History with Descriptions - A through Z

[MatthewVett]

Personally, I find the regular A through Z threads kind of lacking. It's just a sequence of words. So I wanted to try to start one a little bit educational. Post someone, something, or somewhere from history and then explain about them a little bit. Tell us what's interesting or why you like them. I'll start with A for Agathocles.

Agathocles was a king of Syracuse. He was born the son of a potter (not a wizard, a guy who makes pots), but ended up becoming a thief, a prostitute, a bandit leader, and a general before eventually seizing control of Syracuse and wiping out the senate. He's most famous for his war against Carthage. While Carthage was besieging Syracuse in Sicily, Agathocles took his army to Africa to attack Carthage directly, an action that later inspired Scipio to do the same while Hannibal was in Italy. He had to retreat to Syracuse, but he enjoyed the hegemony of the island until his death, when he restored democracy to Syracuse rather than passing the kingdom to his heirs.

A story about him I especially like is that while in Africa, he was joined by the army of Ophellas, one of Alexander the Great's former officers. Ophellas like handsome boys. Agathocles's son was a handsome boy. Agathocles sent his son to Ophellas, telling his son not to give in to the commander. While Ophellas was distracted and lustful, Agathocles attacked the allied army, slew Ophellas, and convinced the surviving soldiers, now leaderless and far from home, to join him.

 

[Carnal_Flower]

B . . . I nominate Bastet

Why, because I love all things cat, and Bastet is a cat god

Bastet was a goddess in ancient Egyptian religion, worshiped as early as the 2nd Dynasty (2890 BC). As Bast, she was the goddess of warfare in Lower Egypt, the Nile River delta region, before the unification of the cultures of ancient Egypt. Her name is also translated as Baast, Ubaste, and Baset. In Greek mythology, she is also known as Ailuros.

The uniting Egyptian cultures had deities that shared similar roles and usually the same imagery. In Upper Egypt, Sekhmet was the parallel warrior lioness deity. Often similar deities merged into one with the unification, but that did not occur with these deities having such strong roots in their cultures. Instead, these goddesses began to diverge. During the 22nd Dynasty (c. 945–715 BC), Bast had transformed from a lioness warrior deity into a major protector deity represented as a cat.

Herodotus relates that of the many solemn festivals held in Egypt, the most important and most popular one was that celebrated in Bubastis in honor of the goddess. Each year on the day of her festival, the town was said to have attracted some 700,000 visitors, both men and women (but not children), who arrived in numerous crowded ships. The women engaged in music, song, and dance on their way to the place. Great sacrifices were made and prodigious amounts of wine were drunk.

As a revered animal and one important to Egyptian society and religion, some cats received the same mummification after death as humans. Mummified cats were given in offering to Bast. In 1888, an Egyptian farmer uncovered a large tomb with mummified cats and kittens. This discovery outside the town of Beni Hasan had eighty thousand cat mummies, dated after 1000 BC

The respect that cats received after death mirrored the respect with which they were treated in everyday life. Herodotus wrote that in the event of a fire, men would guard the fire to make certain that no cats ran into the flame. Herodotus also wrote that when a cat died, the household would go into mourning as if for a human relative, and would often shave their eyebrows to signify their loss.

Such was the strength of feeling towards cats that killing one, even accidentally, incurred the death penalty*

*Courtesy of wikipedia

 

[Handley_Page]

King Charles 1st.

A man who had issues with the concept of "by the consent of Parliament" and
"By divine right".

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Dick - And you all know who you are...

dick 2
noun

1. The penis : Now why don't you pull the weight down with your dick (1880s+ British armed forces)

2. A despised person; prick: You dick! (1960s+)

3. Nothing; squat, zilch, zippo: So far we got dick/ Look, I didn't have any money, the Feds wouldn't do dick, nobody was helping out (1950s+)

 

[J_R_Ashunwhy]

E -- Elizabeth Báthory; an inspiration for traditional vampirism folklore

From History.com:
Báthory was born in Transylvania in 1560 to a distinguished family that included kings, cardinals, knights, and judges. Though she counted many luminaries among her relatives, her family tree also featured some seriously disturbed kin. One of her uncles instructed her in Satanism, while her aunt taught her all about sadomasochism. At the age of 15, Báthory was married to Count Nadady, and the couple settled into Csejthe Castle. To please his wife, her husband reportedly built a torture chamber to her specifications.

Báthory's torture included jamming pins and needles under the fingernails of her servant girls, and tying them down, smearing them with honey, and leaving them to be attacked by bees and ants. Although the count participated in his wife’s cruelties, he may have also restrained her impulses; when he died in the early 1600s, she became much worse. With the help of her former nurse, Ilona Joo, and local witch Dorotta Szentes, Báthory began abducting peasant girls to torture and kill. She often bit chunks of flesh from her victims, and one unfortunate girl was even forced to cook and eat her own flesh. Báthory reportedly believed that human blood would keep her looking young and healthy.

