from centuries of settlement. Some key features were found including the outer gate and wall of the city (1) and the Megaron or great hall (2). TROY II c. 2450 - 2200 BCE About 110 metres up are the remains of a much wider complex, about twice the size of the original site. The outer walls around the city (3) were more complete and apparently sloped, which would protect them better against earthquakes. The great hall appears to be built on top of the previous one (4). TROY VI c. 1700 - 1250 BCE The remains of this level of the city include even greater…

Usually, a mobile army had an edge over the enemy. Caesar's double lines of circumvallation at Alesia was a way of switching troops to where they were needed most while under attack by a Gallic horde, while at Carrhae the Parthians spectacularly defeated their Roman opponents by using their horse archers to best effect. This emphasis on manoeuvrability was repeated with great effect by the Saracens at Hattin (1187), the Christians at the Siege of Vienna (1683) and the French at the First Battle of the Marne (1914). At Tannenberg (1914), the Germans used railways to achieve the same ends as the French had used a fleet of taxis at the Marne. The result, though, was similar to that achieved by Caesar. Manoeuvrability could also be denied an opponent. Robert…

On 25 November 1120, the political status of England was thrown into chaos when a ship sank off the coast of France. The White Ship had set sail from France carrying around 300 passengers. All except one died in the disaster, including the ship's most important passenger William Adelin. William was the only legitimate son of King Henry I and heir to the English throne and with his death, England was left without a clear successor. William's sister, Empress Matilda (the wife of the Holy Roman Emperor), was the only other legitimate child of Henry I but, as a woman, was not an ideal choice. When Henry I died 15 years after the sinking, it was Stephen of Blois, Henry’s nephew, who claimed the throne and went head to head…

Through History Luxury and Power Between 550 and 30 BCE, the Persian empire engaged in a series of struggles for power and prestige with the ancient Greeks before it was ultimately conquered by Alexander the Great of Macedon. Under Alexander’s rule, the luxurious and ornate items used by the Persians as a show of authority collided with the Greeks who believed that Persian culture was decadent. However, the Greeks were not averse to displays of luxury themselves. Now, the British Museum in London, UK is exhibiting a range of magnificent artefacts and treasures from across Alexander’s empire, from the Middle East to southeast Europe, in order to explore the complex relationship between power and luxury. Among the vast array of artefacts, many of which come from the museum’s collection, are objects…

On The Menu While scrapple is associated with modern Pennsylvania, its origins actually go back to the German immigrants to North America from the 16th century who brought their recipe for panhas or pan haas, meaning ‘panhare/ rabbit’, with them as they arrived in the New World. As settlers increasingly looked to develop their self-reliance on this new continent, trading and growing produce locally and not depending on imports from Europe, recipes such as this would likely have grown in appeal. The key reason for this is that scrapple is derived from pork offcuts, including organs such as livers and hearts, so that once all the choice cuts and sausage materials were taken from the butchered pig, nothing would go to waste. The end product is something between a sausage,…

18 June 1983 FIRST AMERICAN WOMAN GOES TO SPACE The launch of the space shuttle Challenger for NASA’s STS-7 mission marked the first time an American woman had gone into space. Stanford University graduate Sally Ride had begun her training in 1979 as one of the first female NASA astronauts after answering an advertisement that she had seen in her school’s newspaper. When she took off on her first mission in 1983, she became not only the first American woman but also the youngest American astronaut and third woman ever in space. 5 July 1996 DOLLY THE SHEEP IS BORN Dolly the sheep was the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell. Created by the Roslin Institute in Scotland, Dolly’s existence began with the cell of a mammary…

