Historical
That One Time That the Dutch People Ate Their Prime Minister
AtAtthe end of the evening on the 20th of August 1672, the brothers De Witt were brutally murdered and even eaten by the Dutch people. This double murder is one of the most memorable murders in Dutch history.
By Bryan Dijkhuizen5 years ago in FYI
I Am Obsessed with Reading Dead People's Diaries
I've been interested in diaries as a literary genre for almost as long as I can remember. Fake ones (the Dear America series of children's books; Catherine, Called Birdy; Don't You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey), real ones (Anne Frank, Samuel Pepys, Sylvia Plath, Anne Lister, Virginia Woolf), blogs, vlogs, and more! I want the juicy, mundane details of the everyday lives of strangers. Unpublished private diaries particularly appeal to me because of their lack of self-consciousness. These writers aren't trying to impress any audience at all, which sometimes makes for extremely boring minutia (which is interesting in its own way) and other times reveals unconventional and charming sincerity you won't find in an Instagram post. The diaries as physical objects are also fascinating. Each person's handwriting takes me a few pages to get used to before I can consistently read it. Some, I have never fully cracked. Most of them are pre-dated diaries for a particular year, so the writers only had a specific amount of space to write in for each day. I hesitate to even share this niche hobby for fear that new interest will make for more competitive bidding and the prices will go up. Maybe I need to make it a little harder to indulge my addiction though. Here's a rundown of some of the most interesting and most boring diaries I've read over the last 6 months.
By Chuck Hoff5 years ago in FYI
Metaphysics
Peace In, Everyone. I know your time may be limited so let’s get right into it! To have a good understanding of the subject of metaphysics, we need to first understand the basic, root meaning of this compound word. This article will be mainly exploring a little of what the more ancient meaning of metaphysics is about. Let us examine now:
By Shakeenah K Fentis5 years ago in FYI
The origins of the Cape Colony (South Africa)
The Cape of Good Hope, at the southern tip of Africa, was always going to be an important place for a European nation that was interested in establishing colonies anywhere further east. Before the Suez Canal opened in 1869, the Cape had to be rounded by any ship bound in that direction. Seeing that several countries besides Britain, most notably the Netherlands, France and Portugal, had imperial ambitions to the east of the Cape, it is hardly surprising that competition for control of the Cape was fierce.
By John Welford5 years ago in FYI
Einstein's Legacy
Einstein is known as the renowned scientist whose family escaped Nazi Germany to live in America. His family thought they were leaving behind all the bigotry and hatred, however, they had to deal with the injustices in America. There was a social caste system for White Americans in America, according to Sociologists. In this system, Anglo-Saxons were the highest, and immigrants from warlike countries were seen as the lowest. This affected job placement and livelihood because employers would base their decisions on your race and reputation. However, Einstein fought this with his mind and his knowledge, being born to a dedicated Jewish family and being undermined for lack of social skills even talking late did not stop the man. He would use his mind to advance his studies and become great. Einstein had Christian friends in college, who helped him advance. They help his reputation and got him jobs so he could build his family. They believed in his innate abilities and modest capabilities that he should be recommended to prestigious universities and ultimately to the President of the United States. Einstein did not want to invent the atomic bomb but he had to prove his loyalty to his nation, America especially when Nazi Germany knew of many prominent scientists of Jewish descent leaving to America. Nazi Germany plotted to take them out sending a message retrieved in the Carribeans. The President of the United States had to react and he called upon every able scientist to build mass weaponry. Einstein reluctantly accepted and became known for being a leading scientist of the nuclear weapons project. Einstein knew in his mind, that he did not want to be known for destruction and he fought to undo the harm of building that weapon, which could have been his greatest work. Einstein retreated from any further research and development after he saw the defeat of the Mad Genius of Nazi Germany. He led a reclusive life in expanding science and learning. Einstein did not back down from any academic dispute, when his students objected to his teachings and ridicule him, he would silently write on the board a greater achievement, the universal formula. He would quietly stand next to his greatest achievement and not allow anyone to leave his class without asking what it is. And he would teach about the formula in many different ways and make the whole semester about his greatest achievement to ingrain in their minds. Einstein hoped to make science more than formulas and power to transform it into the knowledge of brainstorming and thinking outside the box. He even tried to instill this into his children who followed in their father's footsteps. When he won the Nobel Peace Prize, he finally got his chance to change science for the good and to recognize intelligence as a force for good. Einstein believed that the mind should not be wasted on war and violence. And that we should undo the hatred in the world starting with children and build a world where people use their minds to solve real-life issues and create a future-ready to take on the challenges of the past. Einstein invested in an organization that teaches children to use their minds. His organization would share the knowledge of the community and collective learning. This created the brand of Einstein around the world as the master genius who inspires all people to achieve success through education. This brand made Einstein one of the greatest minds in human history and the genius behind collective world knowledge. He dedicated his brain to science asking his friend and colleague to remove his mind for science and that this was his last request. Einstein trusted his professor friend because he wanted to inspire the next generation to greatness and he felt that our minds should not be wasted. His friend respected his wishes and carefully displayed the mind which made Einstein so great.
By Distinguished Honorary Alumni Dr. Matthew Primous5 years ago in FYI
Know your American History
The world turns upside down. - Lin-Manuel Miranda I think a lot about those words, I unabashedly listen to my show tunes and I’m always proud of who I listen to. I’m always proud of what I do, What I listen to while I make my magic and recently I’ve been driven to write my own powerful piece about immigration.
By 𝙺𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚎 𝙳𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚝𝚢 ☾5 years ago in FYI
History's Trainwrecks
What kind of nerd do you want to be when you grow up? There are so many choices: role-playing games, science fiction, chess, Renaissance festivals, comic books, and many more. The number of ways open to me to avoid popularity and the chance of ever touching a woman recreationally seemed without limit.
By Stacey Roberts5 years ago in FYI
Don't Lose Your Cool
Some temper tantrums can change history. The Roman Empire of the 4th century AD wasn’t doing very well at all. Constantine the Great managed to consolidate the empire under his rule, make Christianity the official religion, and move the capital to Constantinople, which was more strategically located. However, Constantine was a brutal ruler and father (he boiled his first wife to death, killed his oldest son, and ordered his name stricken from the historical record). His three remaining sons, raised in this cutthroat political environment, inherited the empire after his death and were immediately at each other’s throats, sparking civil wars that raged for sixteen years until Constantius II emerged as sole emperor in 353.
By Stacey Roberts5 years ago in FYI
You Can't Fire Me
The Secretary of the Treasury had to resign four times before Abraham Lincoln finally accepted. Salmon P. Chase was a contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 1860 and like the other heavy hitters who ran against the Illinois “country lawyer”, Chase believed himself to be far superior and better qualified. After his victory in the presidential election, Lincoln appointed most of his rivals for the nomination to his Cabinet, making Chase Secretary of the Treasury.
By Stacey Roberts5 years ago in FYI