Since her family headed the local government, Báthory's crimes were ignored until 1610. But King Matthias finally intervened because Báthory had begun finding victims among the daughters of local nobles. In January 1611, Báthory and her cohorts were put on trial for 80 counts of murder. All were convicted, but only Báthory escaped execution. Instead, she was confined to a room of the castle that only had slits for air and food. She survived for three years but was found dead in August 1614.

 

[SamScribble]

F: Francis Bacon. (Yeah, I know. But B was already taken.)

Apart from having a finger in many pies (philosophy, politics, natural sciences, literature – to name but a few), Francis Bacon was one of the first champions of the scientific method. Forget the myths, and the gods, and all that stuff, he said. Look at what’s in front of you. Look at the evidence – and then draw your conclusions.

Also, what a cool thing to be able to ascribe your demise to investigating the possibility of frozen chickens. KFC should have an annual Francis Bacon day.

 

[Handley_Page]

Got to nominate Galileo.
The guy who put earth going round the Sun and nearly paid for it with his life.

 

[J_R_Ashunwhy]

H -- H.H. Holmes: One of America's first documented serial killers, and at one time, was thought to be a suspect in the Ripper killings in Whitechapel

From History.com:
Born with the unfortunate moniker Herman Mudgett in New Hampshire, Holmes began torturing animals as a child. Still, he was a smart boy who later graduated from the University of Michigan with a medical degree. Holmes financed his education with a series of insurance scams whereby he requested coverage for nonexistent people and then presented corpses as the insured.

In 1886, Holmes moved to Chicago to work as a pharmacist. A few months later, he bought the pharmacy from the owner’s widow after his death. She then mysteriously disappeared. With a new series of cons, Holmes raised enough money to build a giant, elaborate home across from the store.

The home, which Holmes called “The Castle,” had secret passageways, fake walls, and trapdoors. Some of the rooms were soundproof and connected by pipes to a gas tank in the basement. His bedroom had controls that could fill these rooms with gas. Holmes’ basement also contained a lab with equipment used for his dissections.

Young women in the area, along with tourists who had come to see the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago, and had rented out rooms in Holmes’ castle, suddenly began disappearing. Medical schools purchased many human skeletons from Dr. Holmes during this period but never asked how he obtained the anatomy specimens.

Holmes was finally caught after attempting to use another corpse in an insurance scam. He confessed, saying, “I was born with the devil in me. I could not help the fact that I was a murderer, no more than a poet can help the inspiration to sing.”

Reportedly, authorities discovered the remains of over 200 victims on his property.

 

[Carnal_Flower]

Washington Irving

Writer of Sleepy Hollow, Rip Van Winkle

You have to admit the Legend of Sleepy Hollow is mythic. Scared the livin' pants off me when I was little.

Irving is considered by many the real beginnings of American Lit. Stories set in upstate, drawing upon local legends, scenery. Atmospheric writing, with a strong sense of place.

Bonus "I": Ichabod Crane

 

[SamScribble]

J: Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), poet, essayist, literary critic, biographer, and editor – although, personally, I would hail him for his contribution to lexicography.

These days, his dictionary is perhaps best known for its quirky entries (Lexicographer: A writer of dictionaries; a harmless drudge that busies himself in tracing the original, and detailing the signification of words. Oats: A grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland appears to support the people. Patron: One who countenances, supports or protects. Commonly a wretch who supports with insolence, and is paid with flattery) but it was an important step along the road to the OED and other significant reference works.

I would dock him marks for being a devout Anglican. He should have known better. But, hey, no one’s perfect.

 

[ElectricBlue]

K. Kubrick, Stanley.
Seminal film maker of the twentieth century.

Made a number of powerful anti war films (Paths of Glory, Dr Strangelove, Full Metal Jacket), had a go at filming Lolita in 1962 (his nymphet, Sue Lyon, was 14 at the time of filming). The Shining was the first use of steadicam, Barry Lyndon was entirely filmed in natural light using a lense developed by NASA for the moon landings. The last word of his last film, Eyes Wide Shut, was 'fuck'. A Clockwork Orange is still controversial, even today, after being banned from screening in Britain (by Kubrick himself) for nearly thirty years. It was re-released in the UK after his death in 1999.

His masterpiece, 2001 A Space Odyssey, was first released in 1968 (not quite fifty years ago). For many years, until his death, he was known as 'the world's greatest living film maker'. Since then, no film director to my knowledge has been given that title. Sadly, he didn't live to see the year 2001.

