Authors
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Princess Caraboo of Javasu
If you are worried that your knowledge of geography is lacking because you don’t know where Javasu is, don’t be concerned. It’s completely made up. It is the product of an elaborate fiction of a young woman in 19th century England. This is the amazing story of a girl who faked her way to royalty and how she almost got away with it. On the evening of April 3, 1817, a strange young woman appeared at the cottage of the local cobbler in the small village of Almondsbury near Bristol. She indicated to the cobbler’s wife she wanted to sleep there and wandered in uninvited and laid down on the…
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Eclipses- Historical Harbingers
If you’ve been anywhere near the news, you would have seen that a solar eclipse happened in the continental United States yesterday. I have to admit it was a pretty amazing experience as I was lucky enough to be in the path of totality. As the sky went dark and the crickets started chirping, I thought about what it must have been like for those in the past. They didn’t have the benefit of NASA and other scientists telling us that this was normal, the Sun would come back and to wear protective glasses. How did people through the ages deal with eclipses? One of the first references we have…
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Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte- From Pauper to King
This is a story of rags to riches and of an unlikely king. Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte was born in France to a lawyer, but through an extraordinary turn of events became king of a country far from his own. Born in Pau, France on February 5, 1818, Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte was the son of a prosecutor and his wife. His family wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps to become a lawyer as well, but Jean-Baptiste enlisted in the French Marines in 1780 instead. When the French Revolution and its aftermath of the Terror happened (for more on the Terror, please see this post http://www.historynaked.com/the-terror/ ), he rose rapidly through the ranks.…
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Pingyang and the Army of the Lady
Princess Pingyang was born in 600 to Li Yuan, a peasant who had risen through the army to become a commander. She was the only daughter to him and his second wife Duchess Dou. She did have two older sisters from Li Yuan’s first marriage, however, Pingyang spent more time with her four brothers. As was customary, she was given in marriage when she was quite young. Her chosen husband was Cai Shao, the son of the Duke of Julu. By all reports, Pingyang was a dutiful and loving daughter, sister and wife. However, her loyalty was put to the test when everything went sideways. During this time, China was…
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The Dahlgren Affair
In 1864 the American Civil War was still raging. The capital of the Confederacy, Richmond, Virginia, was still tantalizingly close to Union forces, but as of yet out of reach. There on an island in the James River was Belle Isle, a holding pen for Union prisoners. Like most Civil War prisons, it was not a fun place complete with disease and overcrowding. Since prisoner exchanges had been called off in June of 1863, the number of prisoners at Belle Isle grew to staggering proportions. There were thoughts that a raid on Belle Isle could not only free Union soldiers from abominable conditions and death by disease, but free up…