Few books are so intrinsically linked with a particular moment of political turmoil or with a tyrannical leader, but such is the case with the ‘Little Red Book’. This controversial work was integral to the violent period of the Cultural Revolution and the legacy of Chairman Mao Zedong. Although often referred to in the West as the ‘Little Red Book’ or ‘Mao’s Little Red Book’, the full title is actually Quotations From Chairman Mao Zedong. The book is a collection of various pearls of wisdom from the late Chinese premier, taken from his speeches and writings and illustrating the core ideals of the Communist Party. These quotes were not necessarily contemporary. Published in 1964, while some of its contents date from the 1950s others were from the 1930s. The book…

1 SHAOSHAN HUNAN PROVINCE On 26 December 1893, Mao Zedong was born in Shaoshan, a small village located in Hunan Province. Starting in the 1950s but exploding with the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 1970s, Mao’s hometown became a destination for ‘red tourists’, those interested in the establishment of communist government in China, wishing to learn more about the leader and pay tribute to him. Visitors to Shaoshan can enter the 18-room farmhouse where Mao was born and raised, before he left as a 17-year-old to study. Much of the house remains the same, including the room where in June 1925 it is said Mao held a secret meeting to establish Shaoshan’s first branch of the Communist Party. There is also the Mao Zedong memorial museum where a collection…

MENELAUS King of Sparta, Menelaus is said to be the son of Atreus, king of Mycenae. The abduction of his wife by Paris is what precipitates the war between the united Greeks and Troy in the legend. HELEN Wife of Menelaus, Helen was claimed to be a daughter of Zeus and had many suitors for her hand, but ultimately married the Spartan king. She returned to her husband after the war. AGAMEMNON The older brother of Menelaus, Agamemnon was king of Mycenae or Argos. He was married to Helen’s sister, Clytemnestra. When his brother called for aid it’s claimed he provided 100 ships for the war. ACHILLES The legendary Greek warrior was supposedly the son of King Peleus and a sea nymph and the greatest member of the Greek army.…

June is traditionally international pride month, a time to celebrate LGBTQ+ lives and promote the ongoing fight for greater freedoms and understanding. For history lovers, it is a chance to explore often overlooked and sometimes underappreciated historical perspectives from this community. However, currently, trans persons have been the focus of a slew of negative press and attention. In this climate of rising anti-trans sentiment, it is important to listen to the stories of trans persons and look at historical examples of trans lives. We spoke to four academics about the importance of studying trans history, how the concept of gender has shifted, and their hopes for the future. How has the idea of gender identity changed through history? Kit Heyam: The term 'gender identity’ and indeed, the use of the…

At Marathon (490 BCE) the Athenians used the superiority of their hoplites to break their less welltrained Persian opponents. Ten years later this reliance on quality almost worked in reverse at Thermopylae (480 BCE), when the Spartans and their allies tried to block the passage of a much larger but lesssskilled Persian host. This same reliance on quality to overcome larger forces was used with similar effect by Frederick the Great at Leuthen (1757), von Hindenburg at Tannenberg (1914) and Guderian at Sedan (1940). Technology too, or even just a tactical innovation, would also give one side the edge. This would secure victory at the battles of Leuctra (371 BCE), where the Thebans used an innovative method of deployment, and again by the Romans at Zama (202 BCE), the Parthians…

REVIEWS The books, TV shows and films causing a stir in the history world this month Certificate: 15 Director: Tom Verica Cast: India Amarteifio, Corey Mylchreest, Golda Rosheuvel Released: Out now When Netflix’s Bridgerton made its debut on Christmas Day in 2020, Regency fever seemed to sweep the world. Audiences couldn’t get enough of the raunch and romance and presiding over all of it, imperious and commanding, was the unflappable, unknowable Queen Charlotte. The new spin-off prequel series, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, aims to discover what shaped the seemingly poised queen who keeps her court preserved as it was decades earlier. Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story is a sixpart prequel to Bridgerton which, unlike the series that spawned it, doesn’t find its origins in the wildly popular series of…

