Deal : History
Date: 19 July, 2021
People all over the world are fascinated with royalty. And Queen Victoria herself, despite being gone for over 120 years, still holds us spellbound when we consider her life and legacy. She came to power during a time of great change. Technological change in the form of new inventions and rapid industrialization were taking place, as well as the great political changes that were occurring in governance. In the first few years of her reign, great social upheavals, such as the potato famine in Ireland and the so-called “Chartists” revolts, were enough to keep even the most experienced of prime...
Date: 17 July, 2021
When Austrian President Franz Jonas visited the Vatican in 1971, Pope Paul VI named Austria “the Island of the Blessed.” He did so to emphasize Austria’s steep recovery. Only twenty-five years had passed since the end of the Second World War, and Austria was already one of the most prosperous European countries. One might argue that Austria was always a rich country, and during the times of its Habsburg rulers, it certainly was. But after the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Austria was lost between two worlds—its German heritage and its multi-ethnic nation. As such, it was easy for Nazi...
Date: 14 July, 2021
Most people are lucky if they can trace their families back more than five or six generations. Tom Jaeger needed to search forwards in time and find the descendants of eight people who lived in the 7th century. To be traceable and appear in the historical record, their relatives would need to have been wealthy, in positions of power, to have held an office of state or in the Church or to have won a battle. That’s difficult to do, generation after generation. It might be easier if they still lived in the same area as their ancestors. But between...
Date: 13 July, 2021
The causes of the American Civil War, which lasted from April 1861 to May 1865, were many and complex. At the heart of the disagreement, however, was slavery. The Southern states of the newly formed but illegal Confederacy were prepared to fight the US federal government to the death to retain their right to keep slaves for their plantations. The election of President Abraham Lincoln in late 1860, whose open intention was to abolish slavery, created a military upheaval south of Washington, DC, and civil war ensued. Although other attacks and skirmishes between the North and South occurred before the...
Date: 11 July, 2021
In fact, of the 102 passengers on the Mayflower, only about 40 were fleeing England for religious reasons. The Reformation brought sweeping changes across Europe. In England, that led to the formation of a small congregation of radicals known as the Separatists. These were ordinary farmers and craftsmen who simply didn’t believe in the Anglican Church, and they found themselves hounded out of their own country like criminals. So began their quest to find a new home—a home where they could be safe and free. A home where they could raise their children in peace. A home where they could...
Date: 6 July, 2021
The Battle of Shiloh was fought along the Tennessee River near the border with Mississippi when the Confederates attempted to prevent the Union forces, who were led by future US president Ulysses S. Grant, from seizing the vital railroad junction at Corinth, Mississippi. When the battle began, the forces of the North and the South were equally matched on the battlefield, though the rebels knew they had to move fast in order to avoid the forces under Grant and Union General Don Carlos Buell from uniting on the west side of the Tennessee River. The battle began in the early...
Date: 3 July, 2021
Pompeii was destroyed by the horrific eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE, which buried at least two thousand unlucky people. Pompeii became a mysterious tomb, hiding secrets of Rome and other civilizations that influenced the life and culture of the city and its people. Who were the Pompeiians, and how did they live before that dreadful day? What did the last days of Pompeii look like, and did the Pompeiians know that the fate of their city would be sealed that day, not to be uncovered for centuries to come? The first major excavations commenced in the 1700s and...