History Trivia for non-Dummies

Ambrose Bierce's 'Devil's Dictionary'

2006-09-17T23:24:00.000-05:00

Ambrose Bierce was a journalist, short story writer and critic. His famous 'Devil's Dictionary' is a satirical collection of definitions compiled from columns that he started in the 1870's.

Here are a few for your enjoyment:

Critic-a person who boasts himself hard to please because nobody tries to please him.
Optimist-a proponent of the doctrine that black is white.
Impiety-your irreverence toward my deity.
Plan-to bother about the best method of accomplishing an accidental result.
Radicalism-the conservatism of tomorrow injected into the affairs of today.

Source: The Devil's Dictionary, Dover Thrift Edition, ed. by Philip Smith

A History Lesson for the Modern Media

2006-08-23T10:06:00.000-05:00

Boswell found out early on how seriously Dr. Johnson took the English language. Boswell casually "happened to say, it would be terrible if he (Dr. Johnson) should not find a speedy opportunity of returning to London."

Johnson scolded him by saying, "Don't, Sir, accustom yourself to use big words for little matters. It would not be terrible, though I were to be detained some time here. The practice of using words of disproportionate magnitude is, no doubt, too frequent every where..."

The quotation serves as a good lesson for our modern media whether in news, entertainment, or commercials. The culture is rife with the "greatest," "most fabulous," "never before seen" use of words that are disproportionate with the magnitude of the event.

What used to be the province of carnival barkers is now a daily insult to the intelligence of the TV audience. All in hopes of making a mediocre event much greater than it is.

Spain Rapes the Inca Empire

2006-08-19T11:44:00.000-05:00

Histroy records not only great and daring deeds, but misdeeds as well. Francisco Pizarro, of all the Spanish Conquistadors, was the most ruthless. That fact is demonstrated in this story of his first dramatic encounter with the Incas, one of the more advanced civilizations in the New World.

Pizarro had arranged a meeting with the Inca emperor, Atahuallpa. He was not only the monarch of the Incas, he was considered their divine Sun god.

The meeting was held in a Peruvian town called Cajamarca on November 16, 1532. The meeting was held in a plaza of the town. Pizarro had only 168 men with him. The emperor appeared, carried on a litter, with 80,000 men, all unarmed. Pizarro had set a trap for the emperor in the plaza.

On a signal Pizarro's men, on horses, which the Incas had never seen before, attacked. Despite the overwhelming odds in their favor the Incas tried to flee like a panicked mob. Pizarro's men further panicked them by blowing trumpets and attacking them from four directions in the plaza.

The king was kidnapped and held for ransom. The ransom took months to pay and was paid in gold and said to fill a room over 8 feet high, 22 feet long, and 17 feet wide. Once it was paid, Pizarro reneged on his promise and executed the king.

Pizarro brought in massive Spanish reinforcements from Panama during the months it took the Incas to pay the ransom. By the time the Incas decided to fight the Spanish with their cavalry and advance weaponry were easily able to conquer them. It was the beginning of the end of the Inca empire.

Source: Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond

Greek Myth # 2-The Great Flood

2006-08-17T11:15:00.000-05:00

The Bible is not the only history that contains a Great Flood. Many civilizations have had flood myths, including the Ancient Greeks.

The Greek flood myth that is most famous is based on Metamorphoses by the great ancient Roman poet Ovid. Metamorphoses was Ovid's attempt to compile all ancient Greek myths in a logical order. It turned out to be one of the greatest epic poems of all time.

Not unlike other civilization's flood myths, it involves the divine retribution of a creator against a degenerate human race.

In this myth the human race progresses through 4 ages:
The Golden Age-Truth and right prevailed and there was no need for law. No one had weapons or had to till the soil. Earth produced everything the race needed.
The Silver Age-Since it was not as harmonious, Zeus (or Jupiter for Romans) shortened the spring time, which had been year round, and divided the year into four seasons. The race had to endure extremes of heat and cold for the first time and house itself in caves.
The Brazen Age-Mankind became more savage and began to fight armed battles.
The Iron Age-Crime spread, truth fled. Greed became the dominant force in life and it produced wickeness, cunning and violence.

