Tag: history

Thanksgiving

Wishing Everyone a Happy Thanksgiving Day.

In November 1621, after the Pilgrims’ first corn harvest proved successful, Governor William Bradford organized a celebratory feast and invited a group of the fledgling colony’s Native American allies, including the Wampanoag chief Massasoit. Now remembered as American’s “first Thanksgiving”—although the Pilgrims themselves may not have used the term at the time—the festival lasted for three days.

While no record exists of the historic banquet’s exact menu, the Pilgrim chronicler Edward Winslow wrote in his journal that Governor Bradford sent four men on a “fowling” mission in preparation for the event, and that the Wampanoag guests arrived bearing five deer. Historians have suggested that many of the dishes were likely prepared using traditional Native American spices and cooking methods. Because the Pilgrims had no oven and the Mayflower’s sugar supply had dwindled by the fall of 1621, the meal did not feature pies, cakes or other desserts, which have become a hallmark of contemporary celebrations.

Guy Fawkes Day

November 5: Guy Fawkes Day

On the 5th of November, 1605, a group of men attempted to carry out the ‘gunpowder plot’, a failed attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament and kill King James the First. The man who was to light the barrels of gunpowder was named Guy Fawkes. The plan was discovered, however, when one of the conspirators sent a letter to his cousin warning him not to visit the Houses of Parliament.

Fawkes was then caught just before lighting the fuse to the 36 barrels of gunpowder; enough evidence to lead to his conviction and execution. Today, the plot continues to be remembered through the use of fireworks, bonfire parties and general celebrations, observed primarily in England, but also in places such as New Zealand.

Straps and Mohawk

Photographer Unknown, (Straps and Mohawk)

The mohawk (also referred to as a mohican) is a hairstyle in which, in the most common variety, both sides of the head are shaven, leaving a strip of noticeably longer hair in the center. The mohawk is also sometimes referred to as an “iro” in reference to the Iroquois, from whom the hairstyle is derived – though historically the hair was plucked out rather than shaved.

Additionally, hairstyles bearing these names more closely resemble those worn by the Pawnee, rather than the Mohawk, Mohican/Mahican, Mohegan, or other phonetically similar tribes. The red-haired Clonycavan man bog body found in Ireland is notable for having a well-preserved Mohawk hairstyle, dated to between 392 BCE and 201 BCE.

Among the Pawnee people, who historically lived in present-day Nebraska and in northern Kansas, a “mohawk” hair style was common. When going to war, 16th-century Ukrainian Cossacks would shave their heads, leaving a long central strip. This haircut was known as a khokhol or chupryna and was often braided or tied in a topknot. During World War II, many American GIs, notably paratroopers from the 101st Airborne Division wore mohawks to intimidate their enemies.

Fourth of July

Wishing Everyone a Happy Fourth of July!

July Fourth is a federal holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, by the Continental Congress declaring that the thirteen American colonies regarded themselves as a new nation, the United States of America, and no longer part of the British Empire.

During the American Revolution, the legal separation of the Thirteen Colonies from Great Britain occurred on July 2, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that had been proposed in June by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia declaring the United States independent from Great Britain rule. After voting for independence, Congress turned its attention to the Declaration of Independence, a statement explaining this decision, which had been prepared by a Committee of Five, with Thomas Jefferson as its principal author. Congress debated and revised the wording of the Declaration, finally approving it on July 4.

Djinn

Artists Unknown, Djinn

According to pre-Islamic lore, the djinn are born of smokeless fire (which in modern terms could be plasma). They live very long lives but they are not immortal.  According to some accounts, they live with other supernatural beings in the Kaf, a mythical range of emerald mountains that encircles the Earth.  In modern terms, they live in a parallel dimension.

The djinn like to roam the deserts and wilderness and inhabit caves. They are usually invisible, but have the power to shape-shift to any form, be it insect, animal, human, or entity. They have long been regarded as malicious and dangerous, capable of bringing bad luck, illness, disaster and death. Even when granting favors, they have a trickster nature and can twist events for the worse.

Though the djinn can be conjured in magical rites, they are difficult to control. One individual said to have complete power over the djinn was the legendary Biblical King Solomon. God gave Solomon a copper and iron magic ring that enabled him to subdue djinn, and which protected him from their powers. In some accounts, the ring was inscribed with a pentacle, and in other accounts it was set with a gem, probably a diamond, that had a living force of its own. With the ring, Solomon branded the necks of the djinn as his slaves and set them to working building the first Temple of Jerusalem and even the entire city of Jerusalem.