Mao Zedong 26 December 1893 9 September 1976 Mao Zedong was the chief architect of the communist revolution in China. Working as a young man in the Beijing University library, he became entrenched in communist literature and soon became a founder of the Chinese Communist Party. In 1949 he proclaimed the founding of the People’s Republic of China, with himself as chairman. Following the disastrous effects of the ‘Great Leap Forward’, Mao experienced a loss of authority and was forced to withdraw from making key decisions. Seeking to regain his lost power, he launched the Cultural Revolution, sowing the seeds of anarchy and eventually having to use the army to quell the chaos. While he may have been the key figure in creating communist China, Mao’s legacy remains a controversial…

The Trojan War, fought between the city of Troy under its king Priam and the Greek cities led by Agamemnon of Mycenae, was the most famous war of antiquity – but did it really happen, and did Troy actually exist? Many poems, other literature and much art that survives from the ancient world deal with various aspects of the Trojan War as their principal subject. Two of the most famous poems in the ancient world, the Iliad by the Greek poet Homer and the Aeneid of the Roman poet Virgil, begin with the idea that they will sing their tale. The Iliad begins: ‘sing, goddess, of the wrath of Achilles’ and the Aeneid with: ‘I sing of arms and the man.’ Homer’s other famous poem, the Odyssey, tells of the…

The Birth of the Yakuza The Yazuka are a contradiction. Unlike the most notorious organised crime syndicates globally – the Italian Mafia, the Russian Vory, the South American cartels – they are rarely seen being violent in public. Few drive-by assassinations, warning killings, or even street brawls. They are at once a shadowy institution while simultaneously their offices are easy to find in any Japanese city. Extortion, smuggling, drugs, loansharking, prostitution… the Yakuza are involved in them all and more, yet they maintain a front of legitimate businesses. They are one of Japan’s largest charitable organisations, universally praised for their rapid response when disasters, earthquakes, tsunamis strike, including the Fukushima nuclear disaster of 2011. Their smart suits, finger severing, and especially the elaborate tattooing have become culturally iconic. Japanese TV…

Failed Colonies of North America Explorers and settlers from Europe had been travelling to North America, intentionally or not, to seek refuge and new opportunities for centuries before the first colonies were established. The Vikings had made a brief and unsuccessful attempt at settlement in the far north around 1000 CE. But, following on from Columbus and his Spanish-funded voyages to the New World, the earliest concerted attempts at colonisation were by the Spanish. Following several expeditions, in 1526 the conquistador Lucas Vazquez de Ayllon, with six ships and 600 colonists (along with a number of African slaves), funded his own attempt to set up a permanent settlement. A suitable spot was difficult to find, but eventually they settled somewhere in the region of what is now South Carolina or…

Greatest Battles Battle of the Little Bighorn In 1876, after violating an earlier peace treaty with the Plains Indians, the United States Army sent a force to the Midwest to conquer the increasing number of nomadic natives who did not want to live on designated reservations. The ensuing conflict culminated in the Battle of Little Bighorn, where the US soldiers, under the leadership of Civil War veteran General George Armstrong Custer, were overwhelmed and killed down to the last man. A spectacular loss for the US Army and a stunning win for the combined Lakota Sioux, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes, the battle remains one of the most significant events of the wider Sioux Wars. The battle was part of an ongoing series of hostilities triggered by relentless white American expansion…

HISTORY VS HOLLYWOOD Fact versus fiction on the silver screen Director: Stanley Kramer Starring: Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Marlene Dietrich Country: Germany Year: 1961 01 While the film’s story is largely a fictional one, it is based on the events of the trial of 16 defendants, judges and prosecutors of the German Ministry of Justice, for facilitating war crimes and crimes against humanity. In the film only four people are accused. 02 Much of the film was shot on a set, rebuilding Courtroom 600 of the Palace of Justice building where the real judges’ trial took place. The level of detail has been praised by historians with even the decorations around the doors matched to the original. 03 Chief Judge Dan Haywood (Spencer Tracy) is seen on several occasions to…