Zeus was greatly angered and met with the other gods. He told them of his intention to destroy the race and to make a new and better one that would respect the gods. He did it by destroying all of humanity by a great flood. Among all men, he spared only Deucalion, sometimes called the "Greek Noah", the son of Prometheus.

He also spared Deucalion's wife, Pyrrha, as well. They took a boat to the top of Mount Parnassus the only mountain which was not overtopped by the flood. After the flood waters receded they visited a temple to receive guidance on what to do to restore the race. An oracle told them to leave and drop pebbles behind them as they went.

The pebbles dropped by Deucalion turned into men. Those dropped by Pyrrha turned into women. The race was regenerated and we are the hypothetical descendants of this ancient myth.

Source: Bullfinch's Mythology, edited by Richard Martin & The Metamorphoses by Ovid, translated by Horace Gregory.

P.S. If you have a flood myth from an ancient culture you would like to share please send us your comment.

A Famous Samuel Johnson Quotation

2006-08-11T21:24:00.000-05:00

I said in my very first post that I admired Samuel Johnson as a leading intellectual in London society. He developed and published the first English Dictionary in 1755. The famous quotation in this post is based on the following events.

A Reverend Dr. William Dodd, a friend of Johnson's, and a theologian, was incarcerated at the famous London Newcastle prison, waiting to be hanged. Due to an extravagant lifestyle he forged a bond in the name of the Earl of Chesterfield, was caught, and sentenced to death.

Prior to his hanging he asked Johnson to write one last letter for him to the King begging for clemency. Johnson agreed to do so but only on the condition that he write it anonymously for Dodd's signature. Dodd agreed. The appeal failed and he was hanged.

Boswell and others, including a Reverend Mr. Seward, didn't believe Dodd capable of writing such an eloquent, though unsuccessful, appeal. In denying authorship to Seward, Dr. Johnson famously said: "Depend upon it, Sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates the mind wonderfully."

Boswell later found evidence, including a 'thank you' letter from Dodd, among Johnson's writing that indicated Johnson had, indeed, written the letter.

Source: The Life of Samuel Johnson, LLD., James Boswell.

Bin-Laden Koran Interpretation Radical but Not Original

2006-08-10T20:05:00.000-05:00

Bin-Laden and Zawahiri profess the most extreme of fundamentalist views of the Koran. Neither being a man schooled in the Koran (an imam) it is not surprising that they would adhere to a fundamentalist view of the Koran.

The original founder of their radical interpretation was an Egyptian. His name was Sayyid Qutb. He was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt in the 1950's and was jailed by Nasser. In jail he formulated the fundamentalist theology that Bin Laden follows today.
He was arrested as part of a conspiracy to kill Nasser and executed in 1966, two years after his release from prison.

Mainstream Islam is frequently mischaracterized in America as a theology based upon hate and warfare. It is just the opposite. The Koran is adamantly opposed to the use of force except in self-defense. It is also tolerant of other religions.

Qutb's fundamentalist interpretation of the Koran, however, stood the sacred scripture on its head. Jihad is not purely a means of self-defense. Rather, it is a struggle to seize power for the good of all humanity. In Qutb's view there could only be toleration after the victory of Islam and the establishment of a true Muslim state.

To Bin Laden, as to Qutb, in the view of Islamic fundamentalism, the world is divided into two camps. One was for God, the other was against Him. It is based on a rejection of secular modernism that is not only to be avoided by devout Muslims, but eliminated by any means.

Due to Bin Laden's heinous acts, it is this violent form of Islam that is now assumed to be the religion of Islam. It is not. It is extremist and viewed that way in the Arab world. That is why Bin Laden is sitting up in the Afghan-Pakistani mountains rather than on a throne.

Source: The Battle for God, Karen Armstrong

How the Plague Arrived in Europe

2006-08-09T09:11:00.000-05:00

Bubonic plague, or more eerily known as The Black Death, arrived in Europe in October, 1347 on trading ships owned by merchants from Genoa. The ships had come from the Black Sea area of the Crimea. The sailors aboard the death ships were dead or dying when they landed in Messina in Sicily.