Memorial Day

Memorial Day

Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the United States for remembering the people who died while serving in the country’s armed forces. The holiday, which is observed every year on the last Monday of May, originated as Decoration Day after the American Civil War in 1868, when the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of Union veterans founded in Decatur, Illinois, established it as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the Union war dead with flowers.

By the 20th century, competing Union and Confederate holiday traditions, celebrated on different days, had merged, and Memorial Day eventually extended to honor all Americans who died while in the military service.

On Memorial Day, the flag of the United States is raised briskly to the top of the staff and then solemnly lowered to the half-staff position, where it remains only until noon. It is then raised to full-staff for the remainder of the day.

Memorial Day observances in small New England towns are often marked by dedications and remarks by veterans, state legislators, and selectmen.
The half-staff position remembers the more than one million men and women who gave their lives in service of their country. At noon, their memory is raised by the living, who resolve not to let their sacrifice be in vain, but to rise up in their stead and continue the fight for liberty and justice for all.

Images from Gettysburg, Normandy, Aisle-Marne, Brittany, and Meuse-Argonne cemeteries.

The Salina Turda Salt Mine

The Salina Turda Salt Mine, Romania

Salina Turda was a massive salt mine in Turda, Romania. covering an area of 45 square kilometers. Its origins date back to the 17th century and it was a working mine up until 1932. After its closing in 1932 the salt mine was forgotten until the second World War, when it was reopened and used as an antiaircraft shelter. Up to the year 1992 when the salt mine was opened to the public as a touristic site, the first 500 metres of the Franz Joseph conveyance gallery had been used for quite a long time as a warehouse for cheese storage.

The Turda Salt Mine is today a History Museum of Salt Exploitation. The excellent condition of the mining compartments and the equipment used for salt transportation , as well as the care with which the mine was prepared for tourism, have turned it into a place of mingled history and legend. The ever higher number of tourists coming here from most various parts of the world to visit the mine are a confirmation of its historical and touristic value. The Salina Turda Mine features a museum, event space, walking tours and random activities like pool, table tennis and even boat rides.

The interior maintains a steady 11-12 degrees celsius and 80 percent humidity, completely devoid of any allergens and an almost absence of any bacteria, making the unique micro-climate a destination for those suffering from allergic respiratory diseases.

Photography by Ana Maria Catalina and Cristian Bortes

Reblogged from http://twistedsifter.com

City Hall Subway Station

Abandoned City Hall Subway Station, New York City

If you ride the Number 6 train to the end of the line and get off at the Brooklyn Bridge stop, you’re missing out on something incredible. As the train loops around to go back uptown, it passes through the abandoned and beautifully preserved City Hall Station from 1904.

The station, with a maximum use by only 600 people a day, was closed by the City of New York Because the loop created an unsafe gap at the platform. In 1995 the city vowed to restore the site and turn it into a part of the transit museum, but those plans were scrapped years later.

The station is still not open to the public, but there’s a trick you can use to see it for yourself. Until recently the MTA would force passengers to get off before the train made the loop, but now passengers are allowed to stay on. So the next time you reach the end of the line, stay on the train as it rolls through the City Hall Station.

Francisco de Zubaran

Francisco de Zubaran, “Agnus Dei”, 1635-40, Oil on Canvas, 62 x 38 cm, Museo Nacional del Prado

Francisco de Zurbarán was a Spanish painter. He is known primarily for his religious paintings depicting monks, nuns, and martyrs, and for his still-lifes. Zurbarán gained the nickname Spanish Caravaggio, owing to the forceful, realistic use of chiaroscuro in which he excelled.

It is unknown whether Zurbarán had the opportunity to copy the paintings of Caravaggio; at any rate, he adopted Caravaggio’s realistic use of chiaroscuro and tenebrism. The painter who may have had the greatest influence on his characteristically severe compositions was Juan Sánchez Cotán. Polychrome sculpture—which by the time of Zurbarán’s apprenticeship had reached a level of sophistication in Seville that surpassed that of the local painters—provided another important stylistic model for the young artist

Francisco de Zurbarán created a pure and intense religious visual language. He worked in Seville in the days when the Andalucían city created its renowned Holy Week rituals. In Zubaran’s painting “Agnus Dei”, a trussed lamb, bound for death, symbolises Christ.