 

[NOIRTRASH]

J: Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), poet, essayist, literary critic, biographer, and editor – although, personally, I would hail him for his contribution to lexicography.

These days, his dictionary is perhaps best known for its quirky entries (Lexicographer: A writer of dictionaries; a harmless drudge that busies himself in tracing the original, and detailing the signification of words. Oats: A grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland appears to support the people. Patron: One who countenances, supports or protects. Commonly a wretch who supports with insolence, and is paid with flattery) but it was an important step along the road to the OED and other significant reference works.

I would dock him marks for being a devout Anglican. He should have known better. But, hey, no one’s perfect.

Sam and I share his grandfather, William Johnson, as a common ancestor. Sam's droll style is common amongst us Johnson writers, and Mark Twain was a Johnson cousin, too. I suspect Sam and I share a writer named Samuel Johnson, a militant Anglican divine who mage much trouble for JAMES I and himself. Sam I was a writer, too.

 

[Handley_Page]

Keppler, Johannes (b 1571, d1630).

The man who gave us the making of a good telescope, and recorded the details of planetary motion [which went to help Newton with his gravity].

 

[J_R_Ashunwhy]

the alphabet has two k's now? coolbeans

L -- Lascaux Caves

From History.com:
Near Montignac, France, a collection of prehistoric cave paintings are discovered by four teenagers (in 1940) who stumbled upon the ancient artwork after following their dog down a narrow entrance into a cavern. The 15,000- to 17,000-year-old paintings, consisting mostly of animal representations, are among the finest examples of art from the Upper Paleolithic period.

First studied by the French archaeologist Henri-Édouard-Prosper Breuil, the Lascaux grotto consists of a main cavern 66 feet wide and 16 feet high. The walls of the cavern are decorated with some 600 painted and drawn animals and symbols and nearly 1,500 engravings. The pictures depict in excellent detail numerous types of animals, including horses, red deer, stags, bovines, felines, and what appear to be mythical creatures. There is only one human figure depicted in the cave: a bird-headed man with an erect phallus. Archaeologists believe that the cave was used over a long period of time as a center for hunting and religious rites.

The Lascaux grotto was opened to the public in 1948 but was closed in 1963 because artificial lights had faded the vivid colors of the paintings and caused algae to grow over some of them. A replica of the Lascaux cave was opened nearby in 1983 and receives tens of thousands of visitors annually.

 

[J_R_Ashunwhy]

M -- Merrick, Joseph Carey: The Elephant Man

From Biography.com:
Joseph Carey Merrick was born on August 5, 1862, in Leicester, England. At a young age he began to develop physical deformities that became so extreme that he was forced to become a resident of a workhouse at age 17. Seeking to escape the workhouse several years later, Merrick found his way into a human oddities show in which he was exhibited as "The Elephant Man."...

He wore a cape and veil to conceal his deformities in public, but was often harassed by mobs as he traveled. In London, the Elephant Man exhibit was housed across the street from the London Hospital and was frequently visited by medical students and doctors interested in Merrick’s condition.

Merrick was eventually invited by a surgeon named Frederick Treves to visit the hospital to be examined. The results of Treves’ examination showed that, by that point, Merrick’s deformities had become extreme. His head measured 36 inches in circumference and his right hand 12 inches at the wrist. His body was covered with tumors, and his legs and hip were so deformed that he had to walk with a cane. He was found to be in otherwise good health.

By 1885, a distaste for freak shows had developed in Britain and Merrick and his managers decided to try to move The Elephant Man exhibit to Belgium. The show met with only mediocre success, however, and Merrick’s manager there eventually robbed him of his life savings and abandoned him. After finding passage on a ship back to England in June of 1886, Merrick was mobbed by a crowd at Liverpool Street Station in London and taken into custody by the police. Unable to understand Merrick, they eventually found Frederick Treves’ business card on him and took him to the London Hospital. Treves examined Merrick at the hospital and found that his condition had severely deteriorated in the previous two years. However, the hospital was considered incapable of caring for “incurables” such as him, and it seemed that Merrick would be forced to fend for himself yet again.

...Unable to care for Merrick, the chairman of the hospital published a letter asking for public support. The resulting donations allowed the hospital to convert several rooms into living quarters for Merrick, where he would be cared for the rest of his life. He died from a broken vertebra on April 11, 1890, at the age of 27.

 

[lovecraft68]

Nietzsche, Friedrich

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Nietzsche

Must reading for Nihilists

 

[J_R_Ashunwhy]

O -- O'Malley, Grace: Lady chieftain, and 'pirate queen'

The lady married and then divorced another chieftain just to keep his castle, and then sacked the castle of one of her sons, killing some of his men, just to prove a point.

