[Life] Whispers of the Past: PokeCommunity History Club

The Renaissance is a period in history that will always fascinate us.

Recently the creative minds at MIT constructed model of a bridge using designs by the genius Leonardo Da Vinci. Da Vinci envisioned a bridge to Constantinople so modern that 16th century minds were hardly able to conceive of such a feat of architecture. It would have been the longest bridge of it's day and age. Plans for this beautiful bridge were ultimately rejected by the sultan of the Ottoman empire.

Engineers of today however through geometry reveal that Leonardo's revolutionary bridge would have been fully-functional. And so the artist had the last laugh.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/te...711/da-vinci-bridge/?utm_source=pocket-newtab

I hope that others will find this walk through history just as interesting as I did.
 
I found an interesting documentary The Romanovs: History of the Russian dynasty, beginning with the first Romanov Czar Mikhail ascent as a boy in 1613 after the fall of Boris Gudunov. I am into episode 4 now of this 8 part series and Catherine the Great and Peter II are entering the picture. The producers StarmediaTV were have been generous enough to upload their entire special in English to YouTube for free educational viewing if anyone is interested.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwGzY25TNHPBfaoOR3pXw3VyBvmXljeio
 
VisionofMilotic said:
I found an interesting documentary The Romanovs: History of the Russian dynasty, beginning with the first Romanov Czar Mikhail ascent as a boy in 1613 after the fall of Boris Gudunov. I am into episode 4 now of this 8 part series and Catherine the Great and Peter II are entering the picture. The producers StarmediaTV were have been generous enough to upload their entire special in English to YouTube for free educational viewing if anyone is interested.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwGzY25TNHPBfaoOR3pXw3VyBvmXljeio
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This series looks delightful! As someone with Russian heritage, I'm fascinated to learn more about the distant history of the country and its former royal family!
 
VisionofMilotic said:
I found an interesting documentary The Romanovs: History of the Russian dynasty, beginning with the first Romanov Czar Mikhail ascent as a boy in 1613 after the fall of Boris Gudunov. I am into episode 4 now of this 8 part series and Catherine the Great and Peter II are entering the picture. The producers StarmediaTV were have been generous enough to upload their entire special in English to YouTube for free educational viewing if anyone is interested.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwGzY25TNHPBfaoOR3pXw3VyBvmXljeio
Click to expand...

This sounds interesting. I'll have to watch it when I have the time.
 
Okay I am getting into the last episode of this enthralling 8 part series. I thought the best monarch was probably Catherine the Great. I am still in awe of how much she accomplished for Russia, I would argue that she eclipses even Queen Elizabeth I of England the Virgin Queen. Russia has a history of so many strong women on the throne like Catherine the Great, and Peter I's daughter and sister Elizabeth and Sofia. MysticalNinetales should feel lucky and proud of her Russian roots! Maybe you even have a little royal blood in you Lina. Who knows?

My top 3 favourites Romanovs are Catherine I the Great, Alexander I 'the Blessed' who fought Napoleon, and Alexander II 'The Liberator' who freed the serfs.

I also want to give an honorable mention to Feodor III. I think he would have been remembered as Feodor the Great had he lived longer, a sobriquet that was instead awarded to his brother Peter. Despite Feodor's short reign he introduced numerous reforms in that interval that were centuries ahead of their time. He seemed democratic even. It's like he was trying to check off a bucket list with all of these ambitious projects in the few years he had left, and it's that much more poignant considering all the physical pain he must have been enduring through it all.

I would have actually preferred to have seen this young man reign another 30 year as Czar, continue to evolve as a ruler and presumably produce heirs, rather than the crown change hands to his brother Peter. Most historians probably wouldn't agree with me. I realize that Peter changed the face of Russia by expanding the military and adopting culture and aesthetics from Western Europe, but he was also a cruel tyrant who left schisms in his culture over religion, brutally suppressed rebellions, bled his people with taxes, let Moscow burn and killed his own son. For that l will always choose the underrated Feodor as the best of the three sons of Czar Alexei!
 
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I am all finished with the story if the Romanovs, and actually had tears in my eyes as it ended. It was hard to watch the photographs fade away of Czar Nicholas, Alexandra, Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia and Alexei.

I am still as hungry ad ever for Russian history though, and don't want to put down the books and documentaries just yet. After this fascinating look at the Romanovs I am turning the pages of the history book backwards a bit, and going to look into the Rurik dynasty. The link between the Romanov and Rurik houses was Ivan the Terrible's 1st wife Anastasia Romanova, so I think I will start with his reign and work my way back to the 800s when the house was founded.

I thought I would ask if anyone knows of a good biography on Ivan IV? I want to read something that has really updated scholarship. As bloody as his reign may have been, I am also aware that a great deal of legend is atributed to Ivan the Terrible as with Vlad III Dracul 'The Impaler.' So I want to make sure I am reading about things the Czar actually did, not made up things like blinding his architect so the man couldn't make anything more beautiful for anyone else, or the fictional wife that he was supposed to have drowned for being unfaithful. Tell it all, but tell it true.
 
Hi there history fans,

If you visit the club Four Seasons: Feast of Life then you might already know about my recent trip to Biltmore Estate. The historic 1890s manor house built by the Vanderbilt family. This is a special time to visit the museum as they are hosting a Downtown Abbey exhibit, a traveling show based on the Edwardian television drama Downton Abbey. I haven't watched the series in awhile, but it brought back tender memories, especially of the scheming Thomas Barrow, my favorite character. In the exhibit they have costumes from the show on display, recreated sets, video installations and audio tours that are set up with 1900s style phones you can listen to commentary over. It's really smart! There's lots of interesting trivia about real historical people who parallel Downton Abby, and a tantalizing window into the Golden age. This a period I have a weak spot for, Edith Wharton, Thomas Hardy, Henry James.

