Tag: history

Why Is the American Library Association Whitewashing the History of Ukrainian Nazis?

America’s largest library association, which annually hands out prestigious literary prizes such as the John Newbery Medal for children’s literature, the Caldecott Medal for picture books for children, the Stonewall Award for LBGTQ+ books for young readers, and the Coretta Scott King award for African American authors and illustrators, has recently honored two authors with a track record of whitewashing Nazi collaborators.

This January, the American Library Association (ALA) published a list of Best Historical Materials for 2023, which includes Enemy Archives: Soviet Counterinsurgency Operations and the Ukrainian Nationalist Movement—Selections from the Secret Police Archives.

This compendium of Soviet documents was edited by Volodymyr Viatrovych and Lubomyr Luciuk. Viatrovych, who is currently a deputy in the Ukrainian parliament, is notorious for drafting laws glorifying Ukrainian Nazi collaborators and Holocaust perpetrators. He’s been condemned by Jewish organizations as well as the governments of Poland and Israel. Luciuk, a professor in Canada’s elite military college, has defended a Third Reich division accused of war crimes.

The ALA’s influence reaches beyond awards: The world’s largest library association plays a key role in lobbying Congress for federal funding, and runs Booklist magazine, which covers soon-to-be published titles; receiving a Booklist review is an important step on the road to successful publication.

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From folklore to conspiracies, the history of total eclipses

The total solar eclipse that will pass through parts of the nation Monday is just one of many total solar eclipses that have been seen throughout history. While we have a strong understanding of how and why eclipses happen, it was not always this way. From folklore to conspiracy theories, here’s a breakdown of some of the history and myths of a total solar eclipse.

According to NASA, one of the earliest recordings of a total solar eclipse dates back to 1375 BCE. The Ugarit Eclipse has been documented in Early Mesopotamian Records, which read:

“On the day of the new moon, in the month of Hiyar, the Sun was put to shame, and went down in the daytime, with Mars in attendance.“

After that point, you can find references to total solar eclipses in the Bible, Greek writings and various other forms of media throughout history.

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Wikipedia Entry on the History of the Chair Becomes Culture War Battleground

A simple Wikipedia entry about the history of the chair reveals how the site’s far-left editors desperately try to reframe the past in real time.

The Wikipedia page describing the history of the chair initially read, “Chairs are known from Ancient Egypt and have been widespread in the Western world from the Greeks and Romans onwards.”

“They were in common use in China from the twelfth century, and were used by the Aztecs. In Sub-Saharan Africa, chairs were not in use before introduction by Europeans.”

That final sentence, believe it or not, is currently the subject of a culture war struggle.

One editor removed it entirely using the justification, “This seems unnesesary and frankly pretty racist.”

In other words, basic historical fact can now be amended if some demented shitlib gets offended by it.

The page is now going back and forth with people re-adding the true history and then having it removed again by leftist moderators.

Apparently, progressives are desperately to maintain some Wakanda-like idealized version of Sub-Saharan Africa where it was more advanced than western civilization.

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The stories of the women accused of being witches must be told

THERE has been an increased interest in the Scottish witchcraft trials of the 16th and 17th centuries in recent months, with campaigns ongoing for an apology, a pardon and a national monument.

Much has been written about the numbers accused – about 3837 – the role of the Kirk and the courts, and the beliefs of both the church and the accusers. But what of the women who were accused? What was the experience of those taken in for questioning?

Those accused of witchcraft were predominantly women – 84%. They were Christian but also said to be practitioners of magic. These magical powers might have been innate, inherited from a mother or grandmother, or they might have been gifted by the fairies.

These powers could be used to help heal a sick child, find lost property or gain a husband. Those with a reputation for being a witch might well be tolerated within a community – and indeed welcomed by some – for a time until external pressures caused the community to turn against them.

The turbulence of the Reformation and the wars of the Three Kingdoms were the two main pressures communities faced at that time. For John Knox, the father of Scottish Calvinism, power was unnatural to women therefore any woman who had power could only have derived it from an evil source – Auld Nick, meaning the Devil.

With that mentality added to the command “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live” in the King James version of the Bible, magical practitioners came under threat.

