Browsing: General history

The term diaspora is a well-known concept from anthropology and specifically from the history of Judaism. What does diaspora actually mean? What is the origin of this term?

Becoming an Olympic champion is always nice. But Wyndham Halswelle no doubt had imagined it differently during the 1908 Olympics in London. The British athlete reached the final of the 400 meters, but ran the decisive race all alone… Halswelle went down in history as the only man to win an Olympic title with a walkover.

Of the animals that were once launched into space by humans, the dog Laika is the best known. The Russians launched this quadruped in November 1957 with the Sputnik 2. She became the first living creature to orbit the Earth, but did not survive the adventurous journey.

At the beginning of Pride Amsterdam, a few stolpersteine ​​are placed in the capital for Jewish gay and lesbian war victims and resistance fighters who were murdered by Nazi Germany during the Second World War.

The 1936 Olympics were held in Berlin and have gone down in the history books as the Adolf Hitler Olympics. Cinematographer Leni Riefenstahl was commissioned by the Nazi regime to make a film of the international sporting event.

Catholic monks used to be recognizable by their shaven crown, the so-called tonsure, sometimes also called the ‘corona’. This symbol of devotion was popular for a long time, but resistance arose in the course of the twentieth century.

In London, a tunnel under the River Thames was opened on August 2, 1870. The so-called Tower Subway, which became known as the first ‘Tube’ tube line, ran from Tower Hill on the north bank of the river to Vine Lane on the south side.

The term sehnsucht still regularly crops up in different languages. The German word is difficult to translate and actually has no equivalent in the English language. What does it mean?

In the Bible book of Daniel it can be read that during a feast of the Babylonian king Belshazzar a proverb suddenly appears on the wall. Everyone sees the text. It says Mene mene tekel upharsin. However, no one knows what this spell means. Only the Jewish exile Daniel can explain the text.

On July 31, 1667, the Treaty of Breda was signed in the Great Hall of the Castle in Breda. This treaty between the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands, England, France and Denmark ended the Second Anglo-Dutch War .