After their Gettysburg defeat on 4 July 1863, the Confederate forces, led by General Robert E. Lee, began a retreat through Maryland and across the Potomac River to their frontline in Virginia. The Confederates formed a 15–20-mile (24–32-km) -long wagon train, which carried supplies and the wounded. Between 5 ̶... More
Prior to the US Civil War (1861–65), the Confederate economy was based on cotton, the ‘white gold’ of the day. Shipped largely to Britain and Europe, it comprised 75 per cent of Confederate exports. This (and the desire to prevent materiel entering the South) prompted the Union to institute a... More
The 1947 partition of the Indian subcontinent was along religious lines, creating tensions within Kashmir, which had a Hindu ruler, but a majority Muslim population. After Kashmir ceded to India, Pakistan sent in soldiers. After a temporary ceasefire in 1949, nearly two-thirds of Kashmir was retained by India and the... More
The 44th Congress witnessed a massive shift from Republican to Democrat membership, overwhelmingly accounted for by the states of the former Confederate South. The instigators of this were the ‘Redeemer’ Democrats. During the Reconstruction that followed the Civil War, federal forces occupied the South and Republicans, backed by freed slaves,... More
The veracity of the Book of Joshua is disputed. The archaeological record is moot: some of the places Joshua is supposed to have conquered were not settled in the relevant period (1250–1050 BCE), others, such as Hazor and Lachish were, and indeed met with violent destruction around the time of... More
The Norman Conquest was no fait accompli after victory at the Battle of Hastings. The Saxons elected a new king, Edgar the Aetheling, and regional rebellions sprung up around the country, abetted or exploited at various stages by the Danes, Scots and Welsh. William the Conqueror returned to Normandy in... More
Edgar Aetheling was a great survivor. Chosen by the Saxons to succeed King Harold he rebelled repeatedly against William the Conqueror and both of his sons, fought in Byzantium and Jerusalem, and died in his seventies in Scottish exile. He was already on his third rebellion when Danish King Sweyn... More
Pouring forward after the occupation of Beersheba and Gaza, the Allied forces rapidly reached the El Maghar Ridge where, on 13 November, an Ottoman counterattack was decisively repulsed. The Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) then captured Junction Station, severing rail links to Jerusalem. Meanwhile, Anzac mounted troops captured the port of... More
In order to restore the bankrupt northeastern railroad system, and to sustain the transit of freight and passengers by rail, the government passed the Regional Rail Reorganization Act of 1974 (the ‘3R Act’) and created the Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail). Conrail was to be a government-funded private operator, which was... More
The infamous fourth Crusade (1202–04) was another attempt to take Jerusalem, but ended up with the sacking of Constantinople, the greatest Christian city in the world. In January 1203 the Crusaders, who had been waylaid in the Adriatic, entered an agreement with the Byzantine Prince Alexios Angelos to divert to... More
While evidence of settlement of the Acropolis extends back to Neolithic times, the earliest attributable construction in Athens relates to Peisistratos, the 6th-century BCE tyrant who ruled the city. He, amongst other works, built a massive aqueduct to bring fresh water to the inhabitants. Pericles, the Athenian statesman, ushered in... More
Darius I began the construction of Persepolis, the new capital of the Achmaenid Empire, towards the end of the 6th century BCE. He laid down the lineaments of power; the Apadana, or grand throne room with accompanying antechambers, and a propylaea, or gateway building, together with the Treasury. A small... More