When an accusation was first made, these women were taken from their homes and dragged in front of the Kirk minister and elders to face an aggressive interrogation.

The moral leaders of their community castigated them as evil, wicked and in thrall to the Devil. Physically, there might be several men crowding round them, roaring and bellowing in their faces about their black, sinful soul. They were scared and disoriented – and expected to confess to the very worst of crimes. Torture might be used to force that confession.

Trial records note that accused women were tortured by “hanging them up by the thombes and burning the soles of their feet at the fyre”.

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Great African Kingdoms

This collection presents a small sampling of the many great African kingdoms that rose and fell from the ancient period when Punt traded with Egypt up through the common era. Each kingdom developed a distinct culture and corresponding art and religious belief that continues to influence people around the world in the present day.

Although many people are under the impression that ancient Egypt was the only great political entity of Africa in antiquity, there were actually many other kingdoms, at that time and later, that developed equally rich cultures and religious systems. Included in this collection is the archaeologist John Wesley Gilbert – known as the first black archaeologist – who worked in the Congo region, and the supernatural entities known as the Orisha who formed the basis of West African religion.

This, as noted, is only a small sample of the many great African kingdoms. Carthage is omitted in the interests of space allowed for others, as is Meroe and great rulers such as Ergamenes, though the Candaces of Meroe are included. The Empires of West Africa collection offers other great kingdoms while A Gallery of Ancient African Art collection presents the artwork of these diverse cultures.

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Columbus did NOT bring syphilis-like disease to America – the infection was running rampant 2,000 years ago, myth-busting study finds

Italian explorer Christopher Columbus has historically been charged with bringing syphilis-like diseases to the Americas, but a new study revealed the disease was running rampant thousands of years before.

The first onset of a syphilis epidemic was documented in the late 15th Century in Europe, leading historians to believe it was brought to America when Columbus set foot on the continent.

DNA evidence has now revealed that treponematosis, an age-old syphilis-like disease, existed in Brazil more than 2,000 years before the explorer set sail for the new world.

Left untreated, treponematosis may lead to disfiguring lesions and deformities in the bone, cartilage and skin – all of which can be painful and disabling.

Kerttu Majander, postdoctoral researcher at the University of Basel, said: ‘The fact that the findings represent an endemic type of treponemal diseases, and not sexually transmitted syphilis, leaves the origin of the sexually transmitted syphilis still unsettled.’

The team examined the bones of four people who died in the coastal region of Santa Catarina in Brazil thousands of years ago.

Pathogens found in teh remains that showed signs of a syphilis-like illness that likely resulted in mouth sores and shin pains.

The study, published in Nature, said the bones were excavated at the Jabuticabeira II archeological site and have been studied since 2016.

Researchers screened 37 out of 99 samples of sequencing data and found there were between seven and 133 positive hits for diseases stemming from the Treponema family.

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The Dramatic Life and Mysterious Death of Theodosia Burr

IN 1869, A VACATIONING DOCTOR named William Gaskins Pool was called to help an ill old woman named Polly Mann, who lived in a shack near Nags Head, North Carolina. When he and his daughter, Anna, gingerly entered the dark, cobweb-covered home, they were drawn to a picture on the wall, Anna remembered, “of a beautiful young woman about twenty-five years of age.” After extensively questioning Polly about the painting, Dr. Pool believed his initial hunch was correct. He was staring at a portrait of the long vanished Theodosia Burr Alston, a portrait which may hold the key to her long-debated fate at sea.Today, if people know anything about Theodosia, it is because of the lovely lullaby “Dear Theodosia,” sung by the character of Aaron Burr in the sensational musical Hamilton. But the real-life Theodosia grew from a beloved child into a highly intelligent, complex adult, whose fascinating story is largely unknown and worthy of its very own Broadway smash.

Theodosia Bartow Burr was born in Albany, New York, on June 21, 1783. Her mother, also called Theodosia, was a brilliant, cultured woman. She had scandalized New England society, when as a married mother of five, she fell in love with an equally brilliant and much younger blue-blooded lawyer and Revolutionary War soldier—Aaron Burr. After her first husband’s death, the two were married, and little Theodosia, the couple’s only child to survive, became the center of her parents’—particularly her father’s—world.

