The Great War Archive Dec 25. The Christmas Truce Sergeant Bernard Brookes was a signaller who spent ten months in Flanders in the beginning of the War before he suffered shellshock and was invalided out of active service. During his convalescence he wrote up the notes he had made during his service, giving a personal, unsentimental account of the appalling conditions in the trenches as well as humorous exploits on and off duty.Here are two short extracts relating to the famous Christmas Truce 1914: 24 December 1914: "An officer went out (after we had stood at our posts with rifles loaded in case of treachery) and arrangements were made that between 10.00am and noon, and from 2.00pm to 4.00pm tomorrow, intercourse between the Germs [sic] and ourselves should take place. It was a beautiful night and a sharp frost set in, and when we awoke in the morning the ground was covered with a white raiment. You can read more of Sergeant Bernard Brookes’s story on the Europeana 1914-1918 site.
6 Ancient Sports Too Awesome For the Modern World While the Ancient Greeks are often credited with inventing Western Civilization, they were also responsible for a brutal sport called Pankration, which was basically the first mixed-martial art and was totally not gay. As you can see, there is absolutely nothing gay about Pankration. The "Game" Pankration was a lot like modern MMA, except there were no rules, no rounds, no rests and--in an interesting twist on Mortal Kombat--killing your opponent resulted in an instant loss. Congratulations on the victory, Jax. How is that "Insane"? The idea was to get as close as you could to killing a guy without actually killing him, using an arsenal of strikes, takedowns, grapples, chokeholds, hyperextensions and movies starring Nia Vardalos. However, if the person you were fighting died, it meant he had bigger balls than you because he refused to quit. "Wait, what are you... The Fisherman's Joust Well, for several reasons... These guys aren't even jousting. Also, there's blood.
Google Historical Voyages and Historical Events Overview: What historical event, explorer, voyage, or local history would you like to share with other schools? Have you studied the settlement history of your own community? Have you studied about your state or country and historical events that helped shape it? This site is dedicated to the explorers, voyages, events, and historical backgrounds of countries throughout the World. We'd like to hear about famous explorers who surveyed or traveled through your community long ago. This project is open to schools all over the World. Suggested Topics: Exemplars: Feel free to explore the projects that have been contributed by other schools. Some are designed so that students work independently as they learn about historical events or people. How to Submit Projects: Suggested Technology Tools: We would like to suggest that you "explore" using WEB 2.0 tools for your project. This site highlights Google tools. A final project is the one you post for other schools to view and use: Some Final Thoughts:
Ancient Sumer with thanks to The History GuideWhat is good in a man's sight is evil for a god, What is evil to a man's mind is good for his god. Who can comprehend the counsel of the gods in heaven? The plan of a god is deep waters, who can fathom of it? Where has befuddled mankind ever learned what is a god's conduct?Before CivilizationBetween 9000 B.C. and the beginning of the Christian era, western civilization came into being in Egypt and in what historians call Ancient Western Asia (modern-day Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Turkey, south-western Russia, Iraq and Iran). The earliest permanent settlements occurred between 9000-6000 B.C. and were accompanied by the domestication of plants and animals. The city-state was Sumer's most important political entity.
World History for Us All 12 of the World’s Most Mysterious Monuments & Ruins 12 of the World’s Most Mysterious Monuments & Ruins Article by Steph, filed under Abandoned Places in the Architecture category. Around the world, in places as diverse as Homestead, Florida and Yonaguni, Japan stand monuments and ruins whose origins are shrouded in mystery. Nobody knows exactly why Stonehenge was built, how a set of manmade ruins came to be submerged deep in the ocean or who commissioned a giant carved granite set of post-apocalyptic instructions for rebuilding society on a remote hill in Georgia. Monumental Instructions for the Post-Apocalypse (images via: Wired) On a barren knoll in northeastern Georgia stands one of the world’s most bizarre and mysterious monuments. Lake Michigan Stonehenge (image via: io9) A group of researchers using sonar to look for shipwrecks at the bottom of Lake Michigan got quite a surprise when they found what appears to be an ancient Stonehenge-like structure 40 feet beneath the surface of the water. Underwater Ruins in Japan (images via: Hottnez)
Copy of Rise and Fall of Ancient Civilizations by Bob Bob on Prezi Our animated maps in free access - The map as history The first Christian communities (1st century) This map is part of a series of 17 animated maps showing History of Christianity. 4 are currently available online Independence for India and Pakistan Clement Attlee, the Labour Prime Minister who replaced Winston Churchill in July 1945, soon realised that independence for India was inevitable, but disagreements among the Indian politicians made the negotiations very difficult. This map is part of a series of 14 animated maps showing Decolonization after 1945 The circumference of the Earth and the Route towards the West In the 3rd century BCE, Eratosthenes calculated the circumference of the Earth with remarkable precision. In later centuries, other Greek geographers, including the most famous of them all Ptolemy, suggested a much lower figure for the circumference for our planet. This under-estimation was adopted by 15th century map-makers. This map is part of a series of 16 animated maps showing The Age of Discovery (Part I) Europe Plunges into War