The plague was carried by rats that had stowed aboard the ships in the Crimea. They were infested with black flees which actually carried the plague.

The plague came in two forms. One way the plague was spread was by contact and infected the bloodstream. It killed by causing internal bleeding from large swellings on the body. These swellings were known as buboes. Thus, the "bubonic" plague.

The second way the plague was spread was by respiratory infection. The plague infected the lungs, creating a pneumonia-like condition. Both forms spread rapidly throughout Europe. By 1350, only a little over two years when the plague abated, it had killed one-third of Europe, over 20 million people.

Rumors of the plague abounded before it arrived in Europe. It was believed to have started in China and spread west into India, Persia, Mesopotamia and Egypt. By 1346 over 23 million people were believed to have died from the plague in that area of the world. India was almost totally depopulated.

Medicine was still based mostly on astrology and so was helpless to stop the Black Death. The idea of "infection" or infectious diseases was unknown at the time.

Source: A Distant Mirror, Barbara Tuchman

P.S.-The plague returned intermittently to Europe as late as the 17th century. If you would like to read a great fictional novel about the plague, I highly recommend A Journal of the Plague Year. It was written by Daniel Defoe, also the author of Robinson Crusoe.

The novel is about the plague that broke out in London in the summer of 1665. It killed 100,000 Londoners in one year. It gives a vivid account of what it was like to be quarantined, to have the plague, and for the death carts to pass through the city to collect bodies for mass burials.

A Different View of an "Eye for Eye"

2006-08-05T13:28:00.000-05:00

The quotation from Exodus 21:24, "eye for eye, foot for foot..." is often understood to mean that people have a right to revenge an injury to them. This was true in Old Testament times, even though the Gospel of Matthew at 5:38 refers to it and then rejects it at 5:39 ("turn the other cheek") in the New Testament.

What is interesting about the "eye for an eye" quotation, however, is that in Old Testament times it was also meant to put a limit on the amount of vengeance people could take when they suffered at the hands of another.

In ancient times it was customary that if one person from a family killed a person from a different family, the tradition was to kill not only the killer, but also kill everyone in his whole family as well.

So an "eye for an eye" was not only meant to allow for retaliation, but also to limit the extent of the vengeance so that wholesale bloodshed did not occur between families. Vengeance was to be proportional to the harm a person received.

Source: A Short History of Philosophy, Solomon & Higgins

How the British Buried a Suicide

2006-07-31T19:40:00.000-05:00

We all know what a civilized society the U.K. has developed over centuries.

Their belief in a certain superstition in the 19th century is a good indicator of how far England still had to go at that time.

When a person committed suicide in England, the superstitious British buried a suicide at a public crossroads, with a stake through the heart. (Sounds a little like the Dracula myth, doesn't it?)

The practice continued until as late as 1823, about 180 years ago, when it was finally outlawed. 180 years is a blink of the eye in terms of history.

Source: The Old Curiosity Shop, Charles Dickens

Why Grooms Carry Brides Across the Threshold

2006-07-31T19:35:00.000-05:00

The historical tradition of a groom carrying his bride across the threshold is over 3,000 years old.

It is based on the Rape of the Sabine Women. When you go back this far in history it can become hard to tell myth from history, but the story is an ancient one whose tradition has carried down to the present day.

As newly founded Rome grew in size, its founder Romulus discovered that he had many men but very few women, and that the male population of immigrants to the city was growing rapidly. The Sabines were a people who lived near Rome. They refused to let their daughters intermarry with Romans.

Romulus invited the Sabines to attend games in honor of Neptune in Rome. When they did, bringing their daughters with them, the Romans carried off the young Sabine women, on a pre-arranged signal given by Romulus.

A war between the Sabines and the Romans began. In order to stop the war that began over them the young, kidnapped women intervened. They convinced their Sabine fathers to cease their attack and allow their marriages to the Romans.

The Sabine women attached several conditions to their agreement to marry the Roman men, however. The most noteworthy was that the Roman husband had to carry his Sabine bride across the threshold of their new home.