Here are a few pictures that I thought would be a nice addition to the history club.

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Well I've never seen the show Downtown Abbey, I very much enjoyed BenDelacreme's portrayal of Dame Maggie Smith on Snatch Game on Rupaul's Drag Race season 6!

I will say, I do love both the Victorian era and the golden age as well. There's just something about the late nineteenth century and the early twentieth century that is so alluring and interesting! From the fashion, to the overarching culture, it truly was an iconic period.
 
I haven't tuned into RuPaul Drag Race in seasons. Now you make me want to get back into my RuPaul :)

Dame Maggie Smith who played Dowager Countess Grantham on Downtown Abbey is a legend! I have enjoyed her performances in so many different plays and films over the years.

When I think of the Edwardian era I think of a line from the film adaptation of The Age of Innocence based on the Edith Wharton novel of the same title which is about those days long gone, "A world balanced so precariously that its harmony could be shattered by a whisper."

For the upper classes it was a world of ideals and grace. It's hard not to be drawn to the lofty castles and Romanesque architecture, the fantastical, intricate fashions, the romantic poetry, horse-drawn carriages, sweet, wholesome courtships and codes of honor. Yet it's also this world of strictly defined social classes with great disparity, as well a never-ending unwritten rules and expectations that seem almost impossible to navigate and live up to the expectations of. The beauty and allure of the gilded age I think is that it's so unattainable.

I just can't resist literature, poems and art from this period, nor the novels or movies of today that are set in it.
 
I have been looking into music of the ancient world lately, and have recently learned of an instrument from the Aztec empire known as the death whistle that carries the appropriate feelings of dread. It has skulls carved over it and is sacred to the wind god, and the sounds it makes is so chilling, and almost human.

Scholars, historians and archeologists are still debating the exact purpose of this artifact. Some say the whistle was blown by conquering armies as they went into battle much like a war drum or a horn. Others say it was performed during magical rituals by priests and funerary rights.

Who dares to listen to a few notes of this music? This is the real perish song.
 
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That's one creepy whistle, I definitely did not expect to hear a literal scream.

Anyways, this club caught my eye earlier, not sure how I managed to miss it all this time.
My interest in history really sparked after graduating from high school (go figure), not that I ever found history to be boring. That spark were the history videos on YouTube by the likes of Extra History, Oversimplified and History Matters combined with hours of playing Crusader Kings II with friends. Fate/ gave a little push as well.

Some of my favorite parts of it are the Roman empire, Sengoku period, the era of absolutist monarchs and the second half of the 19th century leading up to wwI.
Ninetales said:
There's just something about the late nineteenth century and the early twentieth century that is so alluring and interesting! From the fashion, to the overarching culture, it truly was an iconic period.
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I think this sums it up nicely. It almost seems bizarre that behind this image that we have of the era actually lies a very turbulent world: German Empire emerges as a superpower, USA has lived through a civil war, Japan is caught in a struggle between the emperor and the shogun, new ideologies such as communism are gaining traction, Ottoman Empire is falling apart, China is preparing to end an almost 4000 year-old imperial rule.
 
I love TED-ed content! I'm posting this video on Mansa Musa, one of the most wealthy and decadent kings in the history of the world. I happen to have some Malian ancestry in me, so I'm sharing history from one of my countrymen who lived in the medieval era.



I would be interested in traveling to Mali some day when the country becomes stable again, free from terrorism and crime. This is the place where my ancestors walked. Like Egypt this country is also has beautiful and ancient cities, rich in architecture and relics. It would be awe-inspiring to see firsthand Mali's mosques, waterfalls, pyramids and uncover the lost library of Timbuktu! Now that would be a true bucket list!
 
This is an interesting video I came across featuring the Neanderthal bone flute that was discovered in Slovenia in 95. I especially enjoyed hearing what Beethoven would sound like performed within the prehistoric cave sites.

 
I've been looking into Sylvester Magee. It's very interesting. He is claimed to be the last American slave freed during the emancipation proclamation, and would have been 130 years old at his time of death. Which was in 1971.

To put it in perspective, the video game "Pong" was created in 1972. If the claims of him are true of course, then I think it's fascinating.

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On a different note, this was John Gray, who was the last confirmed Revolutionary War veteran. There were a few who lived long enough to have photos taken. I think the most interesting part of American history is how recent everything actually is, when it seems like an eternity ago.

He was present during Cornwallis surrender at Yorktown, and was only 16 when he enlisted.
 
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https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/the-victorian-supernatural

Since spooky season is underway (National Ghost Hunting Day was yesterday), I figured it might be the right time to get spooky with history. Linked here is an article from the British Library on the supernatural in the Victorian era. While in 2020, it would be weird to have your best friend invite you to a Seance (unless you're into that kind of thing), in the past, it was a completely normal thing. An interesting tidbit of this is that most mediums of the era were female, and thus leads me to conclude that it was possible that through the Spiritualist movement, women were able to have some of the voice that they were fighting for around the time that the movement began (late 1840s).

What do you think?
 
I did some brushing up on history.

I remembered that Adolf Hitler actually fought as a regular soldier in World War 1. He was injured twice and won several medals. It is interesting to learn about a person before the era they become most known for. That goes for any historical figure.

Also Oregon was bombed by Japan. It was one of the only mainland attacks ever on the USA. Six civilians were killed. The response was to not display this all over the media. They figured mass panic was the response Japan wanted.

(below is a photo of Hitler in uniform during WW1).

[PokeCommunity.com] Whispers of the Past: PokeCommunity History Club
 
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