“Your dear little Theodosia cannot hear you spoken of without an apparent melancholy,” the elder Theodosia wrote to a traveling Aaron in 1785, “insomuch that her nurse is obliged to exert her invention to divert her, and myself avoid to mention you in her presence. She was one whole day indifferent to everything but your name. Her attachment is not of a common nature.”

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Louis XIV’s Great Cipher Baffled Codebreakers Until the 19th Century

In the clandestine corridors of 17th-century France, a remarkable cryptographic system known as the Great Cipher emerged, becoming the go-to code for the French monarch Louis XIV. The genius behind this ingenious cipher was Antoine and Bonaventure Rossignol, two brothers recognized for their exceptional skills in cryptography. Appointed as royal cryptologists by the ‘Sun King’, who ruled France from 1643 until 1715, the Rossignol brothers developed the Great Cipher to protect sensitive diplomatic and military communications from prying eyes.

The Rossignol brothers, who were appointed as royal cryptologists by Louis XIV in the 17th century, hailed from a family renowned for its exceptional skills in cryptography. The family first came to the attention of the royal family when a young mathematician named Rossignol managed to decipher a Huguenot cipher during the siege of Réalmont in 1626 leading to their surrender.

This brought him to the attention of the Louis XIII’s chief minister, Cardinal Richelieu, who recognized the value of cryptologists for diplomatic and intelligence purposes. On his deathbed, Louis XIII reportedly stated that Rossignol was “most necessary to the good of the state.”

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What? AP Claims ‘White Colonists’ Known For ‘Scalping’ Native Americans

In a bizarre article claiming American conservatives are weaponizing plagiarism against colleges, The Associated Press also randomly re-wrote history by falsely claiming white colonists took up the practice of scalping Native Americans.

First, the Community Notes feature of 𝕏 pointed out Harvard President Claudine Gay was ousted from her position because she DID commit plagiarism and that doing so violated the university’s rules.

After the entire premise of the article was essentially exposed as fraudulent by Community Notes, many social media users also pointed out the strange remark about scalping.

Discussing conservative activist Christopher Rufo celebrated the ousting of Gay online by writing “scalped,” which is commonly used to express a victory over a political opponent, AP claimed he invoked violence.

The outlet then alleged scalping was “a gruesome practice taken up by white colonists who sought to eradicate Native Americans,” before later adding that “some tribes” also scalped their enemies.

AP wrote, “Christopher Rufo, a conservative activist who helped orchestrate the effort against Gay, celebrated her departure as a win in his campaign against elite institutions of higher education. On X, formerly Twitter, he wrote ‘SCALPED,’ as if Gay was a trophy of violence, invoking a gruesome practice taken up by white colonists who sought to eradicate Native Americans and also used by some tribes against their enemies.”

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Human Bones Were Ground into Flour to Make Bread in 16th Century France

In human history, there are some tales so bizarre they surpass the wildest fiction. One such story, rooted in the grim realities of 16th century France, reveals a desperate and macabre solution to famine: the grinding of human bones into ‘flour’ for bread-making.

The background to this strange episode is set during the tumultuous Wars of Religion in France. In 1590, the city of Paris, controlled by the Catholic League, found itself under siege by the French Royal Army led by Henry of Navarre, later Henry IV of France. The siege aimed to starve the city into submission, a tactic that led to desperate measures.

In these dire times, Pierre de L’Estoile, a clerk-in-chief of the French Parliament, recorded a chilling decision made by Parisians. As food supplies dwindled, an assembly proposed a horrifying solution: to grind the bones from the Cemetery of the Innocents’ charnel house into flour and bake bread from it. Driven by extreme hunger, the plan was executed, but with tragic outcomes. L’Estoile notes that those who ate this ‘bone bread’ met their death, not from starvation, but from the very solution they hoped would save them.

Why did those who ate the ‘bone bread’ die? This question has puzzled historians and scientists alike. Some speculate that toxic substances like arsenic, or psychological trauma from consuming human remains, contributed to the deaths. However, a more likely explanation lies in the nutritional inadequacy and inorganic nature of human bones.

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