The ritual was to symbolize that initially the Sabine women were forcibly taken by the Roman men against their will into their homes.

That is the historical reason why bridegrooms still carry their brides across the threshold today. The ritual still takes place after our modern weddings, though most people don't know why they do it. Now you know why.

Source: History of Rome, Livy

What Sacred Object is Located in The Dome of the Rock?

2006-07-27T14:16:00.000-05:00

This is a Grant's tomb question. The sacred object is a Rock. Not just any rock, though. It is about 200 feet long. It is believed to be the rock upon which Abraham was to sacrifice his first born son, Isaac. It was also the site of Solomon and Herod's Temples.

It is now a mosque and sacred to the Moslem world because it is believed to be the rock from which Mohammed ascended into heaven. There he met with God and Jesus Christ and received the revelations revealed in the Koran. Moslems believe that the blessed can see the imprints of Mohammed's feet on the rock.

Why Sunni? Why Shia?

2006-07-25T20:19:00.000-05:00

This post goes well beyond the trivial when we consider its significance in today's Middle East. Why and when did the great schism in the Moslem world between Sunnis and Shiites take place?

The schism took place not long after Mohammed's death on June 7, 632 a.d. The great prophet did not designate an heir.

He had chosen Abu Bekr, his friend, to conduct prayers in the Medina mosque. Abu Bekr was elected by the Moslem elders as the first Caliph (Khalifa) of Islam. It merely meant "representative" at the time. His official title was "Commander of the Faithful (amir al-muminin)". From this group came the Sunni faith, and the Caliphate of Baghdad.

Ali, cousin and son-in-law, of the Prophet, disagreed and withheld allegiance for six months. In 656 a.d. the Hashimite clan elevated Ali to the caliphate in opposition to the present Sunni caliph, Othman. Ali was 55. After his followers killed Othman, moved the capital to Kufa, near ancient Babylon in Iraq.

The new Sunni leader, Muawiya, eventually met Ali in battle to decide which should be caliph. Ali was killed by a soldier with a blow to the brain by a poisoned sword in 661 , during a truce, at An Najaf. It is now a sacred Shiite (followers of Ali) shrine in Iraq. After receiving clemency, Ali's son Hasan retired to Mecca and died in 669.

In 680 a.d. Mohammed's grandson, Husein, was persuaded by the Moslems of Kufa to come to Iraq from Mecca with a promise to make him caliph. His caravan was intercepted and Husein and his whole family was killed at Karbala in Iraq. That is the significance of the shrine at Karbala, to which the Shiites make pilgrimages each year worshiping the memory of Ali, Hasan, and Husein.

Source: The Age of Faith, Will Durant

Mongols Destroy the Baghdad Caliphate

2006-07-24T13:45:00.000-05:00

The Mongols came from northwest Asia. They put Baghdad under siege in 1258. They were led by the grandson of Genghis Khan ("Great Chief"), a man named Hulagu.

After a month of siege, the Caliph of Baghdad sent Hulaga presents and an offer of surrender. Hulaga offered clemency in order to secure a peaceful surrender of Baghdad. The Mongols entered Baghdad without resistance on February 13, 1258.

Treacherously, the Mongols proceeded over the next 40 days to kill the 800,000 residents of Baghdad, one of the most notorious and largest massacres of all time.

A nomadic people, the Mongols pillaged the city and moved on, never trying to settle anywhere. They planned to eventually return to Mongolia.

The Baghdad Caliphate was one of the most advanced civilizations of its time, the result of Arab conquests during the rise of Mohammedanism. Its destruction marked the beginning of the decline of the Moslem world.

Source: The Age of Faith, Will Durant

Greek Myth #1-Prometheus Gives Man Fire

2006-07-20T14:52:00.000-05:00

I thought it would be a good idea to add a Greek myth every once in a while. They are highly imaginative and, in additon to teaching a constructive lesson, they reflected ancient ideas of how the gods acted, how we were created, how the earth was formed, etc.

Zeus had Prometheus create humankind from mud and water. Man's existence was harsh and brutal since it had no protection from the beasts which Prometheus's brother had created. It was especially dangerous at night since man had no source of light.