Maréchal-Ferrant …

Maréchal-ferrant …

The term “Marshal” comes from the Old French “Marhskalk” that comes from common Germanic “Markhaz”, itself derived from the Celtic “markh” (horse), and Germanic skalkaz “servant”,   

Literally: the servant charged with the care of horses, which designated a servant who tended the horses.  The word then took two different meanings, designating the craftsman responsible for shoeing horses, and also the officer in charge of the horses. The word “farrier” was created to distinguish these two trades.

Hu Tianbao

The Vision of the Concupiscence of Men: Seen by Tu’er Shen

According to “What the Master Would Not Discuss (Chinese: 子不語)”, a book written by Yuan Mei during the Qing dynasty, Tu’er Shen was a man called Hu Tianbao. Hu was originally a man who fell in love with a very handsome imperial inspector of Fujian Province. One day he was caught peeping on the inspector through a bathroom wall, at which point he confessed his reluctant affections for the other man.

The imperial inspector had Hu Tianbao sentenced to death by beating. One month after Hu Tianbao’s death, he is said to have appeared to a man from his hometown in a dream, claiming that since his crime was one of love, the underworld officials decided to right the injustice by appointing him the god and safeguarder of homosexual affections.

After his dream the man erected a shrine to Hu Tianbao, which became very popular in Fujian, so much so that in late Qing times, the cult of Hu Tianbao was targeted for extermination by the Qing government.

Stoyan Nenov

Stoyan Nenov, “Bulgarian Men Diving for the Cross at Epiphany”, Reuters

On January 6, known also as St Jordan’s, Orthodox Chrisitans celebrate the baptism of Christ by John the Baptist in the river Jordan, seen as his appearance to the world (epiphany) as the Son of God.

The characteristic Bulgarian St Jordan’s ritual is performed by a priest who throws a cross into a river or a lake for young men to catch it. It is believed that the first person that gets to the cross will enjoy good health throughout the whole year.

New Year’s Eve

Scotland: Festival of Hogmanay, New Year’s Eve

Every December 31st in Scotland, there is held an annual festival “Festival of Hogmanay”. Almost all adult males become festival participants, and they were paraded through the main streets, holding torches. As a result, balls of fire fill the Scotland air throughout the new year’s eve. This Festival is a tradition from generation to generation since the days of the Vikings gained control of Scandinavia.

An example of a local Hogmanay custom is the fireball swinging that takes place in Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, in northeast Scotland. This involves local people making up “balls” of chicken wire filled with old newspaper, sticks, rags, and other dry flammable material up to a diameter of 2 feet (0.61 m), each attached to about 3 feet (0.91 m) of wire, chain or nonflammable rope. As the Old Town House bell sounds to mark the new year, the balls are set alight and the swingers set off up the High Street from the Mercat Cross to the Cannon and back, swinging the burning balls around their heads as they go.

At the end of the ceremony, any fireballs that are still burning are cast into the harbour. Many people enjoy this display, and large crowds flock to see it, with 12,000 attending the 2007/2008 event. In recent years, additional attractions have been added to entertain the crowds as they wait for midnight, such as fire poi, a pipe band, street drumming and a firework display after the last fireball is cast into the sea. The festivities are now streamed live over the Internet.

Hibiki Whiskey

Hibiki Whiskey

“Earlier this year, Osaka-based Suntory shocked the world by announcing acquisition of proudly American brands Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark but lest you misunderstand their intention as some untoward occupation of quintessential Americana like beer and alcohol, one has to understand the foundations of Japanese artisan philosophy is that of complete mastery. Theirs’ is the ability to absorb and improve everything from cocktails to couture. When it comes to whiskey, Japan has close to a hundred years of heritage.

In 1923, Shinjiro Torii envisioned a whisky filled with the essence of Japanese nature and hand-crafted by artisans through a patient process of enhancing the work of nature. He dreamt of creating subtle, refined, yet complex whisky that would suit the delicate palate of the Japanese and enhance their dining experience. Inspired by traditional Scottish whisky.

Seductive, blossoming and enigmatic, Hibiki celebrates an unrivaled art of blending, fine craftsmanship and a sense of luxury from the House of Suntory. Hibiki is not only Japan’s most highly awarded blended whisky, but among the most prestigious and honoured whiskies in the world. It stands shoulder to shoulder with the relatively affordable Yamazaki and Hakushu range.” – TheMonsieur.com

Thanks to http://3leapfrogs.tumblr.com