Wanna watch the gorgeous Lucy Lawless wield some swords and tell yah about Grace? Of course you do...
http://www.lucylawless.net/documentaries/warrior-women/ww-episode-2.php

 

[Carnal_Flower]

O: Georgia O'Keeffe (cf: avatar)

Georgia Totto O'Keeffe (November 15, 1887 – March 6, 1986) was an American artist. She is best known for her paintings of enlarged flowers, New York skyscrapers, and New Mexico landscapes. O'Keeffe has been recognized as the "Mother of American modernism".

O'Keeffe was the first widely recognized, successful female artist in America. She was a mini-celebrity in her day.

After attending art school in New York, O'Keeffe taught for several years, eventually settling in Texas where she taught art to high school kids. It was there that she developed and discovered her own style, in a series of fluid, abstract watercolors that merged Modernism with organic and bodily imagery. She sent some drawings to her friend, Anita Pollitzer, who got them to photographer and gallery owner Alfred Stieglitz.

Supposedly, upon seeing them Stieglitz exclaimed, "At last, a woman on paper."

And well, the rest is history.

Stieglitz featured her in a solo show at the 291 Gallery, where her sexualized portraits of magnified flowers caused a huge sensation. She went on to a long and prolific career, eventually settling in New Mexico.

O'Keeffe lived to be 98. She never stopped painting.

 

[Handley_Page]

Pythagoras.
He amassed a number of adherents who, in addition to doing dead-'ard sums
sorted out a very strange diet sheet, where no beans would be eaten; breaking wind was a terrible thing, unless you were very ill.

 

[MatthewVett]

Such was the strength of feeling towards cats that killing one, even accidentally, incurred the death penalty*

*Courtesy of wikipedia

My favorite anecdote related to this comes from Polyaenus.

"When Cambyses attacked Pelusium, which guarded the entrance into Egypt, the Egyptians defended it with great resolution. They advanced formidable engines against the besiegers, and hurled missiles, stones, and fire at them from their catapults. To counter this destructive barrage, Cambyses ranged before his front line dogs, sheep, cats, ibises, and whatever other animals the Egyptians hold sacred. The Egyptians immediately stopped their operations, out of fear of hurting the animals, which they hold in great veneration. Cambyses captured Pelusium, and thereby opened up for himself the route into Egypt."

http://www.attalus.org/translate/polyaenus7.html#9.1

 

[MatthewVett]

Quintus Fabius Pictor was the first Roman historian, providing a history of Rome from its founding by Romulus down to his own present day. His works are lost now, but he was used as a source by surviving authors including Plutarch, Polybius, and Livy. He wrote his works in Greek, partly in order to justify Roman policy towards the Greeks.

He was also a senator and fought in the Second Punic War, and was sent to consult the Oracle at Delphi after the disaster of Cannae.

 

[MatthewVett]

Pythagoras.
He amassed a number of adherents who, in addition to doing dead-'ard sums
sorted out a very strange diet sheet, where no beans would be eaten; breaking wind was a terrible thing, unless you were very ill.

To share another anecdote, Pythagoras was so against the idea of irrational numbers, that is, numbers that can't be expressed as a fraction of whole numbers, such as the square root of two, that when his student Hippasus proved that the square root of two was one, he was drowned at sea for it.

 

[Serafina1210]

Radegund was a Thuringian princess in the sixth century. Circa 531 Thuringia was conquered by the Franks, and Radegund was seized as spoils of battle: a few years later the Frankish prince Chlothar I took her as a wife; he afterwards succeeded his brother as king. After Chothar had Radegund's younger brother murdered, she fled the court, became a nun, and founded a monastery. She led a life of great piety and after her death in 587 was venerated as a saint. Many churches and other establishments are consecrated to her.

 

[J_R_Ashunwhy]

S -- Sköll ...and Hati: apocalypse wolves of the Norse

Sköll and Hati are said in Nordic mythology to chase the sun and the moon across the sky daily to cause their raising and setting. At Ragnarök--the death of several gods, and the world being completely submerged in water-- Sköll and Hati are each to catch their cosmic body, and devour it to destroy the old and aid in the rebirth of the cosmos.

 

[Carnal_Flower]

T. Samuel Langhorne Clemens aka Mark Twain

From Ch. 1 of Huckleberry Finn

YOU don't know about me without you have read a book by the name of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; but that ain't no matter. That book was made by Mr. Mark Twain, and he told the truth, mainly. There was things which he stretched, but mainly he told the truth. That is nothing. I never seen anybody but lied one time or another, without it was Aunt Polly, or the widow, or maybe Mary. Aunt Polly—Tom's Aunt Polly, she is—and Mary, and the Widow Douglas is all told about in that book, which is mostly a true book, with some stretchers, as I said before.