Feeling sorry for them Prometheus stole fire from heaven and gave it to man. It allowed him to cook his food and have light at night for protection. Zeus was furious when he found what Prometheus had done. He chained him to Mount Caucasus where an eagle ate his liver. The liver would grow back and the eagle would eat the new one.

This was a constant source of torture for Prometheus until, according to another myth, he was freed by Hercules.

Source: Bullfinch's Mythology, edited by Richard Martin

Cleopatra was Greek, not Egyptian

2006-07-16T10:13:00.000-05:00

Cleopatra was the last Queen of Egypt. She was a Greek by birth, however, not Egyptian. She was Cleopatra VII, part of the Ptolemy line of Macedonian rulers that ruled Egypt after the death of Alexander the Great in 323 b.c.

She had an affair with Julius Caesar and bore him a son, named Ptolemy Caesar . After Caesars's death in 44 b.c. she took Mark Antony as her lover.

Mark Antony committed suicide some time after she and her fleet abandoned Antony at the critical naval battle near Actium in 31 b.c. The battle pitted Antony and Cleopatra against Octavian for rule of the whole Roman Empire.

Cleopatra committed her famous suicide, at the age of 39. Julius Caesar's son was murdered, as was customary in those times, on the orders of Octavian. This was to prevent any possible future hereditary challengers to Octavian's reign.

Octavian became Caesar Augustus, the first Roman emperor. He ruled until his death in A.D. 14.

Source: The Roman History, Cassius Dio

Caligula's Real Name

2006-07-15T21:11:00.000-05:00

Caligula is the name of the most insane and bloodthirsty of the Roman Caesars. Caligula wasn't his real name, though. His real name was Gaius Caesar. His father was Germanicus, brother of Claudius (of "I, Claudius" fame).

Caligula actually is roughly translated in English to "Bootikin" or "little boots." It was an affectionate nickname given him by the Roman troops because he grew up among them during his father's military campaigns and wore a miniature uniform in the camp.

He was insane by the time he became emperor. He committed incest with his sister Drusilla and made his horse a senator. He would take a senators' wife out of a banquet, have sex with her, and then return to the banquet and describe her sexual attributes in front of the whole audience, including the humiliated senator.

He was eventually assassinated on January 24, 41 A.D. He had ruled for 4 terrorizing years. He was only 29 when he died. His uncle Claudius succeeded him as emperor.

Source: Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Suetonius

The First Novel Published in the United States

2006-07-13T20:12:00.000-05:00

It was "Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded", written by English novelist Samuel Richardson and published in America in 1774. The publisher was none other than Benjamin Franklin. An excellent biography entitled 'Benjamin Franklin, An American Life" written by Walter Isaacson contains this and other fascinating facts about our greatest maxim-maker.

Examples: "Fish and visitors stink in three days;" "An ounce of protection is worth a pound of cure;" "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise;" "Three may keep a secret if two are dead."

The First English Dictionary

2006-07-12T22:24:00.000-05:00

In terms of history, the first dictionary in English was relatively late in arriving. It was compiled by Samuel Johnson and published in 1755. Mr. Johnson was a leading figure in London intellectual society.

Johnson compiled his dictionary with the help of only 6 others. Not many when you consider today's modern dictionary publishers. Before its publication people had nothing but their memory to know the meaning of a word.

His dictionary was the definitive one for the next 150 years until the arrival of the Oxford English Dictionary.

Mr. Johnson was known to be strongly opinionated as well as sarcastic. He did not suffer fools gladly. His dictionary is very different from our modern dictionaries. He did not try to be objective in his definitions. One of the most famous was his definition of a "patron."

He defined a patron as "One who countenances, supports or protects. Commonly a wretch who supports with insolence, and is paid with flattery." That was based on his personal experience with his own patron who backed out of financial support for Johnson's work on the dictionary.

His larger than life character is famously detailed in "The Life of Samuel Johnson, LLD." The author was James Boswell.

I'll sprinkle other humorous definitions from Johnson in future posts.